“We expect CCG [Intel’s consumer chips] to be down modestly and DCAI [Intel’s server chips] to be up strongly as we prioritise capacity for server shipments over entry level client parts,” the company disclosed.
Tan revealed that Chipzilla will also release new AI GPUs each and every year, echoing rivals like Nvidia and AMD in up‑ending its traditional cadence, though it’s unclear what that means for gamers hoping for more from its graphics efforts.
While all eyes are on the incoming Panther Lake chips and the 18A process to show that Chipzilla can still produce the most potent consumer PC chips in‑house, the company reiterated it’s launching only one SKU of Panther Lake this year and will slowly roll out others in 2026.
CFO Zinsner hinted that Panther Lake will be “pretty expensive” to start with, and that the firm will rely on its existing Lunar Lake chips at least “in the first half of the year.”
He added that while yields on 18A are “adequate to address the supply but not where we need them to be to drive the appropriate level of margins,” which suggests it may be 2026 or even 2027 before the process delivers acceptable margins.
For now, Chipzilla intends to “work closely with customers to maximise our available output, including adjusting pricing and mix, to shift demand towards products where we have supply and they have demand.”
This implies Intel will steer PC makers toward Lunar Lake parts rather than fully fresh architecture. Tan reiterated he won’t invest in more capacity unless there’s “committed external demand,” and Zinsner says next year’s capacity investments won’t “significantly change expectations.”
The company states that 18A will be a “long‑lived node” powering “at least the next three generations of client and server products.”
If you were hoping for a return to the old “tick‑tock” model of alternating process shrinks and architecture launches, that’s off the table. But Chipzilla hasn’t cancelled its next node, 14A after all.
Tan said customers have stepped in to save 14A and the company is “delighted and more confident” in it, and Zinsner says it’s not only “off to a good start,” but better than 18A was at this point “in terms of performance and yields.”
