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Echoing a similar report from Mercury Research last week, the latest IDC figures on worldwide microprocessor shipments indicate AMD has gained some ground over chief rival Intel during the first quarter of 2009 – despite an overall decline of the market. The company saw its hold of the market reach 22.3% for the quarter, a sequential growth of 4.6%, while Intel’s share slipped 4.7% to a still dominating 77.3% during the same period.

The increase is attributed to a pricing advantage over Intel and a strong increase in desktop shipments. Intel on the other hand was mostly affected by a decline in netbook processor sales, where AMD still isn’t a player, as it saw demand for its Atom chip plunge 33% in the first quarter of 2009. This Atom decline lines up with what Intel reported for its Q1 results last month, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the netbook craze is completely over – instead IDC claims it is partly due to suppliers holding back on purchases as they tried to clear up excess inventory.

Microprocessor sales in general were also down 10.9 percent compared to the previous calendar quarter, while revenues fell by 25.1 percent in the same period – although some decline from Q4 to Q1 is to be expected.