Intel Is Dead (It Just Doesn’t Know It Yet)

Until now, Intel chip technology has been the densest Silicon-Packer in the Computer and Mobile Silicon ecosystem, however, now there’s newer, vibrant ideation, that’s about to brighten the glint reflecting from your Power-hungry eyes.

When the Silicon industry discovers the true potential of this new challenger, the established providers can kiss their current revenue models goodbye. Intel, Qualcomm, Google… if they don’t respond to what’s coming, they’re all toast.

Silicon holds Paramount Importance

CPUs, GPUs, Graphics Cards, Encoders and Decoders, are all significant breakthroughs that let the computer’s processing be displayed on a Pixel-Perfect sheet of pure crystalline. Every electronic contraption in the world relies upon the most abundant material on the globe- Sand. Computer chip manufacturers use this Silicon to earn tons of money.

Let’s face it; you unquestionably and admirably marvel at a Computer that has brilliant performance, outrageously high benchmarks, and unreasonably fast export speeds, that push your brain to melt due to its utter glory.

According to Statista:

The Semiconductor industry relishes a market size of about 552.96 billion U.S dollars worldwide

The market size is expected to go up to a staggering 600 billion U.S dollars by 2022.

The market has grown by 17.3% in 2021

Clearly, the profit margins of these companies(especially Intel) is extremely high, but there is one harsh problem:

It’s Far Too Expensive

So, why are Intel processors much costlier than their counterparts even though they have practically identical performance?

First and most apparent, Intel has a considerable profit margin per unit than AMD, Qualcomm, Google, and Apple; this is done with an endeavor to keep manufacturing costs down and charge more per device.

This is due to the use of Monolithic dies that have low yields and hence increase the price of producing the Intel chips.

According to Benchmarks.ul.com, Intel’s pre-eminent CPU processor is the Intel Core i9–12900K that still performs well however costs a premium of $599 compared to other flagship processors. The other processors cost much less while giving almost the same if not better performance.

From Investopedia, we gather that Intel is the largest semiconductor company in the world, based on its 2020 revenue of $77.9 billion.

But, if you ask anyone these days, literally anyone, “Do you use Intel?” The answer that will receive is

No! Of course it’s a No!

Intel is just plainly, simply, and unarguably DEAD; and there is nothing they can do about it. Their famed and well-built brand image has fallen to the streets of Gotham. Though, I remember when every laptop I saw in stores and otherwise had a blue Intel sticker, pinching my soft wrists, while I scrolled the trackpad.

This is why it is commonly known as:

A Pre-Built Computer Chip

Intel is known to be a pre-built computer chip; nobody wants it, but nobody will reject it. This is due to their distinguished brand image that they have continued to sweeten year on year. They are known to place the i5s and the i7s in various laptops, but most of the customers have either struck a deal with other companies or started manufacturing their own chips.

But, I must mention that major laptop companies such as HP, Asus, Lenovo, and Microsoft are leaning towards AMD to place one of their most robust consumer chips in their medium to high-priced laptops.

Furthermore, the gaming and corporate market favor AMD, as seen in these statistics. They are increasing by 2% in market share every quarter, leading to a tremendous 8% increase in this year itself.

Distinguished gamers have veered towards AMD Ryzen to exhibit their gaming dexterities on a computer that has enough muscles to support their gigabyte file size.

Intel could not match up to the performance of AMD due to:

A Major Delay

A manufacturing delay has caused a significant dip in Intel’s market share. The problem for Intel is that its transistor technology, measured in nanometers, has fallen behind that of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC), which builds chips for rival AMD and Apple(Arm64).

It is still using the old-fashioned 10 nm chips, while the rest of the competitive ecosystem uses 7 and 5-nanometer processes. It’s like Intel was sleeping the last 3 years, unaware of their surroundings, due to their overconfident nature.

They decided not to move from 10 to 7 nanometers, which has mainly led to their downfall. This was probably the worst decision they could have made…and there is solely one company that has caused this turn of tables in the market and has also brought in an earthquake of crisp 100 dollars raining from the night sky- AMD

Introducing AMD

AMD, less commonly known as Advanced Micro Devices, and an arch-nemesis of Intel. They have vanquished and completely obliterated Intel from the gaming industry, making them the most profitable manufacturer for gaming PCs in the Market.

They have done this by:

Creating a great and trustworthy brand image

Creating potent, mighty powerful chips

Making the only company in the world with both high-performance compute and high-performance graphics technology, while using their expertise to combine them into custom solutions.

It is an absolute game-changer, as they provide all these bullets in a cheaper, more efficient, and better-packaged product.

And all that!👇🏻

Introducing Apple

With Apple’s mega-hit launch of the M Series chip in the 2020 WWDC, as well as the proliferation of the Pro and Max versions, Intel was bound to fall like a bird with a bruised wing. Sorry, that was mean! They had chosen to scrap Intel for their own architecture of chips manufactured by TSMC.

Their intricate architecture and diamond-like brand image have helped them become a success over the past year.

The performance to wattage ratio in these chips is utterly remarkable, unlike Intel’s power-hungry Alder Lake chips that quaff a glass of juice, while Apple sips on Earl Grey.

Though, the only thing missing for Apple to command the ecosystem, is the “support for the ARM-based architecture and Metal GPU Framework”. We will be witnessing an improvement in the near future as App developers understand the importance of Apple users.

So, what are Intel’s Options?

Honestly, quite literally, Intel has run out of options. Intel’s $20 Billion vision for a manufacturing comeback will take years to execute. Some may call it a Dead END, but I would call it a hiatus.

They have everything they need:

An excellent brand image

The most skilled employees in the world

The most market share in the Silicon industry

All that’s left is to transition to smaller chip size and use a better, or more efficient manufacturing process to reduce the price of the chipsets.

AMD is rising fast, but still, Intel has the potential to be back again…it may take longer than expected, as we are in a world that is lacking silicon. They can either strike a deal with TSMC to create the chips for them or improve their manufacturing processes to evolve to the current market(most likely). These options aren’t the best, yet are worth a try.

Knowing Intel, it has the resilience to bounce back!

Thanks for Reaching the END!

But, before you move on with your lives, Get a Medium Membership! and request kindly support me(a budding blogger) by following me and clapping on this article!

Peace!

✌🏻