The shortage of processors, which hit the entire computer market very painfully in the second half of last year, is weakening, Microsoft said following the results of monitoring sales of Windows operating systems and Surface devices.
During yesterday's report for the third quarter of fiscal 2019, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood (Amy Hood) said that the PC market in the past three months began to show clear signs of recovery, despite all the previously expressed gloomy forecasts. “Overall, the PC market performed better than we expected, driven by a recovery in chip shipments in the commercial and premium consumer segment compared to the second [fiscal] quarter on the one hand and higher than expected shipments in the completed third [fiscal] quarter. quarter - on the other, ”she said in her speech. In addition, Amy Hood expressed confidence that during the next quarter the situation with the availability of processors will continue to stabilize at least in the key segments for the company.
Recall that back in January, Amy Hood's statements were of a completely different nature and looked more like complaints about the shortage of processors that undermined the entire PC market. Then she acted in the vein that underdeliveries of processors seriously harmed the entire industry, from large OEMs to small manufacturers.
It is worth noting that in recent statements by Microsoft's financial director, the name of Intel was not specifically mentioned, but there is no doubt that it was about underdeliveries of chips from this particular manufacturer. Technological problems and scheduling errors have meant that since the second half of last year, Intel has been unable to meet the demand for its own processors, which has led to prolonged shortages and price increases.
At the same time, Microsoft gets the bulk of the profits from sales of software products that can work equally well on both Intel and AMD processors. Therefore, the signs of market recovery observed by the company may be associated not only with Intel's actions to eliminate the shortage, but also with the fact that the main players were able to adapt to the current situation and began to show more interest in systems built on AMD processors, which is indirectly confirmed by the growth in market share this company.
Be that as it may, the worst seems to be over. Although the shortage of Intel processors was an unpleasant event for many players in the PC market, it indirectly served to create a more competitive environment on it. Although the problems of one processor manufacturer caused the entire market to sink, in the longer term, it seems that no negative consequences can be expected. At least, Microsoft tried to convey such thoughts to investors.
Source: 3dnews.ru