At CES 2021,
Intel
INTC
unveiled four new classes of processors
—11th Gen Intel Core vPro processors, N-series 10-nanometer (nm) Intel Pentium Silver and Intel Celeron processors along with 11th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors — to boost performance of PCs across business, gaming, education and mobile spectrums.
The chipmaker also previewed products that are slated to make their debut in 2021. The products previewed by the company included 11th Gen Intel Core S-series desktop processors and next-generation processors, which are dubbed Rocket Lake-S and Alder Lake, respectively.
Alder Lake processors are built on enhanced version of its 10 nm SuperFin technology and are expected to be unveiled in the second half of 2021, added Intel.
Intel Corporation Price and Consensus
Intel Corporation price-consensus-chart
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Intel Corporation Quote
A Look at Noteworthy Features
Intel’s 11th Gen Intel Core vPro processors are aimed at improving performance of laptops for business uses. These processors are based on Intel 10 nm SuperFin technology, and feature Intel Iris Xe graphics.
The processors also are integrated with Intel Wi-Fi 6/6E (Gig+), which can offer six times and three times faster upload/download speeds in the office and home, respectively, compared with standard Wi-Fi 5, noted the tech giant.
Per Intel, 11th Gen Intel Core vPro processors offer up to 23% relatively faster productivity when working with certain apps like
Microsoft
’s
MSFT
Office 365. It also offers 2.3 times more speed when compared with previous generation of processors (10th Gen Intel Core vPro i7-10610U Processor) for creating and editing videos.
This family of processors in combination with the Intel Core vPro platform features Intel Hardware Shield, which provides extensive security for hardware. Intel Hardware Shield also boasts a silicon-enabled artificial intelligence (AI) threat detection technique to thwart crypto-mining and ransomware attacks.
Intel’s N-series Intel Pentium Silver and Intel Celeron chips are also based on the company’s 10 nm technology. Per the company’s estimates, these class of processors can provide up to 35% and 78% improved application performance and graphics performance generation over generation.
These processors are aimed at improving PC performance to support online learning, triggered by the coronavirus crisis.
To enhance gaming experience on laptops as sleek as 16 millimetres, Intel unveiled 11th Gen Intel Core H-series mobile processors. This class of mobile gaming processors is based on new Gen 4 PCIE architecture and aimed at enhancing ultraportable gaming.
The emergence of high-end cloud computing, demand for thinner laptops and fast processing is expected to augur well for the newly-introduced chips. Also, coronavirus-led work from home, stay at home and online classes have spiked the demand for laptops and notebooks.
Per an
Expert Market Research report
, global laptop market is projected to witness a CAGR of 0.5% between 2021 and 2026. The worldwide laptop market in 2020 reached nearly $103 billion, added the report.
Given attractive prospects, Intel’s new offerings loaded with robust features are well-positioned to gain solid traction in the market. This, in turn, favors top-line growth in the quarters ahead.
Headwinds Persist
Intel is witnessing increasing competition in the server, storage and networking markets from the likes of
Advanced Micro Devices
AMD
and
NVIDIA
NVDA
. Moreover, production delays are deeply concerning. In July 2020, the company announced production delay in 7 nm process-based chips as it detected a major defect mode in 7 nm process, which caused yield degradation.
The chipmaker now expects initial production shipments of first Intel-based 7 nm client CPU in late 2022 or early 2023. Moreover, initial production shipments of Intel’s first in house-based 7-nm data center CPU design are now scheduled for the first half of 2023.
Intel’s rising debt levels are an added concern. As of Sep 26, 2020, the company’s total debt stood at $36.56 billion whereas cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and fixed-income trading asset balance were $18.25 billion.
The chipmaker also received a
letter
from Third Point LLC encouraging management to examine strategic alternatives to augment performance.
All this has been reflected in the company’s stock price. In the past year, Intel witnessed a 13.5% decline in its share price against the
industry
’s rally of 37.6%.
Currently, Intel carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
You can see
the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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