Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger declares “Intel is back”

In brief: CRN’s recent interview with the CEO of Intel covers multiple subjects, from the importance of the company’s partners to Arm to the effects of the ongoing supply constraints. But Pat Gelsinger seems especially bullish on Intel’s competition with AMD in the CPU market, particularly in light of AMD’s recent gains there.

Recent AMD processors have compared favorably to Intel’s in reviews and benchmarks, which is usually not the case when looking back on the history of competition between the two companies. Gelsinger wants people to know that Intel plans to end any perceived notions that AMD is ahead or dominant.

“So this period of time when people could say, ‘Hey, is leading,’ that’s over,” he said to CRN. “We are back with a very defined view of what it requires to be leadership in every dimension.”

Gelsinger went on to say Intel is leading in chip packaging, software, AI, graphics, and more while mentioning the company’s 80 percent market share. “Intel is back,” he said.

AMD has been making record market share gains against Intel since 2019. In January of this year, AMD passed Intel in desktop CPU market share for the first time in 15 years.

Gelsinger did commend AMD’s recent gains in CPU performance and market share, however.

“AMD has done a solid job over the last couple of years. We won’t dismiss them of the good work that they’ve done,” he said. “But that’s over with Alder Lake and Sapphire Rapids.”

Intel’s latest upcoming line of desktop CPUs, Alder Lake, may take the performance throne back from AMD’s Ryzen 5000 processors, which launched late last year. Sapphire Rapids—Intel’s fourth-generation Xeon server processors—are set to present AMD’s Epyc with serious competition.

Gelsinger worked at Intel for three decades before leaving in 2009. He came back to become CEO earlier this year. CRN pointed out the similarities between Gelsinger’s absence from Intel and Steve Jobs’ absence from Apple before he returned and launched that company towards the dominant position it’s in today.

“Steve Jobs had an 11-year vacation from Apple. I had an 11-year vacation as well. And in it, I learned a lot of things,” Gelsinger said.