Intel continues to hold its ground in both the server and client markets despite ongoing challenges and negative press. In the second quarter of 2025, chip sales for Intel and AMD remained relatively stable, with minimal market share changes reported by Mercury Research.
The recent media attention included a highly publicized exchange between Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan and former President Trump, who initially called for Tan’s resignation but later referred to him as a “success” following a meeting.
During this period, total X86 processor shipments rose beyond typical seasonal expectations, largely driven by strong demand in IoT/SoC sectors, with both companies seeing substantial shipment increases. However, traditional server and client CPU markets exhibited standard seasonal growth with only minor fluctuations.
According to Dean McCarron of Mercury Research, “Outside of the IoT/SoC boom, it was a normal second quarter for the conventional X86 market.” In Q2, Intel maintained a dominant market share of 75.8% compared to AMD’s 24.2%, a slight shift from Q1 where Intel had 75.6% and AMD 24.4%. In comparison, Intel’s share in Q2 2024 was substantially higher at 78.7%.
Regarding server CPU shipments, both Intel and AMD did not see significant quarter-over-quarter growth. Yet, a year-over-year comparison showed a significant increase, thanks to last year’s lows and inventory adjustments. MacCarron noted that Intel managed to maintain its volumes by redirecting shipments to non-data center products, like Xeon D in networking and storage servers, albeit at lower average selling prices.
AMD reported record-high server revenue due to its new Turin core CPUs, despite only a modest increase in unit shipments leading to a 37.2% market share. Intel’s slight growth over AMD in the quarter, aided by its mobile CPU offerings, contrasted with AMD’s slight desktop gain.
Additionally, Arm processors began gaining traction in the server market, attributed to Nvidia’s GB200 processors, while Apple experienced an uptick in client-side shipments, tempered by diminishing Chromebook sales.
In summary, while the server CPU market remains competitive, Intel continues to navigate through challenges while retaining a strong market presence against AMD.
