AMD Continues to Outsell Intel 2:1 at European Retailer

Periodically, the European e-shop MindFactory.de releases updated sales reports on which CPUs are moving through off its shelves and how both AMD and Intel are comparing with each other. Previous reports have shown AMD to be in a strong position overall, with a commanding lead in terms of unit volume and a much smaller overall revenue lead.

A recent data dump from Mindfactory.de continues both trends. As always, caveats abound. This is data from a single European retailer. It does not reflect the North American retail market or other international retail markets. It doesn’t reflect OEM sales, which account for an overwhelming majority of the PC space.

It does, however, demonstrate that AMD has maintained a consistent and attractive overall product mix in the face of strong competition from Intel over the past six months. The Core i9-9900K and 9700K are both very strong parts, and while they haven’t shipped in large volumes, they’ve driven a great deal of revenue for Mindfactory.

First, here’s the breakdown by unit shipments:

Not much new here, compared with the last time we examined the data. Sales have slumped into the new year as generally would be expected with seasonality, but AMD continues to command a significant majority of unit sales. The R5 2600 and R7 2700X are both top sellers in terms of volume. AMD sells very, very few Threadripper CPUs. It’s essentially an aspirational part for the company.

Revenue mixes. Suddenly, the Threadripper chips make a visible contribution, despite the fact that they account for a tiny fraction of the total unit volume. The biggest leap, however, is on Intel’s side of the fence. While the company commands just 31 percent of the market, it accounts for 46 percent of the revenue. AMD, in contrast, is 69 percent of the market in terms of unit volume but holds generates just 54 percent of the revenue.

It’s important to remember that these figures reflect Mindfactory’s revenue, not the actual profit per-chip that AMD or Intel earns. Nonetheless, what we’re seeing here is at least partly a logical consequence of the vastly different gross profit margins between the two companies. This is further emphasized by the significant difference in their historic ASPs (average selling price).

Intel buyers spend far more than AMD buyers do. The average Intel CPU is 1.89x more expensive than the average AMD CPU. This accounts for the difference between the unit volume split between Intel and AMD and the decidedly lopsided revenue split.

This type of consistent, strong performance is exactly what AMD needs to be racking up to drive long-term profits and industry adoption of its products. It may not be as exciting as a sudden surge, but it’s better for AMD’s business to demonstrate consistency and slow improvement when attempting to win OEM and server customers in addition to the retail channel. Hat-tip to reddit user Ingebor for posting this data.

Continue reading

Apple’s M1 Continues to Impress in Cinebench R23, Affinity Photo

New Cinebench R23 benchmarks paint AMD in a more competitive light against the M1, but Apple's SoC still acquits itself impressively. The Affinity Photo benchmark, however, is a major M1 win.

Intel Discontinues Overclocking Warranties as Hobby Continues to Die

Intel will no longer offer its overclocking warranty option, though customers with existing plans will still be able to use them.

MSI Expects GPU Shipments to Continue Dropping, May Raise Prices in 2021

During a recent investor call, MSI chairman Joseph Hsu said the company expects the supply of video cards and other in-demand gaming components will continue to drop. MSI points to dropping shipments from both Nvidia and AMD as the primary culprit, and as a result, GPU prices could increase even before they get to the resellers who are charging an arm and a leg.

Sony Expects PS5 Shortages to Continue Well Into 2022

The PlayStation 5 could remain difficult to find at retail well into 2022, according to remarks a Sony executive made at a closed briefing.