Lip-Bu Tan

Tan says he is determined to reclaim Intel's CPU leadership and is doubling or tripling down on customer-customized processors as a fast-growing area.

We have to reclaim the leadership in CPU. That is something that I am very determined to do. I'm modifying it for customer needs, and so that, to me, is a fast-growing area, and I'm double, triple down on it.

Tan said customers have recently begun signaling a PC slowdown driven by memory prices and availability.

In recent weeks, our customers began signaling a PC slowdown based on the memory prices and availability.

Tan believes GPUs excel at AI thinking while CPUs are far more energy-efficient for running AI agents, and the server CPU market could grow up to fivefold from about $40 billion over five years.

could increase as much as five times from where it is today

Lip-Bu Tan expects global PC shipments to fall 12% in 2026 and another 10% in 2027.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said global PC shipments could fall 12% in 2026. He expects another 10% drop in 2027.

Tan blamed component shortages and rising memory prices for delayed PC purchases, with the correction accelerating over the past two months.

Tan pointed to component shortages and rising memory prices. He said those could lead buyers to delay purchases. He added that the correction sped up over the past two months.

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel faces one of the most significant supply shortages in history, with processor demand exceeding its production capacity.

The company is facing what CEO Lip-Bu Tan describes as “one of the most significant supply shortages in history,” with demand for processors now exceeding what Intel can produce.

Tan said the industry faces one of history's biggest supply shortages driven by unprecedented AI demand, and Intel will struggle to keep pace with server demand in coming quarters.

The industry continues to navigate one of the most significant supply shortages in history, driven by the unprecedented demand for Super Intelligence. Against this backdrop, I am pleased by the progress we made growing our server supply in Q3. I am mindful about the ongoing challenges we face in the future quarters to keep pace with server demand.

Tan said EMIB and EMIB-T are progressing well internally and gaining significant external customer traction, with Intel securing packaging capacity.

On Advanced Packaging, we are pleased by the progress we are making with EMIB and EMIB-T for our internal products. Both continue to see significant external customer traction as well. We continue to improve on execution, working with our supply chain to secure the capacity to meet the needs of our Advanced Packaging customers.

Tan noted robust progress on Hybrid Bonding Interconnect, an enabler of 3D stacking for upcoming server products.

We are also seeing robust progress in the readiness of Hybrid Bonding Interconnect (HBI), which is an enabler of 3D chip stacking for our upcoming server products.

Lip-Bu Tan said server CPU industry units should grow 30% in both 2026 and 2027, with growth constrained by supply rather than demand.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company expects industry server CPU units to grow 30% in 2026 and 2027, a figure that "would be higher in both years if additional industry supply were available," he said, suggesting that growth is capped by supply rather than demand.

Lip-Bu Tan said the industry is going through one of the most significant supply shortages in history, driven by unprecedented demand for Super Intelligence.

one of the most significant supply shortages in history," driven by "unprecedented demand for Super Intelligence.

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel must unlock more supply to meet extraordinary Xeon demand, while substrate shortages constrain output and will take time to resolve.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the company must unlock additional supply to meet extraordinary demand for the Xeon family. Substrate shortages limit output, and resolving them will take time.

Tan said Intel expects to announce a couple of external foundry customers within the next two quarters, and that its 14A chips are making tremendous progress.

We're going to have a couple of customers ready to announce the next two quarters

Lip-Bu Tan said unlocking Xeon server chip supply is Intel's immediate priority, as supply constraints held back guidance.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan called unlocking Xeon supply Intel's "immediate priority."

Lip-Bu Tan said the resurgence in CPU demand is a meaningful tailwind for Intel's transformation.

The resurgence in demand for CPU is a meaningful tailwind for us along our transformation journey,

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expects to announce a couple of external foundry customers within the next two quarters.

We're going to have a couple of customers ready to announce in the next two quarters,

Tan said Intel will announce a couple of foundry customers within the next two quarters.

He said on Thursday that "a couple customers" would be announced in the coming two quarters.

Tan expects the global server CPU market to grow up to fivefold to about $200 billion in five years.

