Dell: Intel CPU Shortages Worsened in Q4, Premium & Commercial PCs Impacted
by Anton Shilov on November 27, 2019 5:00 PM EST- Posted in
- CPUs
- Dell
- Intel
- Notebooks
- 14nm
- Desktop
- Coffee Lake
- Comet Lake
Shortages of Intel’s CPUs have persisted for well over a year now, but according to Dell, they actually got worse in the ongoing quarter because of unexpectedly high demand for client computers and servers. As a result, the company had to cut its revenue forecast for the fourth quarter as sales of its PCs were impacted by the tight supply.
Last week Intel issued a letter apologizing for CPU shipment delays because despite of the fact that it increased its 14 nm capacity by 25% year-over-year in 2019, demand still outpaced supply. Furthermore, Intel experienced production variability in the fourth quarter and because it had limited inventory buffers, it could not absorb the impact. Intel did not explain what variability meant in this case, but based on comments from Dell, it looks like Intel could not produce enough processors for commercial and premium system.
Here is what Jeffrey Clarke, COO of Dell, had to say:
“Intel CPU shortages have worsened quarter-over-quarter the shortages are now impacting our commercial PC and premium consumer PC Q4 forecasted shipments.”
Even though Intel’s supply and demand balance is not favorable to makers of systems, Dell’s PC business revenue was on the rise in Q3 increasing to $11.4 billion by 5% year-over-year. Sales of commercial PCs were up 9% to $8.3 billion, whereas shipments of consumer computers were up 6% to $3.1 billion.
It is particularly noteworthy that Dell remains cautious about Intel CPU supplies going forward, though it naturally does not make any actual predictions, but rather promises to monitor situation and adjust forecasts. Dell is not the first PC company that is cautious about Intel’s ability to meet demand as ASUS also expressed similar concerns earlier this month.
Related Reading:
- Intel Publishes Letter to Customers Apologizing for CPU Shipment Delays
- ASUS: Intel CPU Shortages Easing, But Future Is Uncertain
- Intel Boosts 14nm Capacity 25% in 2019, But Shortages Will Persist in Q4
- Intel Supply in Q4: “Output Capacity up, Supply-Demand Still High”
- Intel: CPU Shortages Will Persist Throughout Q3 2019
- ASUS Comments on Intel Shortages, U.S.-China Trade War
- Intel Further Boosts CapEx to Meet Demand for 14nm Chips
- Intel Investing $1B to Meet 14nm Demand: Prioritizing High-End Core and Xeon
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Sttm - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
The AMD laptop chips are inferior. Who wants a 12nm Ryzen model? AMD needs to get out 7nm for Laptops.xrror - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
This I sadly agree with. AMD needs to get their new APU's out ASAP before they even have a chance to compete with Intel power wise. And even then it's going to take a good few years because Intel has had so much time to get things integrated down and especially software tweaked to scrape down to the last milliwatt.0iron - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
Renoir will be released most likely in CES with Vega graphics. I do feel AMD missed the opportunity to capitalise the shortage of Intel CPU since mobile CPU is a big opportunity for AMD to capture the market. Hope they do it right this time with LPDDR4X support.azfacea - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
intel shortage is going to get a lot worse in 2020 once they are forced to compete with rome. 10nm is still broken and intel's EUV node is for late 2021, most likely with many delays.nandnandnand - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
40 days until the start of CES 2020.The new chips are supposed to have up to 8 cores, finally.
Smell This - Friday, November 29, 2019 - link
**The AMD laptop chips are inferior. Who wants a 12nm Ryzen model? AMD needs to get out 7nm for Laptops.**__________________________________________
Uhhh. No.
Zen+ 12nm 'Picasso' mobile is knocking on Intel's door. Can you hear them knocking?
Chipzillah will have their doors knocked-down with Renoir at 7nm Zen2, even with Vega on board ....
twotwotwo - Wednesday, November 27, 2019 - link
Seems like the presumed CES Renoir announcement is the place to look for if anyone's offering more Ryzen models.More models cost money and take lead time, but possible this has gone on long enough an OEM or two has started the work. The last para of the story here on ASUS's statement on shortages (https://www.anandtech.com/show/15114/asus-intel-cp... ) has their latest word on this.
Intel still seems to do better at low-load/idle power management, but still, chips > no chips.
melgross - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
No underhanded dealings. Most people and companies just don’t want AMD.Korguz - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
yea.. ok.. sureQasar - Thursday, November 28, 2019 - link
and you have proof of this " fact " melgross ??? yea.. i didnt think you did.. maybe YOU just dont want amd..