Intel's AI PC chips aren't selling well — instead, old Raptor Lake chips boom
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission.
Credit: Intel
Times are already tough for Intel, but now it turns out its new, heavily-promoted AI PC chips aren't selling as well as expected, thus creating a shortage of production capacity for its older chips. The news comes as the CEO announced looming layoffs and a poor financial report sent the company's stock tumbling.
Intel says its customers are buying less expensive previous-generation Raptor Lake chips instead of the new, and significantly more expensive, AI PC models like the Lunar Lake and Meteor Lake chips for laptops.
During the earnings call, Intel announced that it currently faces a shortage of production capacity for its 'Intel 7' process node, and the company expects this shortage to "persist for the foreseeable future." That's an unexpected shortage to have, as Intel's current-gen chips use newer process nodes from TSMC instead of Intel's older 'Intel 7' node. Intel is a master at production capacity planning, so its disclosure points to an unexpected surge in sales of the older 'Intel 7' products.
Intel explained that the shortage of its 7nm production capacity is due to an unexpected surge in demand for its "N-1 and N-2" products, a reference to its two prior-generation chip families. This trend is occurring in both the consumer and data center markets.
"What we're really seeing is much greater demand from our customers for n-1 and n-2 products so that they can continue to deliver system price points that consumers are really demanding," explained Intel's Michelle Johnston Holthaus. "As we've all talked about, the macroeconomic concerns and tariffs have everybody kind of hedging their bets and what they need to have from an inventory perspective. And Raptor Lake is a great part. Meteor Lake and Lunar Lake are great as well, but come with a much higher cost structure, not only for us, but at the system ASP price points for our OEMs as well."
Bernstein Research's Stacy Rasgon pressed Holtahaus about the implications for the company's upcoming Panther Lake chips, which are set to launch at the end of the year, especially given that the looming tariff disruptions have not yet occurred.
Holthaus said the Panther Lake launch remains on track and the company expects continued success in the commercial market, which she said typically precedes broader consumer adoption. Notably, she did not directly address the company's expected next-gen AI PC adoption for consumer laptops. Regardless, the company also continues its expansive work to promote and cultivate a growing developer ecosystem to unleash the power of its AI wares.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
New on Netflix May 31-June 6: 7 new TV shows and movies to stream this week, picked by our editor
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Want to find yourself something new on Netflix this week, for a binge-watch or just an evening's entertainment? I'm on the case. As part of my job as What to Watch's streaming editor, compile weekly lists of the best new additions that Netflix releases. This week, I'm looking at new shows, movies and specials that'll release on Netflix between Saturday, May 31 and Friday, June 6. Many of the Netflix Originals I pick end up on our list of the best Netflix shows and best Netflix movies. Not all of them but I want to give you multiple options depending on your taste. Netflix's overall list this week had quite a few returning shows but I wanted a balance of original and popular ones, so there's a fair blend here. There's lots of crime, but that's Netflix for you. So let's find you something to watch on Netflix this week: We begin the week in Spain, for a six-part crime drama about a former spy called Sara. Woman in the Shadows is about this woman who forces herself to return to the intelligence game because she wants to get revenge for the death of her son. However her task sees her having to confront some uncomfortable facts about who her son really was. Releases on Tuesday, June 3 Shaquille O'Neal probably needs no introduction, but the famous basketball player has since his sporting days proven just as successful in business. And his new docuseries coming mid-week explores that side of him. Power Moves is a part-sport, part-business docuseries about Shaq's time leading the Reebok Basketball brand. He tries to revitalize it using his knowledge and passion for the game as well as his financial and branding acumen. Releases on Wednesday, June 4 A beloved though also divisive drama series returns to Netflix this week with Ginny & Georgia season 3, which gets all ten episodes of its new run at the same time. The show is about a mother and daughter (and the mother's other child) who try to find a way to settle down after being on the run for many years. In the season 2 finale, Georgia was arrested for murder, so season 3 will show Ginny trying to free her. Releases on Thursday, June 5 Shane Gillis' home-made workplace comedy Tires returns this week. The first season was made and funded by the divisive comedian and it was successful enough to get Netflix to create a second. Tires is about the workers of an auto shop who struggle to keep in business despite the incompetent and nervous owner, and the slacking attitude of everyone else. Season 2 follows them struggling to come to terms with unexpected new success. Releases on Thursday, June 5 Another Korean action series lands on Friday, June 6 with Mercy for None, which is set among Seoul's seedy criminal underbelly. Mercy for None tells the story of Gi-jun, who was a mob enforcer but left his brother and that life (and the city) behind over a decade ago. However when his brother is killed, Gi-jun returns to the city to find the murderer, a journey which involves fighting lots of the gang members. Releases on Friday, June 6 His partnership with Netflix mostly focuses on TV shows, but prolific creator Tyler Perry has a new movie arriving on Friday, June 6 which he wrote and directed. Straw is about a single mother called Janiyah whose daughter is sick. Janiyah is struggling to keep caring for the child and something happens which pushes her to the edge. Releases on Friday, June 6 We travel to Australia for our final series of the week, which is based on a book by Jane Harper. The Survivors stars Charlie Vickers and Yerin Ha and it's set in a fictional town in Tasmania. The Survivors is about a young boy who leaves said town after the mysterious death of two children and the disappearance of a third. Fifteen years later he returns to the town, this time with a wife and young baby in tow. However another murder takes place, and it sparks off an investigation which seems linked to the last crime. Secrets are revealed which affect the man and his family. Releases on Friday, June 6