CEO Lip-Bu Tan said he sees the global market for server processors increasing as much as five times over the next five years to about $200 billion.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan says Q3 results show improving execution, meaningful progress expanding supply and continued process technology advancement.

Our Q3 results demonstrate improving execution, meaningful progress expanding supply and continued advancement of our process technology,

Lip-Bu Tan acknowledged that Intel faces challenges in meeting extremely high AI-driven demand, and pointed to headwinds across the PC industry.

extremely high AI driven demand

Tan attributed the chip industry's supply shortage to unprecedented demand for super intelligence.

driven by the unprecedented demand for super intelligence

Tan argues CPUs are far more power-efficient than GPUs for AI reasoning queries, with joules versus watt-hours per query.

While GPU reasoning query run as high as multiple watt-hours of energy, a single CPU query could cost only joules of energy.

Tan expects server CPU TAM to grow up to fivefold to over $200 billion in five years, driven by agentic workloads, a huge opportunity for Intel.

By our estimates, server CPU TAM, largely driven by agentic workloads, could increase as much as five times from where it is today, from $40 billion to more than $200 billion over five years. This makes the opportunity for Intel enormous.

Tan says the quantum acquisition will extend Intel's platform to QPUs and make Intel a full-stack, revenue-generating quantum computing company.

It is a wonderful complement to our already strong internal quantum hardware and software stacks and enable us to further extend our compute platform offerings to include QPUs in addition to CPUs, GPUs, and ASICs. Post-acquisition, Intel will become a full stack revenue-generating quantum computing company.

Tan said memory prices and availability are driving a PC slowdown, with OEMs aggressively cutting inventory as higher system prices squeeze IT budgets.

Our customers began signaling a PC slowdown based on the memory prices and availability. Year-to-date system endpoint prices have increased significantly, placing additional pressure on already limited IT budgets. The pace of this PC correction has accelerated over the last two months as our OEM partners are aggressively managing inventory to match the softer sell-through.

Tan expects the PC market weakness to last until memory supply and prices normalize, though he remains positive on Intel's roadmap and long-term outlook.

We expect the current environment to persist until memory availability and prices begin to normalize. While the next few quarters will be challenging for the PC market, our roadmap continues to strengthen, and our long-term outlook remains positive.

Tan said Nova Lake, Intel's first 18A-P client product, is ahead of schedule with design wins expected to double Panther Lake's, and should drive meaningful share gains.

Nova Lake, our first Intel 18A-P client product, is tracking ahead of schedule, with design wins expecting to be twice those of Panther Lake at launch. We look forward to sharing more at CES in January. As the market normalizes, we expect this portfolio drives meaningful share gains.

Tan said Nova Lake fills Intel's longstanding gap in high-end desktop.

we've had a bit of a hole in our portfolio for high-end desktop, and Nova Lake filled in that gap.

Tan said Diamond Rapids (2027, 18A-P) and Coral Rapids (2028, 14A) form a solid server roadmap, with Coral Rapids competitive with AMD and the following generation ahead of it.

Diamond Rapids, that will be 2027.We have 18A-P will be ready for that. And of course, the Coral Rapids coming up in 2028, that will be on the 14A. So those, I think, will be in pretty good shape. So clearly we have a roadmap. We like what we have in terms of Coral Rapids will be competitive to AMD. And then next, next general product, the Tick-Tock will be ahead of the AMD on that.

Tan believes the PC will see a renaissance as AI workloads shift to the client, whether on PCs or agentic boxes, despite memory-related headwinds.

We do think that the PC is going to go through a renaissance despite this. We think that as AI workloads start to shift around, there's going to be a lot of workload required in the client space, either as a PC or as some kind of agentic box.

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel cannot fully meet customer demand due to soaring memory prices and predicted the memory shortage will become a very severe industry-wide problem in 2027.

I am a bit disappointed in terms of how we cannot fulfil the customer requirements. “Memory pricing went up a lot. I think my prediction is that in 2027, it is going to be a very severe issue to all of us. We are not alone – it’s just the whole market is impacted.

