The Intel Corporation logo is seen in Davos
SAN FRANCISCO: Intel Corp, looking to regain its footing in the chip industry, introduced new personal-computer processors and graphics semiconductors, as well as software that makes it easier to use the company’s technology.
Intel’s latest Core desktop processors will provide gamers and other high-performance users with a significant boost, the company said at its Innovate event in San Jose, California. A new graphics chip for data centres, meanwhile, is aimed at challenging Nvidia Corp’s hold on that market.
That product, called Ponte Vecchio, has been shipped for use in a new government super computer.
CEO Pat Gelsinger is trying to restore Intel to its former dominance, and the Innovate presentation is part of that.
The chipmaker had hosted a well-attended product showcase called the Intel Developer Forum until 2017, when then-CEO Brian Krzanich scrapped the event. Now Gelsinger, in his second year at the helm, is bringing the stage show back. The stakes are high. Intel lost its status as the world’s largest chipmaker in recent years and fell behind rivals in manufacturing prowess.
Gelsinger, a longtime Intel executive who left to run VMware Inc for more than a decade, returned to the company in 2021 to orchestrate a turnaround. During Gelsinger’s time away, delays in product introductions led customers to look elsewhere for supplies and technological leadership.
A company that once had market share of more than 80% has been losing ground, and customers such as Amazon.com Inc have increasingly started to design their own chips.
Gelsinger’s challenge: getting the industry to follow Intel’s lead without first proving that its products are the best again. He also faces a slump in demand for PCs, the biggest end market for Intel’s products. — Bloomberg
