The last few years have not gone as planned for Intel. Difficulties in moving to a more advanced manufacturing process slowed the release of new chips and provided an opportunity to competitors like AMD make great progress. At the same time, the rise of low power ARM chips like the Qualcomm processors on Android phones, or Apple’s new M1 range, have become faster and more efficient.
New Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, a veteran of chip design (most notably as an architect on the Intel 486 in the ’80s) has a plan for how the company can get back on track . In this episode of our Upscaled explainer show, we take a look at what’s wrong with Intel and what they plan to do again to achieve “undisputed leadership” in the semiconductor world.
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It seems like a sensible decision. The world is currently in the midst of a flea shortage (have you tried to buy a GPU recently?) and there is a huge demand for more manufacturing capacity. Additionally, like companies like Apple (and maybe even Microsoft) abandoning the use of Intel chips, the fabulous company means Intel may not lose customers. Even if these companies don’t buy Intel processors, they will still need a manufacturer for their custom chips, and who better than Intel?
