Intel Unveils Critical AI PC Chip at CES: 18A Process Debuts with 60% Performance Boost, Company Approaches "Strategic Turning Point"

Intel officially launched its AI PC chip series based on the 18A process technology at CES, a move viewed as a crucial milestone for the company's manufacturing resurgence and technological leadership. The new generation of chips utilizes a breakthrough transistor architecture and power delivery design, marking not only Intel's first large-scale mass production using the 18A process but also an effort to reclaim market share from AMD and prove its foundry business is back at the forefront of technological competition. The newly released Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors are the first products featuring the Panther Lake architecture. Laptops equipped with these chips will be available for pre-order starting January 7th, with a global synchronized launch on January 27th. Intel Senior Vice President Jim Johnson revealed on-site that the new chips deliver a performance improvement of up to 60% compared to the previous generation Lunar Lake Series 2. Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger emphasized that the company has "fulfilled its promise to deliver the first 18A process products by 2025." Johnson further indicated that "2026 will be a strategic turning point for both the industry and Intel," hinting at a new phase for technology iteration and the market landscape. It is noteworthy that Intel's previous generation Lunar Lake chips were primarily manufactured by TSMC. Although Panther Lake faced yield challenges in the early stages of development, company management stated that production yields have shown significant month-over-month improvement. The 18A process achieves two major technological breakthroughs. Intel's 18A process technology integrates two key technologies the company describes as industry breakthroughs. The first is an innovation at the transistor level: 18A products will for the first time incorporate RibbonFET, a gate-all-around technology that enables more precise control over the transistor switching process. In modern chips, where hundreds of billions of transistors are integrated into a tiny area, improving switching efficiency is decisive for reducing overall power consumption. This breakthrough lays the foundation for developing chips with higher transistor density, greater data throughput capability, and superior energy efficiency. Intel Senior Vice President Jim Johnson further disclosed that the company has successfully developed a standalone graphics processing unit (GPU) tile, which can be integrated with other functional tiles using advanced packaging technology to create more flexible, high-performance processor solutions. Furthermore, Intel plans to launch a handheld gaming device platform based on the Panther Lake architecture within 2025. Johnson noted that the market acceptance for handheld PC devices, designed by multiple suppliers, has been steadily increasing in recent years. The company expects to announce specific partners and product details related to this platform later this year. The foundry business faces a critical test. The market performance of these new products is of decisive significance for Intel's strategic plan to transform into a major global foundry. The company is attempting to carve out competitiveness in the foundry industry, which is dominated by TSMC with Samsung Electronics following closely, by manufacturing chips for external clients. Notably, Intel itself outsources the production of some advanced process nodes to TSMC, which indirectly reflects its recognition of TSMC's current technological strength. Although Intel has explicitly stated it will continue to cooperate with TSMC in certain areas, the autonomous product line based on the 18A process signifies a strategic attempt to bring high-end chip manufacturing capabilities back in-house. This move is crucial for Intel to win custom chip contracts—a business still in its infancy but vital for the long-term development of its foundry operations—and serves as an important test to validate its technological independence and manufacturing competitiveness. It is worth noting that Intel's stock price has recently rebounded, supported by backing from the U.S. government and the purchase of billions of dollars in shares by companies like Nvidia and SoftBank Group. Competitors share the stage. AMD is scheduled to deliver a keynote speech at CES at 9:30 PM ET on Monday. CEO Lisa Su is expected to unveil a new generation of PC chips targeting AI computing and graphics processing. Notably, AMD recently announced a multi-billion dollar long-term cooperation agreement with OpenAI for its next-generation MI400 chips. According to the agreement, some MI400 chips will begin deployment within this year, and the partnership is expected to generate cumulative revenue of hundreds of billions of dollars for AMD over the coming years. Simultaneously, Nvidia, a leader in AI chips, also had its CEO Jensen Huang speak at CES on Monday. He revealed that Nvidia's next-generation chips are now in "full production," and when running large language models and generative AI applications, their computational performance can be five times that of the previous generation products.