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So, who will ultimately come out on top in the AI PC market? Being the first mover may give Intel an edge, but it won’t ensure its success. To benefit from its market leadership, Intel needs to drive higher average selling prices for its chips or expand the overall market for AI-enabled laptops by creating excitement around AI integration and user experiences.
Intel aims to be to AI computing on the PC what Nvidia is to PC gaming with its GeForce line of graphics chips. By becoming the default standard and fostering collaboration with AI application developers and frameworks, Intel can cultivate consumer trust and secure long-term sales revenue.
In an unexpected move, Intel provided a sneak preview of the upcoming Gaudi 3 chip, a dedicated AI accelerator targeting the same segment as Nvidia GPUs. While not a GPU itself, the Gaudi architecture offers impressive performance and efficiency in certain AI workloads.
In terms of consumer adoption, the Intel Core Ultra processor is poised to be the most popular AI-enabled processor in laptops in 2024. However, it may not deliver the highest AI computing performance, potentially placing third behind Qualcomm and AMD. Intel must have a clear plan to leverage its market share leadership into design wins, software use cases, and financial gains, particularly as the company faces challenges in rebounding its margins and revenue.
It’s worth noting that the author of this piece has provided consulting services to several companies in the industry, including AMD, Qualcomm, Intel, and Nvidia.
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