AMD (AMD +9.58%), like its rivals Intel (INTC +12.63%) and NVIDIA (NVDA +1.88%), depends on the PC market for much of its revenue. Although 2013 was a year of contraction for the traditional PC industry, AMD was able to handily beat the market, with shares rising more than 50%. The gain was primarily fueled by a stream of improving quarters, with AMD finally reporting a profitable quarter in October.
In the following video, Fool contributor Sam Mattera briefly summarizes AMD's year, explaining how the company was able to outperform in 2013 despite disappointing PC shipment data. AMD's push into providing chips for devices other than traditional PCs helped fuel AMD's gain, even as the company's products continued to be outsold by Intel (in PC chips) and NVIDIA (in graphics cards). Sam explains that 2013 was a great year for AMD shareholders, and the company's ongoing transition appears to be going successfully.
