The latest data from market research organization Mercury Research shows that, under the analysis and compilation of Bernstein Research, Apple’s self-developed Apple Silicon’s share of the laptop market is close to that of veteran processor supplier AMD, and it only took about five years to catch up to the same level.
When Apple launched its first Arm-based self-developed SoC M1, it started a comprehensive shift from Intel processors to its own customized chips, focusing on enhancing battery life and overall performance under the macOS platform. This round of architectural transformation began in November 2020.
The chart attached to the report shows that AMD currently has a market share of slightly more than 20% in the notebook processor field, ranging from 21% to 22%, while Apple’s market share is slightly less than 20%, approximately 18% to 19%. The gap between the two is quite close. It is worth noting that as Apple enters its sixth year of self-developed Mac chips, its notebook and desktop product lines have formed a stable ecology, while Intel’s share of the notebook market continues to decline and currently remains at more than 60%, with the remaining space divided between AMD and Apple.
In the desktop computer market, Apple has also achieved a rare entry position, currently holding about 10% of the market share. This field has traditionally been dominated by the duopoly of Intel and AMD for a long time. Judging from the trend of the chart, on the desktop platform, once Intel's market share is eroded, the majority of the share is taken over by AMD, reflecting the recent tendency of consumers to choose x86 desktop processors, and AMD's popularity is still slowly increasing.
In terms of product layout, Apple has now built a lineage of self-developed chips covering mobile devices and desktop terminals: entry-level to thin and light notebooks are provided by the basic M4, which is used in iPad Pro and MacBook Air; for the professional notebook market, it provides M4 Pro with more CPU and GPU cores, and M4 Max, which is positioned as a flagship mobile and desktop small workstation, corresponding to high-end MacBook Pro and Mac Studio. For local high-computing workstation scenarios, Apple also launched the M3 Ultra using the "Ultra" packaging solution, which is equivalent to integrating two chips in a single package to meet the needs of creative production and professional computing.
Relying on this vertically integrated software and hardware ecosystem, Apple completed a smooth platform migration that is rare in the industry in a short period of time, and at the same time quickly established a sizable chip market share in the dual notebook and desktop markets. Analysts believe that as Apple continues to iterate on its self-developed architecture, and the x86 camp adjusts its energy efficiency and product line strategies, the notebook processor landscape may continue to shift in the next few years, and Apple's current trend of approaching AMD's notebook market share has become the latest footnote of this structural change.