Although a lot has changed in the global microprocessor sector, one thing remains the same. Microprocessor giant Intel Corp., a partner of Advantech, continues to be the leading network processor supplier followed by Advanced Micro Devices (News - Alert) (AMD).

A study conducted by market research firm IHS iSuppli shows that in 2010 Intel (News - Alert) finished the year on top with 81.0 percent share of the global microprocessor revenue. While AMD came in second place with 11.4 percent share of the worldwide microprocessor market, all the other suppliers accounted for 7.5 percent share of the global market.

However, in comparison to 2009, the 2010 growth for Intel was fractional. Intel’s microprocessor revenues in 2010 grew only by 0.4 percentage points. By the same token, AMD was down 0.8 points from 12.2 percent in 2009, keeping it in second place.

With rapid rise in tablets, smartphones and other consumer devices, the microprocessor market bounced back in 2010 after significant decline in 2009. Market watcher IHS (News - Alert) iSuppli’s study shows that the microprocessor revenues in 2010 surged 25 percent to $40 billion, compared to a 6 percent drop in 2009.

Traditionally, the microprocessor market has been dominated by sales of Intel and AMD x86 products to the PC market. But, the year 2010 was marked by the rise of a new platform: the media tablet, led by Apple (News - Alert) Inc.’s iPad, which employed a non-x86 device as a core processor, designed by Apple and manufactured by Samsung Electronics Co.

According to IHS iSuppli, the unit shipments of media tablets soared to 17.4 million in 2010, up from zero in 2009, with levels expected to grow to more than 240 million units by 2015. As a result, semiconductor revenue from this market segment represent a significant opportunity not just for suppliers such as Samsung, which is already present in the fledgling tablet market, but also for PC processor incumbents AMD and Intel.

Meanwhile, in 2010, PC microprocessor technology underwent a fundamental change, the blending of microprocessor with graphics processor. The result was graphics-enabled microprocessors (GEMs) represented more than one-third of total microprocessor shipments for notebook and desktop PCs alike in 2010, says IHS iSuppli. Both Intel and AMD announced GEM (News - Alert) products targeting the mainstream notebook and desktop segments in 2010, as they raced with each other to keep on top of this new technology trend.

Speaking of graphics, Intel’s powerful second generation core network processors such as i5 and i7 come with built-in graphics capability to advance computing performance to new heights over previous generation. “ With built-in visual capabilities, they will revolutionize the PC experience in a way that is obvious for every user to see and appreciate -- a visibly smarter performance,” said R Sivakumar, managing director for Intel South Asia’s sales and marketing group.

The processing power of Intel’s second generation core network processors is being exploited by a variety of emerging applications. Face.com is a good example where this innovative company is utilizing the second generation core processors in its new updated face recognition algorithm to attain higher throughput results in a shorter response time.