AMD's share of the x86 chip market reached 17.8 per cent during Q3 as the chip vendor grabbed market share from arch-rival Intel and lesser competitor Transmeta.

The latter's share will soon barely trouble the scorer - in this case Mercury Research - now that it's down to a tenth of a percentage point from two-tenths of a percentage point in Q2. Intel, by contrast, holds 80.8 per cent of the market, down from 82.2 per cent in the previous quarter.

VIA's share remained the same quarter on quarter: 1.4 per cent.

In the desktop segment, AMD's processors accounted for 20.4 per cent of chip sales in Q3, the first time it has passed the 20 per cent mark since 2001, according to a DigiTimes report. Intel took 77.5 per cent of the segment, down from 78.4 per cent in the previous quarter. AMD's Q2 share was 19.6 per cent.

AMD certainly has momentum. While Intel's PC shipments grew 10.5 per cent quarter on quarter, AMD's were up 20.5 per cent. Likewise, its notebook chip growth rate was 55 per cent to intel's 22.7 per cent. In the server processor arena, AMD and Intel experienced growth rates of 16.5 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively, according to Mercury's numbers.

Of course, big growth rates aren't the same thing as big market shares, but they do suggest that demand for AMD products is running beyond the industry growth average, which can only erode Intel's lead further. ®