NVIDIA and Intel are planning to develop a custom x86 SoC, according to previous reports, and interestingly, the venture could cause operational concerns for PC partners like Acer.
Focusing On How the Intel-NVIDIA Deal Affects PC Brand Is A More Pressing Concern, According to Acer's CEO
NVIDIA and Team Blue entered into a monumental partnership a few weeks ago, with one of the major announcements being a joint collaboration on an x86 SoC. In this partnership, Intel's x86 architecture will leverage NVIDIA's RTX GPU chiplets to create a potent end solution. However, Acer's CEO, Jason Chen, has added a unique perspective to the partnership, claiming that for PC brands like Acer, MSI, and Gigabyte, the partnership will introduce a new overhead in the supply chain, as vendors will now need to build their ecosystems around three different architectures.
Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen stated that if people focus on how Nvidia's investment in Intel impacts TSMC, they are missing the point. For PC brands, the more pressing concern is the new variables this move introduces.
- via DigiTimes
Interestingly, Chen claims that examining potential impacts at TSMC is only one side of the story, and rather, there are other essential aspects, as collaboration with PC partners does add to supply chain complexities. Detailing on this aspect, Acer CEO claims that there are already "multiple generations of x86 processors in coexistence", and if a third vendor joins in apart from Intel and AMD, it is only going to create hurdles in the form of inventory management, creating dedicated product portfolios, and more importantly, managing operational overheads.
There are factors to consider for partners like Acer when it comes to shifting their product offerings to an entirely new venture, as the goal is to have a sustainable portfolio that is desired by consumers and can easily be integrated into by PC partners. Chen claims that brands must 'internalize the shift' in terms of competition, which implies that being motivated by factors such as market hype won't be the right move; instead, focusing on elements such as roadmap planning, portfolio discipline, and after-sales services is the way to go.
For now, the timeline for when NVIDIA-Intel x86 PC chips could be released is uncertain; however, we do know that plans are in place to ship 150 million notebooks per year around the upcoming SoCs, indicating that both NVIDIA and Intel have plans to make this venture a mainstream one.
News Source: Ray Wang
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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