Lip-Bu Tan said Nova Lake will be the first client product on 18A-P, with launch design wins expected to double those of Panther Lake.

Tan called Nova Lake the first client product on 18A-P and said design wins at launch should reach twice the level of Panther Lake.

Lip-Bu Tan said high memory prices are hitting the whole market and will remain a major problem throughout next year.

Chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said the entire market was affected. Memory prices would remain a major problem throughout next year, he added.

Tan said Intel cannot adequately meet strong data center processor demand due to raw material shortages and a temporary factory closure in Israel.

However, the company has been unable to meet demand adequately, Tan said. Reasons included shortages of certain raw materials and the temporary closure of a factory in Israel.

Lip-Bu Tan said the industry is working through one of the most significant supply shortages in history, driven by unprecedented AI demand.

The industry continues to navigate one of the most significant supply shortages in the [sic] history, driven by the unprecedented demand for super intelligence

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel's DCAI segment posted its strongest revenue growth in 15 years in Q3, in a more balanced demand environment.

the strongest revenue growth for the segment in 15 years.

Tan says CPU demand remains robust despite PC headwinds, supporting confidence in long-term growth.

Despite near-term headwinds across the PC industry, demand for our CPUs remains robust, reinforcing our confidence in the long-term growth opportunities for our business

Tan says Intel's immediate priority is unlocking more supply to meet extraordinary Xeon server CPU demand.

immediate priority is to unlock additional supply to meet extraordinary demand

Tan says Intel is engaged with strategic foundry customers and is increasingly confident in 18A-P and encouraged by 14A progress, without disclosing names.

engaged with a couple of highly strategic customers

Tan says that despite near-term PC industry headwinds, Intel still sees robust long-term demand for CPUs and all its computing platforms.

Despite near term headwinds affecting the broader PC industry, we continue to see robust demand for CPUs and more broadly, for all our computing platforms in the long term,

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel's top priority is unlocking more supply to meet extraordinary Xeon demand while strengthening its product portfolio and roadmap.

Our immediate priority is to unlock additional supply to meet extraordinary demand for our Xeon family, while strengthening our product portfolio and roadmap. We are moving with urgency and focus to capitalize on these opportunities to deliver sustainable growth and long-term shareholder value,

Lip-Bu Tan said Intel's purpose-built (custom) silicon is its fastest-growing business segment, having tripled over the past three years, and expects it to triple again.

fastest growing business segment

Lip-Bu Tan said the deal turns Intel's Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business, building on progress in scalable silicon spin-qubit technology.

transforms Intel’s Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business.

Lip-Bu Tan said the Classiq acquisition turns Intel's Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business, building on its silicon spin-qubit progress.

This transforms Intel's Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business,

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the Classiq deal will turn Intel's quantum division into a full-stack quantum computing business.

Partnering with Classiq will transform Intel's quantum computing division into a full-stack quantum computing business.

Lip-Bu Tan said acquiring Classiq turns Intel's Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business.

Joining forces with Classiq transforms Intel's Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business,

Lip-Bu Tan says acquiring Classiq builds on a decade of Intel's silicon spin-qubit progress and turns its Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum business.

For more than a decade, Intel has made remarkable progress in quantum computing by applying its semiconductor innovation, advanced manufacturing prowess and systems engineering expertise to the development of scalable silicon spin-qubit technology. Joining forces with Classiq transforms Intel’s Quantum Computing Group into a full-stack quantum computing business.

Tan says Intel must reclaim CPU leadership and will now customize chips like Xeon to customer needs, which it was previously too proud to do.

Intel has to "reclaim the leadership in CPU" and that it will now tailor chips like Xeon to customer needs, something he admitted the company was too proud to do before.

Tan identified ASICs, co-packaged optics, physical AI and advanced packaging as growth areas, aiming for two or three to each reach about 10% of revenue.

He named ASICs, co-packaged optics, physical AI and advanced packaging as possible growth areas, and wants two or three of them to eventually bring in around 10% of Intel's revenue each.

Tan says he is determined to restore Intel's leadership in CPUs.

We have to reclaim the leadership in CPU. That is something that I am very determined to do.