Intel is reportedly planning to raise the prices of its 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs due to lower demand for new CPUs.
Intel's 13th & 14th Gen Raptor Lake CPU Price Hike Reportedly Due To Tighter Supply As Newer "AI" Chips See Reduced Sales
In a report published by DigiTimes, the publication states that Intel is planning to raise the prices of its older 13th and 14th Gen CPUs. These chips are part of the Raptor Lake family. The 13th Gen family was the first Raptor Lake lineup, while the 14th Gen acted as a refresh, offering higher clock speeds and some updates within core configuration on certain SKUs.
Supply chain shockwaves have surfaced: Intel, the leading PC CPU manufacturer, is planning a price increase of over 10% for its Raptor Lake processors, further fueling complaints from manufacturers. Industry analysts believe the price increase is likely related to TSMC and the lackluster performance of AI PCs.
It's worth noting that Intel's Raptor Lake processors, which saw price increases, were released in October 2022 and are considered older products from two generations ago, not the latest Lunar Lake processors. Raptor Lake has been in short supply since mid-year, and supply remains tight.
When contacted by the reporter, Intel's spokesperson only said that it would not comment on this statement "at this time".
Despite the Raptor Lake lineup now being several years old, the lineup still maintains a strong positioning on both desktop and laptop platforms. On desktops, due to the disappointing Core Ultra Series 2 "Arrow Lake" launch, the 14th Gen lineup retains the fastest gaming performance, while recent discounts & price cuts have made them a phenomenal offering for mainstream PC builders. The Arrow Lake CPUs do offer a higher efficiency rating, which matters more on the laptop side, and while the positioning of Intel's Core Ultra 200 CPUs is much better on the mobility side, the older Raptor Lake platforms still offer better value.
So, according to the report, this makes for a tighter supply of older 13th and 14th Gen Raptor Lake CPUs & the reduced sales of newer chips such as Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Meteor Lake have reportedly made Intel raise the prices of Raptor Lake CPUs by over 10%.
While we have yet to see this price hike at major retailers, it looks like the shorter supply for Raptor Lake might soon see higher prices than usual in the coming months. The prices can go up by $20 US per SKU, and that puts even more pressure on the PC market, which is already facing a price hike by DRAM makers. And that's an even more substantial one with up to a 30% hike.
The publication did contact Intel about a comment by the spokesperson, but they only replied that they would not comment on the matter at the time. While we expect minimal impact on the retail side, the bigger picture is that Intel hasn't been able to convince buyers to move to newer CPU platforms. This is due to several reasons, such as the "AI PC" segment not being the "BIG THING" as many had hoped for, and users eyeing CPU/GPU upgrades more keenly rather than NPU/AI-fluff.
Intel's next-gen Panther Lake CPUs are expected to arrive later this year, and unless Intel can offer its users a proper upgrade over current platforms and not just focus on AI performance, it won't offer a big impact on their market positioning as they had hoped for.
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