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Intel's Humbling (stratechery.com)

569 points by jseliger · 931 days ago · 401 comments on HN

Article summary

Intel is facing significant challenges, including a decline in stock price and loss of process leadership to TSMC. The company's new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, is working to transform Intel into a foundry that serves external customers and regain process leadership. Intel has made progress, including the development of its 18A process, but the company still faces significant competition from AMD and other players. The ultimate success of Gelsinger's strategy will depend on the company's ability to execute and deliver results.

Main themes

  • Intel's struggles
  • Apple's silicon strategy
  • semiconductor competition
  • process leadership
  • foundry model
  • innovation and improvement

What commenters say

  • Apple's decision to switch to its own silicon was driven by Intel's failure to deliver on its node shrink roadmap and provide efficient, cool designs.
  • Intel's struggles are not solely the result of Apple's actions, but rather a combination of factors including the company's own execution and competition from AMD.
  • The performance and power efficiency of Apple's silicon are significantly better than Intel's offerings, even when considering the same power envelope.
  • Intel has made progress in recent years, but still has a lot of work to do to catch up to AMD and regain process leadership.
  • The idea that Apple 'sandbagged' Intel chips in their MacBooks is not supported by evidence, and Apple's designs have consistently prioritized cool and quiet operation.
  • The competition between Intel, AMD, and Apple is driving innovation and improvement in the semiconductor industry, with each company pushing the others to improve performance, power efficiency, and design.
  • The choice of processor is not solely determined by performance, but also by factors such as power consumption, heat generation, and design considerations.
  • The future of the semiconductor industry will be shaped by the ongoing competition between Intel, AMD, Apple, and other players, with each company vying for leadership in different markets and applications.