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Google's AI push overshadowed by an awkward date error
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Google was all about AI at its annual I/O event last week. The tech giant wants its Gemini AI model everywhere and plans to put it in all of its devices. It also plans on bringing its AI into more of its services. One of those services getting the AI upgrade is Gmail. Over the course of the upcoming weeks, Gmail users will begin seeing AI summaries of their email, according to a blog post from Google. This summary will provide bullet points of what was in the email as well as any follow-up replies to make sure you're up to date. This feature will only be available on emails in English. Those who don't care for AI summarizing their correspondence can opt out of the feature, but it will be enabled by default. Google began instituting AI features into Gmail last year by having Gemini provide instant replies that no longer sounded generic. At the same time, Google is implementing new AI features, but some people have found the company's AI is far from perfect. A post on Reddit went viral earlier in the week when a screenshot of an interaction with an AI summary on Google Search was unable to determine what the current year was. And yet we can't turn this off from r/google In the screenshot, the individual did a Google search asking, "Is it 2025?" The AI summary they received apparently had issues with the question saying, "It is not 2025. The current year is 2024." Other people on X posted similar results. Wired did multiple tests over this prompt and confirmed the issue. In one case, the AI summary reiterated that it was 2024, but said that in parts of New Zealand and Russia, it was 2025. It even went on to contradict itself, saying that it was 2025 after claiming it was 2024. A Google spokesperson says it was working on the problem. 'As with all Search features, we rigorously make improvements and use examples like this to update our systems. The vast majority of AI Overviews provide helpful, factual information, and we're actively working on an update to address this type of issue,' Meghann Farnsworth, a Google spokesperson, told Wired. As of the publication of this article, Googling "is it 2025" returns with an AI summary saying, "Yes, according to the provided information, the current year is 2025." It remains to be seen if this problem will happen again in 2026. Google makes a bold pitch for an all-encompassing AI: "Project Astra" Google and XREAL announce Project Aura, XR smart glasses for Android An exclusive look at Google's NotebookLM app on Android and iOS
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
Intel says you can download more FPS for Lunar Lake — new driver promises up to 10% higher average frame rates, 25% improvement in 99th percentiles
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Last month, Intel launched new power-optimized drivers for handheld devices, touting performance gains across various titles. With the latest Arc graphics driver version 32.0.101.6874, Intel is expanding these optimizations to all Core Ultra 200V-powered devices, across laptops and mini-PCs. Since Intel's Arc is still in its early stages, many initial launches have improved with age due to subsequent driver improvements. This has been evident with Alchemist. Furthermore, despite Battlemage offering a relatively stronger and more stable platform at launch, it's clear there is still untapped potential, as shown by these software-driven improvements. Intel's Arc graphics driver 32.0.101.6734 introduced notable low-power mode optimizations for Lunar Lake-powered handhelds, specifically the MSI Claw 8 AI+. After extensive validation and testing, Intel is expanding the scope of these optimizations to all devices, whether laptops or mini-PCs. First-party metrics suggest a 10% bump in performance across the board in nine titles, with the Core Ultra 7 258V at 17W, but your mileage will vary. We'll have to verify these claims through independent testing. It's important to note these improvements are specifically for Intel's low-power Arc 130V and Arc 140V offerings, not the desktop-based Battlemage Arc B-series. The new drivers also address a slew of bugs across various productivity applications and games. A noteworthy detail in the patch notes is the increased memory allocation for integrated Arc GPUs across Core Ultra Series 1 (Meteor Lake) and Series 2 (Arrow Lake and Lunar Lake) product lines, now supporting up to 57% compared to the previous 50% cap. Thus, a 16GB host system can allocate 9.12GB to the iGPU, as opposed to 8GB previously. This isn't the first time Intel has offered improved performance through software updates, as a previous driver release from last October increased FPS by as much as 24%. This builds on earlier optimizations for the Arc platform, so we'll probably see further, likely less pronounced improvements down the road. Most software divisions are likely hard at work preparing the groundwork for next-generation Celestial (Xe3) graphics, set to be introduced with Panther Lake early next year. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News to get our up-to-date news, analysis, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
