The hysteria surrounding Intel's roadmap leaked to the press the other day, as presented by Dell, did not undermine the optimistic mood of the company's management for . Moreover, none of the analysts present asked to comment on this situation, and everyone focused only on Intel's own statements.
Strictly speaking, the corporation itself identified the following trends ... In the first quarter, revenue remained at the same period last year, $ 16,1 billion. In the segment of platforms built "around data", revenue decreased by 5%, in the classic PC segment, revenue increased by %. If in the first case, Intel blames the market overstocking and economic uncertainty, especially in China, for the negative dynamics, then in the second case, the company was rescued by the growth in demand for gaming systems, and, oddly enough, the shortage of its own processors from more affordable price niches. As a result, fewer processors were sold, but their average selling price increased.
The rate of return declined year-on-year from 60,6 percentage points to 56,6 percentage points under GAAP. R&D and marketing spending fell 7% from $5,2 billion to $4,9 billion. Operating income fell by the same seven percent, from $4,5 billion to $4,2 billion. Net income decreased 11% from $4,5. .4,0 billion to $6 billion. Earnings per share fell 0,93% from $0,87 to $10. As Intel representatives explained, the main negative impact on financial performance was made by memory prices, as well as rising costs for the development of a 14-nm process technology in this phase of its life cycle, plus the need to invest in increasing production volumes of 10-nm products. Robert Swan, who is speaking at the conference for the first time as an acting CEO, expressed hope that the negative impact of the XNUMXnm process on margins will lessen as yields improve.
Progress with the 10nm process is encouraging
The head of Intel did not hide that he was pleased with the situation with the development of 10-nm technology. In its presentation materials, the company refers to Ice Lake's 10nm processors as the "first mass-produced" products produced under these technological norms. Let's not forget that since last year, Intel has been producing 10-nm Cannon Lake processors in limited quantities and assortment, which absolutely cannot be classified as mass-produced.
If before that Intel got off with the standard wording about “the first client 10-nm processors that will hit the shelves by the Christmas sale season in 2019”, now a definition more understandable to the general public has come from the mouth of Swan. He explained that 10-nm Ice Lake processors as part of finished computers will be available for sale in the fourth quarter of this year.
Secondly, the head of Intel has made it clear that the first 10nm Ice Lake processors will qualify as serial products before the end of the second quarter. This concept is largely an accounting one, but in practice, the main volumes of deliveries will still fall in the second half of the year.
Thirdly, Intel representatives emphasized that they managed to halve the production cycle time for the release of 10-nm processors, and this allows us to expect that by the end of the year production volumes will be higher than originally planned. The level of output of suitable processors has also improved.
Finally, about the timing of the release of Intel's 10nm server processors, it was said that they would debut shortly after the client ones. However, before the first half of 2020, server representatives of the Ice Lake architecture will still not appear, but we are no longer talking about the historically established lag of a year and a half.
New 7nm processors AMD EPYC will also be able to withstand 14nm products
When one of the analysts invited to the quarterly conference asked Swan about the competitive positioning of Intel server processors in light of the imminent announcement of AMD's 7nm products, the head of the first company was not particularly embarrassed. He said that even within the framework of 14-nm technology, Intel managed to provide a performance increase, which is enough with a margin.
Xeon processors have learned to accelerate the calculations used in artificial intelligence systems. According to Swan, they do it even more effectively than specialized accelerators based on competitor GPUs. Next-generation Intel server processors are capable of running Optane DC memory. Finally, they offer up to 56 cores, and before the release of 10nm successors, they will be able to withstand market challenges, as the head of the company is convinced.
Modems 5G and optimization: not yet decided
Intel management was forced to touch on another topic that arose recently in connection with the decision to abandon the release of 5G modems for smartphones. Robert Swan explained that an analysis of the potential profitability of this type of activity forced this decision. When it became clear that Intel would not achieve sane profitability when releasing modems for smartphones operating in 5G networks, it was decided to curtail the corresponding developments.
Reviews of the remaining 5G activities will continue until early next year. Intel will have to figure out how successful the business of producing components for telecommunications equipment for 5G networks will be, how it can apply its “know-how” in the segment of the “Internet of things” and personal computers. Contracts for the supply of modems for 4G networks will be implemented.
Intel has high hopes for the 5G base station market. It intends to take a share of about 2022% by 40. Programmable matrix accelerators and integrated solutions like Snow Ridge, demonstrated at MWC 2019 in February, will form the basis of such equipment, and the company does not think to slow down in this direction.
Source: 3dnews.ru