Intel’s new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, who doesn’t start his new role until February, is already trying to rally the stagnant maker of hot, slow x86 chips after being thoroughly embarrassed by Apple’s first-generation M1 chips.
The Oregonian, a local newspaper in Oregon where Intel maintains a large presence, reports that the chip maker held an all-hands company meeting yesterday, and Gelsinger attended.
“We have to deliver better products to the PC ecosystem than any possible thing that a lifestyle company in Cupertino” makes, Gelsinger reportedly told Intel employees. “We have to be that good, in the future.”
Apple announced its transition to its own silicon back in June, calling it a “historic day for the Mac.” The transition has gone well, with M1-based Macs providing impressive performance and battery life compared to existing Intel-based Macs.
Gelsinger now faces the reality of competing with Apple, AMD, and others after Intel has struggled to transition to a 10nm manufacturing process for years. Intel has also delayed its 7nm chips until at least 2022, and the company now faces a tough decision whether to outsource chip fabrication.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s good to have goals. Of course, Intel has had many goals over many years, and repeatedly failed to hit them while delivering increasingly disappointing products.
If Intel were actually any good a making chips, they wouldn’t have been deposited into the dumpster by a “lifestyle company” whose very first crack at a personal computer chip runs rings around Intel’s outmoded, antiquated, ever-simmering, fan-triggering, power-sucking snails.
See also: M1 benchmarks prove Apple Silicon outclasses nearly all Intel Macs — January 13, 2021
Good luck in your new position, Pat. You’re going to need it.