Intel seems to be struggling on the CPU front right now, but it could be seasonal Updated: Dec 4, 2024 9:37 am WePC is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Prices subject to change. Learn more Table of Contents Table of Contents Intel has been in hot water over the last few months, mainly when Its CPUs started self-immolating spectacularly, thanks to some micro-code errors. Intel then threw fuel onto the fire by dragging its feet about issuing recalls and refunds to its loyal customers (though with a few gentle nudges, it eventually did the right thing). Then, to cap it all off, Intel boldly chose to release a CPU generation that lacks hyperthreading and falls short of its own predecessors in gaming performance (in some instances). However, credit where credit is due: the Core Ultra CPUs (particularly the 285K) are fantastic in multi-core performance, beating almost everything, even with the lack of logical processors. But it seems the people still want more. We’re not discounting the Core Ultra series and branding it a failure; we think it’s a step in the right direction, and Intel still has a lot to figure out, but it’ll be a hack of architecture when it’s up to snuff. Intel’s CPU shipments are down 12% from the last quarter, AMD on the rise A study done by Jon Peddie Research on GPU market share mentions (in a small section) CPU shipments quarterly. It shows that shipments of Intel CPUs have dropped by 12% while AMD shipments are rising by 15%. CPU shipments overall have climbed by 12% over the last quarter (Q3 to Q4). Source: JPR Plenty of new CPUs have been released in the last couple of months (Ryzen 9000 series and Intel Core Ultra 200 series), which makes sense, but AMD wasn’t without its issues. The 9000 series launched a lot of criticism about focusing on efficiency over performance, which was reflected in the benchmarks. It turns out that the issues were mostly due to Windows, and that has since been fixed. The result of these lacklustre launches from both teams left people clamouring for a decent CPU. Enter the 9800X3D. This CPU seemed to be the beacon of hope we were looking for, as benchmarks showed it dominated every other processor on the map regarding gaming performance. The result was an almost instantaneous selling out of the 9800X3D across all areas (AMD have also sold a few more 9000 series processors, thanks to the recent fixes and TDP upgrade of the 9600X and 9700X). Why has Intel’s sales decreased? As we mentioned, Intel’s lacklustre gaming performance of its new chips is likely to blame. Intel failed to sell many units in key market areas, leading to a decline in quarterly growth. But as we mentioned before, Intel has taken a different path and has started to focus on CPU efficiency, so it might be another round or so before they get the new single-threaded 3 nm CPU cores properly dialled in, but then it does; the performance could be like nothing we have ever seen. Intel CPUs (especially the 14th generation) ran pretty hot and used a lot of power, so this move from Intel was inevitable. We can’t just keep cranking up the power every time a new generation launches. It’s not sustainable or safe. We just didn’t expect Intel to become so efficient so fast. Instead of being a gradual, slow introduction, it happened all at once. It could also be a seasonal affair, but that doesn’t explain why AMD’s sales have increased more than Intel’s sales have decreased. Maybe it’s because red is more in the holiday spirit. or maybe it’s because, in the eyes of the people, AMD has made a superior product. Hopefully, Intel’s new Arc GPUs will help bridge the gap and the revenue loss, as they seem to bring promise to the mid-range GPU market.
Intel’s troubles reflected in quarterly CPU shipment decrease of 12%
