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The x86 architecture is probably one of Intel’s most important contributions to the computer industry. However, the continued refusal of this company to evolve and increase its influence space, with innovative designs, is where you can find the keys why Intel is losing the battle against AMD.
When we talk about Intel, it cannot be said that we are talking about a company that is in decline. Clearly, the accounts speak of a company that, with each passing fiscal quarter, once again presents record revenues… in almost all fields except computing. It is in this field where the irruption, again, of AMD and its Zen architecture, is taking away an important part of the pie from the blue giant in this segment. Both in the desktop market, as in the HEDT, and in the server market, Intel is losing ground for not wanting to change the way it has to make and design its components.
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AMD already has the 2nd generation Threadripper ready: when will they arrive? Manuel Santos 14 May, 2018 • 19:05
One of the first big business opportunities that Intel missed was the mobile processor market. Instead of using an ARM architecture, Intel stuck to its x86 architecture, which is a type of architecture that was not well suited to the type of work that mobile phones do, and which tends to consume significantly more power resources to do similar work. As expected, this adventure was a resounding failure.
x86 architecture may be the be all and end all for Intel
Another adventure that was a resounding failure was that of Intel’s graphics cards. These cards were designed to use Intel’s x86 architecture. But this architecture doesn’t lend itself well to the extreme parallelization required for compute operations on graphics cards, neither then nor today. Instead of developing to meet the needs of the market at the time, it was developed clinging to an architecture that was not adequate. This is the reason why Intel finally decided to abandon Larrabee’s project (although it has now taken it up again, without us knowing what kind of architecture it uses).
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Intel will launch its first dedicated graphics cards in 2020 Juan Diego de Usera June 13, 2018 • 11:06
The latest hiccup for Intel right now is that it has lost the technological leadership it has long enjoyed, to companies like TSMC, Global Foundries and Samsung, which are making chips for many customers, rather than being focused on one. The fact is, the 10nm process is nothing but headaches for Intel, while other companies already have their 7nm process ready for mass production and are beginning to implement the 5nm one.
Effectively, by 2019 Intel will have lost leadership in many of the sectors where it sells its products.
