The new Zen 4 architecture processors do not seem to have the popularity they deserve due to their excellent performance and, if we pay attention to the latest sales figures, these are considerably lower than those of their predecessors, the AMD Ryzen 5000. Are we facing a setback for Intel’s rival or, on the contrary, are there other factors that have influenced the drop in sales? Why are AMD Ryzen 7000s selling less?
Updating the processor is not always easy, it sometimes happens that the appearance of new technologies makes it necessary to change the motherboard, because its installation on it involves a change of socket for the processor. AMD enjoyed a cost advantage due to the longevity of its socket AM4 motherboards. Let’s not forget that in tower PCs we have had 5 generations of Ryzen processors with the same connector for the CPU. However, with the Ryzen 7000, this additional cost has reached users due to the support, in particular, of DDR5 memory and NVMe SSDs with PCIe Gen 5 interface.
Are new AMD processors really selling for less?
The source of the information is MindFactory and the data refers to sales of processors in the German market. In reality, the sales are not that bad, and the paradox is that despite the fact that the Ryzen 7000s are not selling as expected, even with a recent price drop, we see that the Ryzen 5000s are dominating the market. As can be seen in the image below, corresponding to the List of the 20 best-selling processors the Ryzen 5000 with Vermeer architecture, which are not versions of the laptops, are the best sellers.
That is, despite the fact that its new desktop processors have not yet taken off, those of the previous generation have become the best-selling processors, at least in German salary. Above even those of Intel, so it’s not bad news for them if they occupy the first three places. In the fourth is the excellent i5-12400F, for us the best Intel processor in terms of price-performance ratio.
In any case, not all Ryzen 7000s have been deployed, since models without X at the end are still missing, those with lower TDP, achieve lower clock speeds, but at the same time are cheaper. Let’s not forget either that AMD has also lowered the prices of its previous generation of processors in order to clean up its stock in stores and make room for the new generation. Therefore, despite the fact that its new processors are selling less, it is a very natural process in the market when the jump from one generation to another occurs.
Motherboards for Ryzen 7000 remain the main barrier to purchase
Although the biggest problem is that currently the socket AM4 motherboards are still priced lower than the newer AM5s. Which is an additional reason for many users to choose other processors, which would be one of the reasons why ordinary users would always choose the Ryzen 5000.
And how does that translate into market share?
Unlike Intel, AMD is interested in gaining market share and although the German market is only part of the sample, it does not reflect the reality of a market dominated with an iron fist by Intel. This allows us to get an idea of how the market for selling boxed processors works differently than for laptops and pre-builts where the CPU is not chosen, but the system. In reality, the purchase intention of users who prefer to assemble their PC is no different in the rest of Europe, since it is the relationship between price and performance that really determines the purchase intention. most of the time.
Well, broken down by brand, we can see how AMD’s Ryzen 5000 has been the best-selling processors, surpassing its successor and even Intel’s Core 12 and 13. And if we focus only on the processors that appeared this year, we will see how the Ryzen 7000, codenamed Raphael, represent 9% of the processors sold, compared to 17% for Raptor Lake. So we can say that the new AMD processors are selling less than expected.