In short: Intel Lunar Lake cellular CPUs controversially built-in system reminiscence onto the SoC, stopping customers from putting in further RAM. The corporate now partially blames the choice for its newest disastrous earnings report. Moreover, Intel’s restructuring plans would possibly contain downsizing or ceasing improvement Arc desktop GPUs.
Through the firm’s third-quarter 2024 earnings name, Intel confirmed that its future laptop computer chips will return to the standard use of RAM sticks, reversing Lunar Lake’s radical shift to baked-in system reminiscence. The corporate can also be reassessing GPU improvement over the approaching years.
The lately launched Lunar Lake Core Extremely 200V mild cellular CPUs include both 16GB or 32GB of reminiscence constructed into the package deal. Intel claims that forgoing SODIMM sticks reduces energy consumption throughout reminiscence transfers by 40 %, however customers are caught with the RAM that ships with the system.
When requested whether or not the corporate would proceed utilizing this design, CEO Pat Gelsinger confirmed that future architectures comparable to Panther Lake and Nova Lake will not use on-package reminiscence. Furthermore, Gelsinger described Lunar Lake as a one-off mission initially meant for a distinct segment market earlier than it grew in response to the rising AI PC market.
Intel CFO David Zinsner admitted that integrating system reminiscence considerably impacted Lunar Lake’s gross margins. The feedback have been made throughout an earnings name following the corporate’s Q3 2024 monetary report, which confirmed a $16.6 billion internet loss – 10 instances the earlier quarter’s lack of $1.6 billion. Analysts count on Intel to put up billions in losses for 2024 total, Chipzilla’s first annual internet loss since 1986.
When discussing the longer term, Gelsinger talked about plans to streamline the corporate’s product stack to simplify improvement. This implies fewer SKUs, with discrete graphics on the chopping block. Gelsinger stated the market could have much less demand for devoted graphics playing cards sooner or later.
Intel launched its first line of discrete GPUs, Arc Alchemist, in 2022, however delays put the parts behind the curve in comparison with competing merchandise from Nvidia and AMD. Intel gained just a few proportion factors of market share over the past couple of years, and that skinny slice had utterly evaporated by the second half of 2024.
As Crew Crimson and Crew Inexperienced plan to launch new GPU lineups in Q1 2025, Intel’s second era of discrete graphics, Arc Battlemage, stays on observe to beat them to the market in late 2024. Nevertheless, anticipated efficiency profiles stay unclear, and Battlemage’s market efficiency would possibly determine the destiny of the third deliberate lineup, Arc Celestial.
