AMD’s decade-old AM4 platform is continuing to humiliate Chipzilla, with October Amazon US sales showing the ageing socket outselling Intel’s entire desktop processor range.
According to figures compiled by hardware sales tracker TechEpiphany, Amazon US sold approximately 13,100 AM4 processors during October, giving the platform a 37.75 per cent share of the tracked CPU market. AMD’s newer AM5 platform remained ahead with 15,100 units and a 43.52 per cent share.
AMD accounted for 28,200 processors in the original figures, representing 81.27 per cent of unit sales and generating $8.53 million in revenue. Intel managed just 6,500 units, or 18.73 per cent, worth $2.28 million. Those figures exclude some newer Arrow Lake Refresh models, making Chipzilla’s performance slightly less dreadful than the initial numbers suggest.
The figures are particularly embarrassing for Intel because AM4 first appeared in 2016 and has supported several generations of Ryzen processors. Nearly ten years later, buyers are still purchasing thousands of compatible chips, apparently unimpressed by the industry’s insistence that every new processor requires a new motherboard and another expensive shopping expedition.
AMD’s Ryzen 7 9800X3D remained Amazon’s best-selling processor, with approximately 5,000 units sold during October. The chip accounted for 14.41 per cent of tracked CPU sales, demonstrating the continuing appeal of AMD’s 3D V-Cache technology among gamers seeking high performance.
The relaunched Ryzen 7 5800X3D proved almost as interesting, selling approximately 3,000 units despite belonging to the much older Zen 3 generation. The Ryzen 7 5700X achieved similar sales, while the inexpensive Ryzen 5 5500 continued to attract buyers looking to keep existing AM4 systems running.
Much of AM4’s appeal comes from its compatibility with DDR4 memory and the enormous number of motherboards already in circulation. Owners can upgrade an existing machine without replacing half its components, an increasingly attractive proposition as DDR5 prices rise and manufacturers discover fresh excuses to charge more for memory.
Intel’s older LGA 1700 platform remained its strongest performer, accounting for approximately 5,350 processors. The socket supports the company’s 12th-, 13th- and 14th-generation Core chips, which continue to attract more buyers than its newer LGA 1851 products.
The Core i9-14900K was Intel’s best-selling individual processor, moving approximately 2,000 units. That was twice the reported sales of the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, despite the older Core i9 carrying a higher price tag. Buyers may be attracted by the option of using cheaper DDR4-compatible LGA 1700 motherboards, something the newer Arrow Lake platform cannot offer.
Intel’s Arrow Lake Refresh processors briefly attracted attention through aggressive promotional pricing, but the discounts appear to have provided little lasting improvement. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus sold approximately 1,000 units, while the Core Ultra 5 250K Plus and 250KF Plus managed around 300 and 50 units, respectively.
Adding those Refresh processors to the original tracker figures raises Intel’s estimated October sales to approximately 7,850 units. Even with that correction, Chipzilla’s entire desktop range remained comfortably behind AMD’s AM4 processors alone, although the original percentage shares don’t apply unchanged to the expanded totals.
The figures illustrate how processor buyers are increasingly weighing platform costs against performance. AMD benefits from supporting older motherboards for years, while Intel’s relatively frequent socket changes can leave customers facing additional expenditure when upgrading. Expensive DDR5 memory makes that difference particularly difficult to ignore.
The numbers cover tracked Amazon US sales and do not represent the entire desktop processor market, where OEM contracts, business systems and other retailers can produce very different results. Nevertheless, with AM4 processors still accounting for nearly 38 per cent of the original October tally, AMD’s ageing platform is proving remarkably difficult to retire, while Intel’s latest desktop chips continue struggling to persuade retail buyers to move on.
