What just happened? AMD has crossed another milestone in its CPU war with Intel. For the first time ever, Mercury Research has Team Red passing a 30% share of the x86 client CPU market, which covers processors for both desktops and laptops.
Mercury Research revealed in a research note yesterday that AMD's share of x86 client CPU shipments reached 30.3% in Q2, while Intel was at 69.7%.
The result represents a 0.7% increase from the 29.6% AMD recorded in the first quarter. Compared with Q2 2025, when Lisa Su's company held 23.9%, its share has jumped 6.4% in a year. The latest gains came from increases across both desktop and mobile processors.
These figures measure unit shipments into the supply chain, not the number of Intel and AMD systems currently in use. They're also separate from revenue share: AMD had already passed the 30% threshold in that category, reaching 31.4% of client CPU revenue in Q1.
The milestone arrived during an unexpectedly strong quarter for processor shipments. In the research note shared by Tae Kim, Mercury wrote: "Actual results for both X86 and ARM CPUs were up strongly, with sequential quarterly growth of the total market exceeding 10 percent." The firm said this was far above normal seasonal trends, which typically call for a slight quarterly decline.
– tae kim (@firstadopter) August 20, 2026
A separate Jon Peddie Research report put quarterly client CPU growth at 9.4%, although shipments were down 1.1% year-over-year. It noted that Q2 is normally a weaker period as PC makers and retailers clear old inventory.
"Client CPU units and revenue looked solid in the quarter, though some of that reflects OEM inventory rebuilding rather than pure demand strength," JPR wrote. "Worth remembering: Q1 was a rough supply quarter for Intel, and OEM inventories dropped then, so this quarter's build mostly just restores normal levels."
The memory crisis is still having an effect, of course. Rising DRAM and SSD prices have made new PCs and upgrades more expensive, particularly in the DIY market. JPR said many enthusiasts brought purchases forward into Q4 2025 ahead of expected increases, leaving second-quarter retail demand weak even as manufacturers rebuilt depleted inventories.
AMD's own results support reports of rising Ryzen demand. Its client business generated $3.1 billion during Q2, up 23% year-over-year. CEO Su said Ryzen Pro sales grew more than 50% from a year earlier as the company secured new enterprise customers.
"Our first half performance has been very strong and although we are expecting that the market will decline in the second half, it has actually held up better than most people would have thought," Su said.
There is one important caveat. The 30.3% figure only covers the AMD-Intel x86 split and excludes Arm processors, including Apple Silicon and Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips. Mercury estimated that Arm held 14.4% of the broader PC client market in Q1, so AMD has not captured 30% of all PC processor shipments.