Although global PC shipments continued to decline for most of 2023, the industry as a whole is showing signs of recovery. In addition, recently released statistics suggest that Intel has turned the tables on its competitors in the CPU sector and appears to be outpacing its closest rivals when it comes to the desktop and notebook markets.

This is according to the latest statistics from Canalys, a global technology market analysis firm (via WCCFTech): in the last quarter of 2023, Intel shipped an astounding 50 million CPUs, up 3% YoY and maintaining a massive 78% market share. This figure is in line with AMD's 8 million CPUs shipped in the last quarter of 2011. This compares to AMD's 8 million units shipped and 13% market share, representing a drop of only 1% y/y.

Still, this is well ahead of Apple, which reported 6 million units shipped and a 4% decline in shipments. For those who like the whole equivalence exchange, this equates to more than three times more desktop and laptop CPU shipments than Intel's main competitors in the CPU market combined, especially with AMD's dominance in gaming benchmarks, Ryzen 7 This is a very impressive achievement, especially considering that AMD sells several very competitive desktop chips, such as the 7800X3D.

Still, PC gaming and desktop chip performance numbers are not all that impressive; the PC notebook segment is credited with driving the rise in both GPU and CPU segments, and while gaming notebooks will likely account for some of that rise, overall notebook and notebook sales are reportedly account for almost 69% of the global CPU market.

Recent figures suggest a Team Blue sweep, as the x86 CPU segment remains firmly in Team Blue's grasp.

However, if the most recent leaks are to be believed, it may not be long before AMD releases a new competitor in the desktop CPU market, a chip with the "Granite Ridge" Zen 5 architecture. As for laptop CPUs, a new "Strix Point" Zen 5 mobile chip is also rumored to be available later this year.

Intel currently remains tight-lipped about the next generation Arrow Lake desktop CPUs that will replace the current Raptor Lake Refresh generation, but with Computex taking place in June and Intel's Pat Gelsinger set to deliver the keynote With the two giants set to go head-to-head in the desktop market with new silicon, one wonders when these two giants will go head-to-head in the desktop market, or perhaps a new laptop chip in the form of Lunar Lake. Time will tell.

It is worth noting, however, that AMD is making some headway against Intel in overall market share. Whether the new generation of chips can swing the market one way or the other, or whether Intel will continue to dominate in the future, remains to be seen.