For the past year Intel has been having difficulty producing enough chips to meet demand… particularly when it comes to the processors used in personal computers.

It’s not clear when that will change — but Intel vice president Michelle Johnston Holthaus has taken the unusual step of issuing a public apology.

In an open letter to “customers and partners,” she says that despite taking steps to ramp up production of 10nm and 14nm processors, “we have not yet resolved this challenge.”

Intel has not only increased its own in-house manufacturing capabilities, but also partnering with outside foundries to manufacture additional processors. That’s led to a “double digit” production increase in the second half of the year… but apparently unexpectedly high demand for processors means that Intel is still having a hard time making enough.

The letter doesn’t seem to have had much impact on Intel’s stock price… but the ongoing delay has probably been good news for rival chip maker AMD. The company’s Ryzen processors are some of the most competitive chips from AMD in years, and the fact that they’re available at a time when Intel is having trouble supplying enough processors to PC makers is probably part of the reason we’ve seen a growing number of laptop and desktop computers with Ryzen chips recently.

read more: AnandTech and MarketWatch

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7 replies on “Intel apologizes to partners for ongoing chip shortage”

  1. Just my 2 cents, Intel really has made a mess of things…just when Widows 7 is about to walk into the sunset… Microsoft must be thrilled…all this talk about AMD doing great is fine, but those processors do not belong in laptops, yes they are good for servers and HPC & desktops but not portable gear. what is needed in laptops is stuff under 10 watts and ideally lower than that so we can go fan-less…and AMD has nothing for this market! As for Intel what is on the shelf now is endless compromised architecture (spectre& melltdown) & rehashed 14nm…all the good promised stuff like Tremont & and the new core architecture and Intel version of big little is nowhere to be found… Buying any laptop right now unless you really need it is not a great idea IMHO.

    1. I believe it is much more expensive for AMD to design a laptop CPU/APU that can complete well with Intel… it is much easier to compete with a desktop chip with very simple power management. I believe they correctly chose desktop cpus as the first market to complete against Intel.

    2. Well, actually the Ryzen 5 3500U beats the i5 8th/9th gen mobile chips in just about everything for a fraction of the price and it’s bundled with an entry-level Vega GPU to boot, all within 15W TDP. So yeah, maybe there is nothing below 15W, but that’s a nieche market for some 2-in-1 and tablets. So there is that. Also, the 3500U is still just Zen+. Imagine the followup with Zen2!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfz46HXvPLc

      2. You realize that Linus’ video is sponsored by Lenovo, the very laptop featured in the video right? I wouldn’t like to an infomercial as a credible source of anything.

        1. Just yesterday I read through three Lenovo Thinkpad T495 and T495s reviews comparing them with their Intel counterparts (T490 and T490s) and they all found (a) performance and battery life are on a par with each other and (b) once you factor in the lower price, the AMD models are decidedly better value for money.

          The only consistent knock on the AMD models is that Lenovo doesn’t offer a 4k screen option for them, which is hardly AMD’s fault.

          I’ve been a Thnkpad T-series user for almost 20 years, all Intel, of course. If my current T430 dies tomorrow, I’d be perfectly happy to get an AMD Thinkpad.

      3. 15 watts has been what I typically look for in just about any device, not just for energy efficiency, but also heat output. With the gains in design that 15 watts gives me even better performance than in the past. So I’m good with that device.

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