The year 2021 surely was an interesting one for Intel. Not only did the company launch its 12th generation processors (codenamed “Alder Lake”) but also got a new CEO in Pat Gelsinger.
The man recently voiced his thoughts about the year gone by and his ideas for the future in a video posted on Linked in (via PC Gamer).
Gelsinger is definitely bullish about the future in this video, in which he took the opportunity to take a jab at longtime rival AMD, which he now sees in the backseat after Intel’s successful launch of Alder Lake last November.
“Alder Lake. All of a sudden…Boom! We are back in the game. AMD in the rearview mirror in clients, and never again will they be in the windshield”, says Gelsinger at around the 2:40 mark in the video. “We are just leading the market”, added the enthusiastic Intel CEO.
And although AMD fans may have clenched their teeth upon hearing this comment from the Intel CEO, the man is right up to a point: Intel’s new 12th generation CPUs have gotten excellent reviews since their launch in November last year.
For instance, technology website Tom’s Hardware said in its review of the Intel Core i5-12400 that “budget gaming has a new champion”, while PC Gamer called the i5-12600K “the best CPU for gaming right now”. Meanwhile, the high-end i9-12900K compares favorably to AMD’s top of the line Ryzen 9 5950X.
Nonetheless, the truth is that Intel has lost quite a bit of market share to AMD in the last five years. According to data on statista.com, Intel had a commanding lead of more than 80 % in the processor market in early 2017, with AMD at less than 20 %. However, right now things are quite different: AMD has almost doubled its market share and is approaching 40 %, while Intel is holding above 60 %.
There is also the fact that AMD plans to launch its Ryzen 7000 line of processors in the second half of 2022, threatening Intel’s newfound dominance.
Intel’s progress on upgrading its manufacturing technologies is on schedule according to Gelsinger’s video though, while the company plans to launch its next generation of processors (codenamed “Raptor Lake”) later this year.
What’s clear, though, is that the fight between Intel (known as “team blue”) and AMD (known as “team red”) will get even more interesting this year, and if that leads to even better options for technology enthusiasts and those who enjoy gaming on PC, then all the better.