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Intel: meeting chip demand "remains a challenge"

by Mark Tyson on 21 November 2019, 10:11

Tags: Intel (NASDAQ:INTC)

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Intel has published a blog post linking an open letter (PDF) to customers and partners. The subject of the update is PC CPU supplies - or rather the thorny topic of delays in these shipments. Michelle Johnston Holthaus, EVP and GM of Sales, Marketing and Communications Group at Intel apologises to those affected by the ongoing CPU shortage situation but asserts that Intel is acting and investing to iron out these issues.

Holthaus thinks it is good to keep customers informed, and to explain what Intel is doing to work through the supply challenges it is experiencing. First of all, Intel has invested at record levels on capital equipment - increasing its 14nm wafer capacity, while it has been simultaneously ramping up 10nm production. Secondly, Intel has shifted more and more fab work to third parties, allowing it to concentrate its efforts on CPU manufacture.

So far Intel is moderately pleased with its progress, citing the fact that it increased its "second-half PC CPU supply by double digits compared with the first half of this year". However, it notes that this still isn't keeping pace with demand as the market has grown faster than Intel can keep up with and beyond analyst forecasts. Thus, for the upcoming next few months, Intel will be struggling to meet demand. With this in mind Intel apologises again for the significant challenges it is causing for businesses that rely on its components. The letter to customers and partners ends with Holthaus saying that Intel "will continue working tirelessly to provide you with Intel products to support your innovation and growth".

While all this is going on, Intel insists it will still meet its Q4 guidance, which was issued alongside its latest earnings release in October. However, the situation of a lack of capacity is obviously a missed opportunity, even without a resurgent AMD snapping away at Intel's various customers and turning heads across the industry - from traditional desktop CPUs, to servers, to mobile.



HEXUS Forums :: 7 Comments

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In today's news, intel struggles to remember how to compete and slowly begins to realise that it has been resting on its laurels for far too long, taking for granted its previous dominant position. Meanwhile AMD continues to kick it around the park.

Classic tortoise-hare situation, or an alpha male who's dominated the pack for so long it's forgotten what it's like to have to slug it out suddenly being confronted with a fresh challenger emerging from adolescence.
atemporal
In today's news, intel struggles to remember how to compete and slowly begins to realise that it has been resting on its laurels for far too long, taking for granted its previous dominant position. Meanwhile AMD continues to kick it around the park.

Classic tortoise-hare situation, or an alpha male who's dominated the pack for so long it's forgotten what it's like to have to slug it out suddenly being confronted with a fresh challenger emerging from adolescence.

People keep saying that, but honestly I think this is the best they could have done. AFAICS at no point did they let up on their R&D spending, they just aren't a talented enough company to compete right now.

I notice they claim there that they have increased their 14nm capacity, I wonder if that is referring to how they shut down one of their failed 10nm lines and re-fitted it back to 14nm.
I'm not sure it's much to do with talent, they've probably got that in spades, it's more that someone took a gamble on cobalt interconnects and that didn't pan out, if it had they'd have been well ahead of the curve with a route forward all the way down to 2-3nm.
Corky34
I'm not sure it's much to do with talent, they've probably got that in spades, it's more that someone took a gamble on cobalt interconnects and that didn't pan out, if it had they'd have been well ahead of the curve with a route forward all the way down to 2-3nm.

Taking a gamble goes against all the engineering methodologies of rapid evolution of product popular in the last 20 years. They didn't have to take a gamble on process, they didn't have to tie their cpu designs to that 10nm gamble. Really, they could have left out all sorts of things and still released a 10nm line, leaving the bits left out for a 10+++ process later.

So Intel pumped billions into R&D, and out came lacklustre improvements in their cores which are still crawling with security flaws which they can't manufacture because they stupidly bet the farm with no plan-b. This is on a background of regular employee sackings that can't be good for morale.

Intel have stayed at the top for decades through a combination of buying the best process tech, monopolistic practices and luck. Engineering talent has never been a big part of the equation.
No one said it was the engineers who took the gamble, based on nothing more than a hunch i suspect it was whatsisname, their CEO that stood down that over-rode the advise he was getting from the shop floor, so to speak.