Intel’s future lineup of Arc graphics cards, including “Battlemage” (second gen), “Celestial” (third gen), and “Druid “(fourth gen), may comprise fewer models than what can be found in the current “Alchemist” series. That’s according to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who mentioned during a recent earnings call about how Intel is “simplifying its roadmap” with “fewer SKUs” as part of its strategy for client products, noting that there’s “less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward.” Here’s the exchange between Gelsinger and Joseph Moore, who, according to his LinkedIn profile, is a semiconductor industry analyst at Morgan Stanley:
Moore:
… In your opening remarks, you talked about narrowing the product focus and prioritizing x86. Can you talk about, practically speaking, what happens there? Does that mean, are there other areas that you’re investing less in to focus more on x86? Is that a mindset shift, organizational shift? Just what do you mean by that?
Patrick Gelsinger:
Yes. And there’s a lot of details behind it, Joe, but I’ll just maybe give a couple of quick examples. We, for instance, create complexity in the server product line E-Cores, P-Cores across different socket types that complexity was maybe appropriate when the business was substantially larger and growing. At its current size, it puts too much complexity on our development as well as our customers and OEM, how many SKUs they’re developing. So we’ve taken steps to simplify the product line, have fewer SKUs to cover the marketplace, and we’re focused on the efficiencies associated with that. Similarly, in the client product area, simplifying the roadmap, fewer SKUs to cover it. How are we handling graphics and how that is increasingly becoming a large integrated graphics capabilities. So less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward. So simplifying the roadmap in those areas. And then the steps we took around our CCG and Edge business to be able to bring that together for better reach to the market, leveraging our core investments. So a variety of those, but many others behind that as we get ourselves, I’ll say, in fighting shape that allows us to leverage our investments, hit our $17.5 billion OpEx that Dave spoke about and still have a very solid growth in a more profitable way for the future.