According to unnamed DigiTimes industry sources, AMD's expected to control a fifth of the laptop processor market by Q1 2020. One of the main reasons for laptop vendors switching to AMD processors is Intel’s perpetual CPU shortage, which laptop maker Compal reportedly expects to persist throughout 2020.
Notebook vendors are expecting Intel’s CPU shortages to reach their peak for the year in Q2 2020 and are stocking up on AMD’s chips now, DigiTimes reported.
The publication's sources believe that AMD could hit 20% market share in the notebook market in Q1. That would be quite the growth, considering AMD's mobile CPU market share was 14.7% in Q3 2019, which represented a 3.8% year-over-year growth. AMD's Q2 2019 mobile share was 14.1% (5.3% YoY) and Q2 2019 was 13.1%.
Most supply players reportedly expect Intel’s CPU shortages to end by the second half of 2020, but Martin Weng, president of Compal Electronics, the largest notebook manufacturer, believes that Intel’s shortages will continue for all of 2020.
The Intel CPU models expected to suffer the most from the shortages include the lower-end CPUs, such as the Atom-based Celeron and Pentium processors (N-series), which typically go in budget Chromebooks.
AMD this week announced the Zen-based Athlon Silver 3050U and Athlon Gold 3150U processors that could serve as replacements for Intel’s Celerons and Pentiums in Chromebooks and other budget Windows PCs.
