Advanced Micro Devices Inc. captured nearly 10 percent of computer microchip market revenue in the third quarter, the highest level in nearly three years, market research firm IDC said on Tuesday. The gains show that Sunnyvale, California-based AMD is succeeding with a strategy of making higher-priced chips for servers and premium PCs used by video game enthusiasts, said Shane Rau, an IDC analyst. Rau said the average price of an AMD chip rose 10 percent from the second quarter.
Moving away from its traditional role as a maker of low-priced clones of Intel Corp. chips, AMD has introduced more competitive products like the Opteron server chip and its Athlon 64 FX gaming PC chip that earn it higher profits and revenues. Opteron, for one, has been widely viewed as a success, even winning the praise of Dell Inc., which sells only Intel-based computers.