GLOBAL SHIPMENTS of PC microprocessor reached new record levels again in the second quarter of 2008, according to analyst bods IDC.

Shipments grew 3.1 per cent quarter over quarter and an impressive 16.1 per cent year over year.

This came as a bit of a shock to the researchers. Not only is everyone counting every penny these days, but April to June is normally a pretty quiet time for this part of the industry.

Although shipments were up, overall market revenue dropped by 4.5 per cent quarter over quarter to $7.7 billion.

It seems that the huge amounts of competition between little lapwarmers as well as strong vendor price competition in the middle and low end of the desktop PC processor market were to blame.

"While sequential market growth is unusual in the second quarter of the calendar year, it's clear that, in 2Q08, Intel's processor shipments drove the growth," said spokesIDC Shane Rau.

Intel continued to extend its dominance over rival AMD, gaining 0.9 per cent overall market share to 79.7 per cent, while lost 1.2 per cent leaving it with 19.7 per cent of the pie.

"Intel's processor shipments alone grew nearly 4.3 per cent over the first quarter and 20.8 per cent year over year, while AMD's processor shipments were about flat," added Rau.

IDC reckons that the PC processor market revenue will grow 7.5 per cent across 2008, stumping up more than $32.8 billion.

"While processor unit shipments exceeded our forecast in 2Q08, Intel's aggressive approach to the market, through both product and pricing, point to a major, supply-side variable. However, economic concerns cause us to maintain our conservative outlook for the second half of the year," Rau concluded. µ