AMD chipped away at Intel Corp's market share for computer microprocessors in the fourth quarter, as consumer and business spending rose on hopes for a strong tech sector recovery, according to the latest data from iSuppli.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc's share of sales of microprocessor chips -- the brains of a computer -- amounted to 12.1 percent, a gain of 1.6 percentage points from the year-ago fourth quarter, the industry tracker said on Wednesday.

Intel's market share fell by 1 percentage point over the same period, but the world's largest chip maker remained the market leader by far with 80.6 percent of overall sales in the 2009 fourth quarter.

Smaller competitors, such as VIA Technologies Inc <2388.TW>, accounted for 7.3 percent of the market -- a loss of 0.6 percentage points from the same time in 2008.

Neither Intel nor AMD saw much change in market share for full-year 2009, both gaining less than a percentage point to level out at 80.3 percent and 12.1 percent, respectively.

The numbers showed neither company was greatly affected by lower average selling prices for personal computers, iSuppli analyst Matthew Wilkins said. It also indicates that neither was able to capitalize on the situation very effectively.

Shares of Intel rose 0.36 percent to $22.42 on Nasdaq in early afternoon trading, while AMD gained 0.86 percent at $9.35 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Ian Sherr; Editing by Richard Chang)

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