AMD overtakes Intel in datacenter sales for first time

AMD’s historic milestone in datacenter CPU sales: For the first time, AMD has overtaken Intel in datacenter CPU revenue, marking a significant shift in the competitive landscape of the semiconductor industry.

• AMD’s datacenter segment revenue reached $3.549 billion in Q3, surpassing Intel’s datacenter and AI group earnings of $3.3 billion.
• This achievement represents a dramatic reversal from just two years ago when Intel’s datacenter group was consistently earning $5-6 billion per quarter.
• The shift is largely attributed to the competitive advantages of AMD’s EPYC processors over Intel’s Xeon CPUs, which has forced Intel to implement price discounts to remain competitive.

Pricing and performance comparison: The current pricing structure of high-end datacenter processors reflects the changing dynamics between AMD and Intel in the market.

• Intel’s new flagship 128-core Xeon 6980P is priced at $17,800, while AMD’s 96-core EPYC 6979P costs $11,805.
• This pricing disparity, combined with the performance advantages of AMD’s EPYC processors, has contributed to AMD’s growing market share in the datacenter CPU segment.
• Despite having fewer cores, AMD’s processors are proving to be more cost-effective and performance-efficient for many datacenter applications.

Nvidia’s dominance in the broader datacenter market: While AMD’s victory over Intel in CPU sales is significant, Nvidia’s performance in the datacenter GPU and networking chip market overshadows both companies.

• Nvidia’s datacenter GPU sales reached an astounding $22.604 billion in Q2 FY2025, far exceeding the combined sales of Intel and AMD’s datacenter hardware.
• In the first half of this year alone, Nvidia sold nearly $42 billion worth of AI and HPC GPUs, with expectations of even higher sales in the second half.
• This performance underscores the growing importance of GPUs and specialized AI chips in the modern datacenter environment, driven by the increasing demand for AI and machine learning capabilities.

Shifting market dynamics: The changing landscape of the datacenter hardware market reflects broader trends in computing and AI.

• While Intel’s Xeon CPUs still power the majority of servers worldwide, the most expensive and high-performance machines are increasingly utilizing AMD’s EPYC processors.
• This shift indicates a growing preference for AMD’s offerings in high-end computing environments where performance and efficiency are paramount.
• The trend also highlights the challenges facing Intel as it works to regain its competitive edge in the datacenter market.

Implications for the future of datacenter computing: The evolving competitive landscape in datacenter hardware suggests significant changes ahead for the industry and its customers.

• As AMD continues to gain market share, it may drive further innovation and price competition in the CPU market, potentially benefiting customers with more powerful and cost-effective solutions.
• Nvidia’s dominance in GPUs and AI chips indicates a growing emphasis on specialized hardware for AI and machine learning tasks in datacenters.
• The semiconductor industry may see increased competition and innovation as companies strive to meet the evolving needs of datacenter operators and cloud service providers.