PC processor shipments may have dropped dramatically in the last quarter, but AMD's launch of next-gen 45nm Phenom II processors along with the less expensive upgrade path its platform provides is expected to give the company quite a boost. At least according to DigiTimes, which claims motherboard makers foresee the share of AMD-compatible motherboards in the distribution channel to reach 30 percent in the first half of this year.
They note that current AM2+ motherboards support all AMD CPU lines, including the freshly released batch of triple- and quad-core Phenom II processors, making them attractive to consumers who want to switch out their CPUs without having to change everything else, at a reasonable price for performance ratio. CPU shipments and motherboards in the channel aren't necessarily linked, but if these prospects materialize, it should be good news for AMD's processor business nevertheless, which last year saw a market share of 19.2%, compared with the 80.3% recorded by Intel according to IDC figures.