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AMD Reaches a Record 30.7% of x86 CPU Shipments as Intel Falls Below 70%
AMD reached a record 30.7% of the standard x86 CPU market in Q2 2026, up 6.5 percentage points year over year, while Intel fell to 69.3%—its first result below 70% since 1995. AMD passed 30% in x86 client CPUs for the first time, reaching 30.3%, with share gains in desktops, laptops and servers.
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Key takeaways
- AMD reached a record 30.7% of the standard x86 CPU market in Q2 2026, up 6.5 percentage points year over year, while Intel fell to 69.3%—its first result below 70% since 1995.
- AMD passed 30% in x86 client CPUs for the first time, reaching 30.3%, with share gains in desktops, laptops and servers.
- The server result needs care: AMD’s reported share was 34.5%, but Mercury’s adjusted comparison estimated 46.4% after accounting for products included in Intel’s figures but excluded from AMD’s.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: How did Intel and AMD’s x86 CPU market shares change in Q2 2026 according to Mercury Research—including Intel falling below 70% overall to 6. Article summary: Intel remained the clear x86 leader in Q2 2026, but AMD gained share in every major x86 segment. Mercury Research put the overall PC-and-server x86 split at Intel 69.3% and AMD 30.7%—a 6.5-percentage-point year-over-year. Topic tags: general, general web, user generated, government. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, ch
AMD made its broadest recent advance against Intel in Q2 2026. Mercury Research estimated AMD’s share of standard x86 shipments for PCs and servers at 30.7%, up 6.5 percentage points from a year earlier, while Intel held 69.3%—the first time Intel had fallen below 70% since 1995. 2
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That does not mean AMD overtook Intel: Intel remained the clear shipment leader. It does show that AMD’s gains were no longer confined to one product category, with the company improving its position across desktop, laptop and server CPUs.
Q2 2026 x86 CPU market share at a glance
| Segment | AMD | Intel |
|---|---|---|
| Overall x86: PC and server CPUs | 30.7% | 69.3% |
| Client x86: desktop and laptop | 30.3% | 69.7% |
| Desktop x86 | 34.9% | 65.1% |
| Mobile x86 | 28.9% | 71.1% |
| Server CPUs, reported comparison | 34.5% | 65.5% |
These are unit-shipment shares, not the proportion of computers currently in use. The standard overall x86 calculation also excludes semicustom, embedded and IoT products. When those additional categories are included, AMD’s overall share rises to 34.1% and Intel’s falls to 65.9%. 2
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AMD crossed 30% in client CPUs for the first time
The clearest consumer milestone came in the combined desktop-and-laptop market. AMD reached 30.3% of x86 client CPU shipments, compared with Intel’s 69.7%. Mercury Research’s estimate marked the first time AMD had exceeded 30% in this category. 2
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AMD’s client gains came from both major segments, but laptops were the stronger contributor. AMD reached 28.9% of mobile x86 shipments, up 8.4 percentage points year over year, while Intel held 71.1%. Mobile shipments also improved sequentially. 2
Desktop share was higher for AMD at 34.9%, leaving Intel with 65.1%. However, the desktop result came during a difficult quarter: total desktop CPU shipments fell by more than 20% year over year as higher PC prices and constrained GPU availability weighed on the market. 5
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That distinction matters. AMD gained share, but the desktop market itself contracted, so a higher percentage does not necessarily mean that AMD shipped more desktop processors in absolute terms.
AMD’s server share was strong, but the comparison is not fully like-for-like
AMD held a reported 34.5% of server processor shipments in Q2, compared with Intel’s 65.5%. AMD’s server share was up from 27.3% a year earlier, while total server-CPU shipments grew by nearly 20% year over year. 18
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The headline server split requires an accounting qualification. Intel’s Data Center Group figures include embedded networking and storage CPUs, while comparable products are excluded from AMD’s reported figures. On Mercury Research’s adjusted basis—comparing Intel Xeon SP with AMD EPYC—AMD’s estimated share would have been 46.4%, versus Intel’s 53.6%. 2
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AMD therefore remained behind Intel in the reported server shipment count, but the adjusted comparison suggests a much narrower contest in the core server CPU market. It also helps explain why server revenue and unit-share comparisons can tell different stories.
Intel’s Data Center Group revenue nevertheless rose a reported 59% year over year, showing that Intel’s data-center business was growing even as AMD expanded its shipment share. 23 Intel also said it was prioritizing additional production capacity and higher factory output to meet demand.
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Why the result matters for Intel and AMD
AMD’s gains narrowed Intel’s lead in every major x86 segment covered by the data. The most important shift was not a single quarterly percentage, but the combination of milestones: AMD passed 30% in client CPUs, approached parity with Intel on an adjusted core-server comparison, and reached a record 30.7% across the standard PC-and-server x86 market. 2
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Intel still had a substantial advantage in reported unit shipments. The Q2 figures are better understood as evidence of a shrinking lead than as an AMD takeover.
Both companies also face competition beyond x86. Arm-based processors accounted for a record 15.3% of PC client CPU share in Q2, according to Mercury Research estimates. Products and platforms from Apple, Qualcomm, Nvidia and hyperscalers are helping expand Arm’s presence in PCs and servers. 12
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A separate report put Arm’s server share at 13.6% in the quarter, but that figure is less consistently documented in the supplied reporting than the 15.3% client figure. 29 The broader implication is clear even with that limitation: Intel and AMD are competing with each other for x86 share while Arm-based designs are expanding the market around them.
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What is the short answer to "AMD Reaches a Record 30.7% of x86 CPU Shipments as Intel Falls Below 70%"?
AMD reached a record 30.7% of the standard x86 CPU market in Q2 2026, up 6.5 percentage points year over year, while Intel fell to 69.3%—its first result below 70% since 1995.
What are the key points to validate first?
AMD reached a record 30.7% of the standard x86 CPU market in Q2 2026, up 6.5 percentage points year over year, while Intel fell to 69.3%—its first result below 70% since 1995. AMD passed 30% in x86 client CPUs for the first time, reaching 30.3%, with share gains in desktops, laptops and servers.
What should I do next in practice?
The server result needs care: AMD’s reported share was 34.5%, but Mercury’s adjusted comparison estimated 46.4% after accounting for products included in Intel’s figures but excluded from AMD’s.
Sources
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