The PC microprocessor bloodbath will continue through June, a market researcher predicts.

After the sharpest-ever decline in the fourth quarter 2008, worldwide PC microprocessor shipments will remain in the doldrums through the first half of 2009, according to IDC.

The sharp decline comes despite strong sales of Intel’s Atom microprocessor used in “Netbooks,” small laptops that offer online access while sacrificing some higher-end amenities.

IDC said the fourth quarter’s 17 percent unit-shipment decline versus the prior quarter was the worst since it began keeping records. PC microprocessor revenue tumbled 18 percent versus the third quarter and 22.2 percent from the comparable 2007 period to $6.78 billion.


''The decline in PC processor unit shipments in the fourth quarter was the worst sequential decline since IDC started tracking processor shipments in 1996," Shane Rau, director of Semiconductors: Personal Computing research, said in a statement. "After hinting at a decline last September, the market fell of a cliff in October and November.''

In the fourth quarter, Intel gained 1.7 percent in mobile PC processor market share to 89.1 percent, while AMD lost 1.2 percent to 10.2 percent. In desktop PC processors, Intel gained .4 percent to 73.9 percent, while AMD lost .4 percent to 26 percent. Intel also added 2.5 percent in the PC server/workstation market to capture 88.1 percent of the market, while AMD lost the same percentage for an 11.9 percent share.