Intel reveals its 2026 PC processor plans

Intel confirmed its next major client CPU architecture during a conference call today: “Nova Lake,” which will debut in 2026.

The news was delivered by Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who heads Intel Product, and David Zinsner, who along with Holthaus is serving as co-chief executive officer of Intel after Pat Gelsinger was asked to step down at the end of 2024. Thursday marked the first earnings call for the co-chiefs, who fielded questions from Wall Street analysts after reporting earnings for the fourth quarter of 2024. The company said that the search for a permanent CEO continues.

In broad strokes, Intel’s roadmap for 2025 and 2026 is set: Panther Lake will debut later this year, Holthaus said, followed by Nova Lake in 2026. While Panther Lake will largely be made inside Intel, as opposed to external fabs, Nova Lake will still be split between Intel’s own foundry business as well as external sources, presumably TSMC.

“2026 is even more exciting from a client perspective as Panther Lake achieves meaningful volumes and we introduce our next generation client family, code name Nova Lake,” Holthaus said. “Both will provide strong performance across the entire PC stack with significantly better costs and margins for us, enhancing our competitive position and reinforcing our value proposition to our partners and customers.”

Traditionally, Intel launches a new processor architecture in the second half of each year. This appears to be the game plan for 2025, as Panther Lake will launch during the second half of 2025. That’s consistent with what Holthaus told reporters at CES in early January, where she said Intel was already sampling the part. Holthaus acknowledged the increased competition from AMD and Qualcomm, and that profit margins on its Lunar Lake parts were lower because of the integrated memory.

Panther Lake will be fabricated on Intel 18A, the last of Intel’s “five process nodes in four years” strategy. The production of most of the silicon across the various chiplets will be done internally, as part of Intel’s foundry business. For Nova Lake, “we’ll have dies both inside and outside [the company] for that process,” Holthaus said, without describing the chip further.

Panther Lake, Nova Lake return to Intel’s fabs

Intel said in February of last year that it would form a subsidiary dedicated to its foundry business. In Sept. 2024, Intel made that subsidiary independent, with its own board of directors. During the call, Holthaus indicated that Intel Foundry is being treated just like any other silicon supplier.

“As CEO of Intel Product, I will always make process technology decisions based on what is best for my customers,” she said. “And Intel Foundry will need to earn my business every day, just as I need to earn the business of my customers.”

“A stronger Intel Product combined with a more competitive Intel Foundry is a recipe for success for Intel overall,” Holthaus added.

Holthaus indicated, however, that she believed Intel’s foundry business would be successful, but only slowly, noting that part of earning customers trust is a slow ramp, with lower initial volumes. “We won’t win every deal out of the gates,” she said. “We’ll be selective and focused on areas where we are confident that we can be a meaningful contributor to the success of our customer.”

Intel executives said that they continue to be “engaged” with the Trump Administration. The Department of Commerce, as part of the U.S. Chips Act, has paid Intel $1.1 billion during the fourth quarter and $1.1 billion in January, as part of a total $7.86 billion in grant money.

For the fourth quarter, Intel lost $100 million on revenue of $14.3 billion, down 7 percent. Intel’s Client Computing Group, the home of its PC chip business, made $8.0 billion, down 9 percent.

Author: Mark Hachman, Senior Editor, PCWorld