Intel appears confident in its new Panther Lake chips, especially for the handheld segment, as the company refers to chips from AMD as "ancient silicon."
Intel Claims E-Core Advancements Within Panther Lake Will Give Them an Edge Over AMD in Handheld Gaming
Intel's CES 2026 keynote was a highlight of the entire event, as the company's consumer-centric approach with products like Panther Lake, XeSS 3, and Arc iGPUs clearly indicated that Team Blue is now looking to regain lost market share. The Panther Lake SoCs, which are the first to be built on the 18A node, appear to feature impressive perf-per-watt figures, along with iGPU performance, which is why Intel is confident that it will capture the handheld market. Speaking with PCWorld, Intel's executive Nish Neelalojanan discussed how Panther Lake will dominate the handheld sector.
But Neelalojanan also had some blunt words regarding AMD in the handheld gaming market: “They’re selling ancient silicon, while we’re selling up-to-date processors specifically designed for this market.” Or will be selling, anyway.
Intel's confidence stems from the fact that with Panther Lake, the company has built upon architectural advancements, particularly with E-Cores, as the newer Darkmont generation appears to feature impressive upgrades across the board. Intel's official stated that the company has come a long way in innovating E-Cores, as noted by Nish Neelalojanan, and that with this, Intel has an edge in gaming scenarios, particularly with handhelds, where performance-per-watt ratio (perf/W) is the primary benchmark.
As far as handhelds are concerned, Intel has yet to unveil a dedicated portfolio of Core Ultra X handhelds, and when asked about how this strategy would play out, the Intel official said that "You’ll have to wait and see". Either we could see an entirely new lineup dedicated to handheld devices, or specifically tuned variants, similar to what we saw with AMD's Z-series chips. Right now, it won't be wrong to say that AMD dominates the handheld segment, and given that Intel calls its silicon "ancient", Team Blue sure is very confident.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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