Incoming Intel CEO Derides Company's Inability to 'Deliver Better Products' Than Apple's M1 Chip

Incoming Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has said that the company must "deliver better products" than Apple, which he described as a "lifestyle company," and says that Intel's best days are "in front of it" (via The Oregonian).

pat gelsinger intel

Speaking at an Intel all-hands meeting yesterday, Gelsinger derisively implied that Apple is merely a "lifestyle company," so Intel must be able to surpass its technology:

"We have to deliver better products to the PC ecosystem than any possible thing that a lifestyle company in Cupertino. We have to be that good, in the future."

The jibe at Apple comes after the launch of Apple Silicon last year, which has begun to displace Intel chips inside Mac computers. The M1 chip, Apple's first custom silicon processor for the Mac, has far surpassed the capabilities of equivalent Intel offerings, with markedly better performance and power consumption.

Gelsinger will replace Bob Swan as Intel CEO, having already spent 30 years at the company before leaving in 2009. He was the company's first Chief Technology Officer before becoming CEO of VMware. Speaking to employees, Gelsinger insisted that Intel has its best days "in front of it."

He joins the company at a time of crisis as it contends with multiple threats. With major client Apple dropping Intel for its own custom silicon, and Microsoft expected to follow suit in the near future, Intel has struggled to deliver technological innovations. This is after the company has repeatedly reported delays with its latest processors, while its main competitor, AMD, has proceeded to capture valuable market share.

In December, a major hedge fund with a one-billion-dollar stake in Intel, Third Point, issued a letter urging Intel to take "immediate action" and shake up its business model to combat the mounting threats to the company. Gelsinger's arrival will go some way to appeasing shareholders, but the company has some way to go to regain its footing.

Gelsinger starts as CEO next month, having been lured away from his current job with a package reportedly worth $116 million.

Tag: Intel

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Top Rated Comments

DTphonehome Avatar
61 months ago
Blackberry and Microsoft also derided Apple’s entry into the phone market. Look where they are now.
Score: 109 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robgreene Avatar
61 months ago
He’s not wrong. Compared to Intel, Apple IS a Lifestyle Company: they use tech to improve our quality of life.

Intel makes chips.

And they’re getting smoked at it.

By a “Lifestyle Company”.
Score: 100 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gridlocked Avatar
61 months ago
So out of touch they don't even know when someone is eating them for lunch.
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PruneTracy Avatar
61 months ago
It’s funny that intel is so bad at their own market that they get best by a “lifestyle” company.
Did Sharper Image release better CPUs, too?
Score: 55 Votes (Like | Disagree)
NT1440 Avatar
61 months ago
I’m not sure why some here are acting like this is a dig at Apple. This is literally the new CEO of intel telling the company to get its **** together, this is embarrassing and we’re capable of so much more.

Acknowledging a problem is the first step towards doing something about it. Intel hasn’t been honest about it’s problems in delivering their roadmap for almost an entire decade....
Score: 48 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blackstick Avatar
61 months ago
Yesterday, I begrudgingly sat through a 1 hour "preview" of Dell's upcoming enterprise product line for 2021 at work (we have about 3000 Macs in use and 7000 Dells). The Dell executive was confusing his Latitudes in the presentation, because surprise surprise, it's basically all the same stuff on a 14nm chip. Their biggest "brag" was that they designed a de-inclined hinge, similar to what Apple had in 2004-era iBooks... so you get an extra 1/2 inch on space when the lid's up behind an airline seat (which is so irrelevant this year it's frankly hilarious).

When I asked "why the dogmatic need to stick with Intel?" he had no answers. Then he made a claim of 22 hours of run time on their latest Latitude, and I told him "yeah, and with typical corporate mandated security stacks, people are lucky to see 4 hours in the real world - so that's underwhelming."
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)