According to Nikkei Asia, Intel plans to raise prices on flagship products such as consumer and server CPUs, Wi-Fi chips, and controllers this autumn. It’s expected that the hikes will vary based on the item, ranging from single-digit increases all the way up to 20%. Intel’s move is reportedly due to rising costs of commodities, materials, shipping and labor. There’s also the issue of rising inflation that is making consumers think twice before splashing out on expensive, non-essential purchases. We’ve already seen PC, TV, and smartphone shipments fall drastically this year as demand wanes, though TSMC has raised its revenue projections as other sectors improve. Intel previously warned of incoming price rises during its last earnings conference in April, when CEO Pat Gelsinger said the company would “remix the products to higher price points.” Another hint came from CFO Dave Zimmer, who said Intel was “looking for targeted price increases in certain segments.” Intel’s next generation of processors, Raptor Lake, is expected to arrive in the fourth quarter, and the price increases will likely cover its upcoming CPUs. Intel has long been the more expensive option next to AMD, so it’ll be interesting to see how the 13-generation chips fare again Zen 4 in terms of price vs. performance.
The latest Steam survey CPU results (click to expand) Intel still leads the way when it comes to CPUs. With its performance hybrid architecture, Alder Lake has proved very popular among gamers and enthusiasts, a fact reflected in the latest Steam survey, where Intel gained back a 1.28% user share from AMD that puts it close to a 70% slice of the pie. We’ll just have to wait and see if team red can capitalize on its rival’s future price hikes.
