Server CPU Shipments to Grow Over 40% in 2027 as Arm Gains Share

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TrendForce’s latest AI server industry research indicates that demand for server CPUs has grown steadily since the second half of 2025 as AI service providers actively introduce AI agent applications. Server CPU shipments are projected to increase 31% YoY in 2026. 

In 2027, continued growth in AI inference demand and rising adoption of agentic AI services are expected to drive server CPU shipments up by more than 40% YoY, potentially reshaping a market landscape traditionally dominated by x86 processors.

TrendForce notes that the emergence of AI agents is expected to increase the share of AI inference workloads in cloud data centers, gradually changing the ratio of CPUs to GPUs/ASICs within servers. Based on server rack configurations planned by major providers and their anticipated growth trajectories, the CPU-to-GPU/ASIC ratio is expected to shift from the traditional 1:8 toward 1:2—or even 1:1—providing additional momentum for server CPU shipments.

The x86 segment, led by Intel and AMD, accounted for nearly 90% of the server CPU market in 2025, with AMD already gaining share. Arm-based processors, meanwhile, had only recently surpassed 10% of the market. Both x86 and Arm CPU suppliers are aggressively increasing shipments in 2026 to capitalize on opportunities driven by AI inference demand. 

However, process and packaging challenges with Intel’s new products have delayed shipments. The company continues to rely on its existing Emerald Rapids and Granite Rapids product lines, while limited internal manufacturing capacity constrains overall shipment growth and prevents it from fully meeting customer orders. This has contributed to a decline in market share.

AMD’s next-generation Venice processors entered small-scale mass production in 2026, although its existing Genoa and Turin platforms remain the primary shipment drivers. Despite tight capacity at TSMC limiting AMD’s ability to accommodate additional orders, TrendForce estimates that the company’s share of the server CPU market will increase significantly to approximately 27% in 2026.

In the Arm-based CPU segment, AWS continues to deploy its internally developed Graviton processors, while demand for NVIDIA’s Grace CPUs continues to expand. Google’s in-house Axion CPUs have entered high-volume shipments, and Microsoft’s Cobalt 100 and Arm’s internally developed AGI processors have also entered mass production and shipment. These developments are expected to drive faster shipment growth for Arm-based CPUs than for x86 products in 2026, pushing their share of the server CPU market above 20%.

TrendForce expects Arm-based CPUs to capture approximately 30% of the server CPU market in 2027. Growth will be driven primarily by a substantial ramp-up in NVIDIA Vera CPU shipments, alongside high-volume production of new processors from Google, AWS, Microsoft, OpenAI, Arm, and Huawei, as well as Alibaba’s introduction of new Yitian 720/730 CPUs.

Within the x86 segment, Intel’s next-generation products are expected to remain in limited supply, while AMD is projected to maintain more stable shipments. AMD's market share is expected to increase further as the company plans to launch new products in the first half of 2027.