[DigitalToday reporter Jaewon Choi] AMD is increasingly likely to surpass rival Intel’s quarterly revenue for the first time, helped by growth in the AI semiconductor market. As sales of server processors and AI accelerators surge, changes are also emerging in the competitive landscape of the semiconductor market that has lasted for decades.

According to IT media outlet TechRadar on Nov. 10 (local time), AMD presented a fourth-quarter revenue forecast of $17 billion. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent, putting expected revenue at about $16.49 billion to $17.51 billion.

Intel’s revenue forecast for the same period is $15 billion to $16 billion. Comparing the midpoints of the two forecasts, AMD leads by about $1.5 billion. If actual results match the outlook, AMD would surpass Intel’s quarterly revenue for the first time.

Growth was led by the data centre business. AMD’s third-quarter total revenue rose 45 percent from a year earlier to $13.4 billion, the highest on record. In particular, data centre revenue jumped 97 percent to $8.5 billion, accounting for about 64 percent of the total. The share expanded sharply from 47 percent a year earlier.

Strong sales of AI accelerators and server central processing units (CPUs) proved effective. AMD Chief Executive Lisa Su (리사 수) said that starting in the third quarter, revenue began to reflect the Instinct MI455X accelerator and the Helios rack system. Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft (MS), OpenAI and Oracle have brought early systems online, and shipments of the 2-nanometre process-based EPYC Venice processor have also begun.

The growth is expected to continue in the fourth quarter. AMD Chief Financial Officer Jin Hu (진 후) said data centre revenue is expected to rise about 50 percent from the previous quarter. He said revenue from AI accelerators and rack systems is expected to surpass server CPU revenue for the first time.

Still, it is difficult to view this reversal as the result of AMD completely overpowering Intel in the traditional CPU market. AMD revenue includes AI accelerators, semiconductors for game consoles and embedded products, while Intel still maintains an advantage in x86 CPU shipment volume.

AMD is also facing a situation in which demand exceeds supply, leaving expanded production capacity as a remaining challenge. Whether the two companies’ revenue will reverse can be confirmed after fourth-quarter results are finalised.