AMD is gaining ground on Intel faster than analysts had thought

Sales of AMD’s new Ryzen processor for consumer PCs may be gaining more ground than many investors and market analysts have been predicting. One of the bigger hardware resellers in Europe, Germany’s MindFactory, an online and physical retailer, makes sales data public and it has been compiled to show the changes in unit sales and revenue comparing AMD to Intel. Starting with March of this year, the launch of the first AMD Ryzen processors, the shift at this retailer has been astonishing.

(Source: Public data, compiled here.)

In March, Intel processors represented 72.4% of total unit sales. Ryzen launched on March 2nd giving AMD a full month of ramp time and it was able to capture 27.6%. AMD sales moved up every month since then, hitting 48.7% in July and 56.1% in August, overtaking Intel for the first time in nearly a decade.

(Source: Public data, compiled here.)

This also marks the first time in just as long that AMD processor revenue has exceed that of Intel at this retailer. With a 54% share advantage, the Ryzen brand is clearly making money for the company’s CPU division and putting a smile on the face of its investors.

August 10th saw the release of the Ryzen Threadripper processor, a high-priced and high-margin part that competes against the flagship consumer product line from Intel. These AMD processors account for a significant portion of this retailer’s revenue considering the unit sales volume and timing of release. Intel also launched new high-performance desktop processors last quarter but the pent-up excitement and interest in Threadripper appears to dwarf the flagship Intel options.

Diving into the breakdown of the sales data shows that AMD has a diverse processor lineup that has many popular options. The highest selling unit is $220. This is a much higher ASP (average selling price) than AMD could claim before Ryzen’s release (because of performance deficiencies) and should lead to better margins as the sales extend into the second half of the year.

This data of course is only sourced from a single hardware vendor in Germany, but sales reports from North American stores like Newegg and Amazon are showing a similar, if not as dramatic, trend. All indications tell us that Threadripper is selling better than the Core i9 family in North America, giving AMD the edge in the high-margin segment. Consumer Ryzen processors haven’t exceeded the sales of the Core i7 and Core i5 product family, but they are catching up. The only question is if Intel’s upcoming Coffee Lake processor refresh that brings higher core counts and better performance for enthusiasts, can counter the momentum that AMD has been building since March.

Market share is difficult to measure with fewer vendors sharing data, but all external indicators tell us that the Ryzen processor family is pushing towards a better Q3 than many have been expecting.