In the third quarter of this year, Intel $ 19,2 billion, which allowed her to announce the renewal of a historical record, and at the same time admit that efforts aimed at moving away from the client systems segment are beginning to bear fruit. At the very least, if $9,7 billion was generated from the implementation of client solutions, then the revenue around the data business reached $9,5 billion. Intel claims that it now receives almost half of the total revenue in promising business areas. This is especially important, given that in the client segment, revenue decreased by 5%, while in all "promising" segments it increased by 2% to 20%.
The operating profit margin fell from 40 percentage points to 36 percentage points for the year, with memory prices and higher processor costs negatively impacting. However, one should not think that the 25% increase in processor output alone forced Intel to raise costs. In fact, significant funds are directed to increase the output of 10nm products from Intel. CEO Robert Swan even took it upon himself to say that the era of 10nm products has arrived.
Intel already has working samples of 10nm discrete graphics
Enterprises in Israel and Oregon are engaged in serial production of 10-nm products, and a facility in Arizona will soon join them. The level of yield of suitable products is improving at a faster pace. Next year, Intel also plans to release 25% more processors, specifically taking into account 10nm products. In the third quarter, production of Agilex 10nm programmable arrays began. In 2020, AI system accelerators, components for 10G base stations of the Snow Ridge family, Xeon processors for server and telecommunications equipment, and a discrete graphics processor will begin to be produced using 5nm technology. The head of Intel even called its symbol - DG1, and then added that the company already had its workable samples in the past quarter.
Once again, from the lips of the CEO of Intel, statements were made about the intentions of the corporation to regain its technological leadership in the field of lithography. Work is already underway to develop the 5nm process technology, although Robert Swan declined to comment on the timing of the appearance of the first 5nm products. But about Intel's intentions in the fourth quarter of 2021 to introduce a 7-nm discrete graphics processor for the server segment, he now speaks openly. According to his logic, such an announcement schedule allows Intel to claim that it will again move to the next stage of lithography every two or two and a half years.
From a technical point of view, when mastering the 7nm process technology, Intel will take into account the consequences of overestimated ambitions during the transition to 10nm, and therefore prefer to act more cautiously. However, it is within the framework of 7-nm technology that lithography with ultra-hard ultraviolet radiation (EUV) will be introduced. As has been noted more than once, Intel will do this much later than its main competitors in the face of TSMC and Samsung.
The shortage of processors this year will not be overcome
The measures taken by Intel to eliminate problems with the availability of 14-nm processors, company representatives at the reporting event spoke a lot and in detail. As already noted, the volume of production of processors managed to increase by 25% compared with the first nine months of last year. In the second half of the year, Intel client processor shipments will increase by double-digit percentages compared to the first half of the year, and next year Intel expects to increase client processor shipments by 5% or 9%, depending on market conditions. Now the company's management even admits that it is unlikely that demand will grow at a similar pace next year, and some lead in supply volumes is necessary for safety.
In the fourth quarter of this year, the shortage of Intel processors will not be overcome, but the head of the company continues to assert that it is now predominantly the budget sector of the client segment that suffers from this. In 2020, Intel hopes to completely eliminate shortages at quarterly reporting events, although it does not specify in what period of the year the situation should completely normalize.
Special competitive pressure this year Intel did not feel
Of course, the experts present at the quarterly reporting event could not resist asking questions about the competitive environment, which should become more difficult for Intel as new AMD products are released. Both the CEO and the CFO of Intel were deadpan, talking about the full compliance of the competitive situation over the past nine months with the corporation's own expectations. In other words, while Intel does not see any threats to its position in the market. George Davis, who is responsible for finance at the company, explained that if significant damage was done to Intel in the budget segment of the market, then only the shortage of the company's own processors is to blame.
Robert Swan, in his response to the same question about competition, was more candid. He acknowledges that Intel has to operate in a more competitive environment, but that doesn't stop the company from raising its annual revenue forecast by $1,5 billion and expecting improved operating margins. The only thing that has changed over the past nine months, according to the head of Intel, is the company's financial performance, and for the better. He was quick to add that Intel is not taking a "complacent stance" in assessing its 2020 outlook and understands that the competitive environment will get tougher next year. Intel will continue to defend its position in the market with all its might.
Source: 3dnews.ru