Digital Trends is reporting that Intel has reaffirmed its “maniacal” efforts to fix its processor supply shortage.
Intel has been struggling for some time to keep up with demand, specifically for its 10nm processors. The ongoing shortage has prompted Dell—historically one of Intel’s staunchest allies—to start looking at AMD to make up for Intel’s shortfall. Dell opened the door to the possibility following a 6% decline in consumer PC shipments, largely as a result of Intel’s supply issues.
In fact, the problem became so bad that Intel penned an open letter to customers, apologizing for their manufacturing issues and promising to address them as soon as possible.
According to Digital Trends, during Intel’s fourth quarter earnings call on Thursday, “CEO Bob Swann and George Davis, chief financial officer, were on the call and insisted that they hope to ramp up yields on 10nm products throughout 2020. The ‘supply remains tight,’ Swann added. By the end of year, the executives promised to be out of the constraint entirely by adding 25% higher wafer capacity to normalize the inventory levels.”
Intel also acknowledged it was facing “a more competitive environment” in 2020. AMD has been making significant inroads in the processor market. After it’s wildly successful desktop-class Ryzen 3000 series, the company launched the Ryzen 4000 mobile processor series, challenging what has been Intel’s strongest bastion.
Intel has a window of opportunity to deliver on its promises. If it fails, it will likely see more partners defect to AMD.