AMD Server CPU Share Rises as X86 Shipments Slow

AMD gained ground in server processors during the first quarter of 2026, even as overall x86 processor shipments fell by more than six percent from the previous quarter.

Server CPU unit shipments moved in the opposite direction, rising by more than 10 percent from a year earlier.

Mercury Research's PC Processor report gives the clearest signal in the source data: AMD reached 33.2 percent of the server CPU market during the quarter, up six percentage points from the same period last year.

Intel remained the larger supplier, with roughly two-thirds of the expanding server CPU market.

The category signal is not only about share transfer between two suppliers.

Server processors were the strongest part of an x86 market that otherwise showed seasonal weakness, with the source linking the server increase to demand for AI servers in datacenters.

Server Demand Outruns the PC Cycle

The first-quarter decline in total x86 processor shipments was described as seasonally typical, but worse than average this year.

The source also points to a weaker-than-typical fourth quarter tied to Intel supply constraints after the company shifted manufacturing capacity toward server chips.

Intel's server CPU shipments were relatively flat both sequentially and year-on-year.

AMD's server volumes grew strongly, giving the company its one-third position while Intel continued to hold the majority of shipments.

The client market showed a different pattern.

Desktop CPU shipments fell nearly 20 percent from the same quarter a year earlier, and Intel gained some desktop share from the prior quarter, reaching 66.8 percent of shipments against AMD's 33.2 percent.

In mobile processors, AMD's share rose to 28.3 percent, up from 22.5 percent a year earlier, while the broader mobile market was down by low single digits.

Arm Adds Another Pressure Point

Mercury Research also estimated Arm-based client processors, including Chromebooks and Apple's M-series-based Macs, at 14.4 percent of the total market in the first quarter of 2026, up from a revised 13.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Arm-based server chips were estimated at 13.2 percent of total shipments, up from a revised 12.5 percent in the prior quarter.

Mercury Research President Dean McCarron said Arm server CPU shipments were nearly double their year-earlier level, primarily because of growth from Nvidia's Grace CPU in Blackwell NVL72 AI rack platforms.

The next signal is whether server CPU demand continues to offset weaker client-chip shipment patterns while AMD, Intel and Arm-based suppliers compete for AI datacenter processor demand.