Well, if you compare the high end series of processors between Intel and AMD, Intel specification are better (at least technically) than AMD, though the performance difference isn't really noticeable between machine with same specs.
Personally, I always prefer ATI (too bad that AMD about to ditch this name) rather than NVIDIA.
I agree that people and manufacturers tends to go where crowds go. It's AMD that first releasing AMD Fusion then Intel tag along with their Sandy Bridge. Though Intel got hiccups with their Sandy Bridge line, still if you go to store to buy a decent laptop you'll mostly got it packed with Intel inside it (and mostly pack with NVIDIA graphics too
)