AMD claims that its Opteron processor market share has soared to 22.1 per cent, based on first-quarter market data from Mercury Research. 

The figure marks a significant increase for AMD over the previous quarter, when the vendor sold 16.4 per cent of all server processors.

AMD's gains further illustrate the problems facing Intel. The chipmaker posted disappointing financial results last week, blaming them in part on competition from AMD.

But, while the Opteron's performance has allowed AMD to eat away at its rival's market share, Intel is expected to catch up when it releases its Conroe, Merom and Woodcrest processors for desktops, laptops and servers respectively.