Intel Falls on Latest Server Chip Delay; Rival AMD Gains
- New version of Xeon will go into production early next year
- Company, beset by delays, had promised Sapphire Rapids in 2021
Intel Corp. fell after saying a new version of its Xeon server chip line will go into production in 2022, rather than by the end of this year as promised, the latest in a series of delays that have cost the company technology leadership of the chip industry.
Rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. rose after Intel said Tuesday that a chip design, code-named Sapphire Rapids, will begin production in the first quarter of 2022 with the “ramp” beginning the following quarter. The world’s largest chipmaker previously said the new version of its most lucrative product line would start to be manufactured this year.
Chief Executive Officer Pat Gelsinger has pledged to return Intel to a dominant position in computer processors and reassert the company’s once unassailable lead in semiconductor manufacturing. Multiyear delays in the introduction of new technology by Intel have ceded leadership to rivals. Gelsinger, who promised the new chip would arrive this year as recently as April, last week replaced the head of Intel’s server chip unit in an executive shake-up.
“Given the breadth of enhancements in Sapphire Rapids, we are incorporating additional validation time prior to the production release, which will streamline the deployment process for our customers and partners,” Intel Vice President Lisa Spelman said in a post on the company’s website. “Based on this, we now expect Sapphire Rapids to be in production in the first quarter of 2022, with ramp beginning in the second quarter of 2022.”