#Intel_Inside

[phonemantra-blog]

Now with Core i5-12500H Huawei has updated its all-in-one MateStation X 2023, making it cheaper at the same time. [caption id="attachment_79585" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Huawei with Intel processor[/caption] Instead of the original Core i9-12900H, with which the PC was originally released at the end of last year, the updated version is equipped with a less powerful Core i5-12500H. But this PC is cheaper: $1,300 versus $1,780. Huawei with Intel processor and large screen. Introduced cheaper all-in-one MateStation X 2023 At the same time, there is 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD, like the older modification of the original version. The remaining parameters remained unchanged. This primarily concerns the large 28-inch screen with a resolution of 3840 x 2560 pixels and an aspect ratio of 3:2. True, the frame rate remained normal (60 Hz). The rest includes stereo speakers, a webcam, a Wi-Fi 6 adapter, two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1.

[vz-on-branding-blog]

When “it’s what’s on the inside that counts” - and when it’s not

Some thoughts on “Intel Inside” - one of the greatest branding successes of the late 1990s tech scene. For those who are unfamiliar, I’ve provided background context, followed by major issues, how Intel solved them, and parallels to Apple’s iPod line.

Context

By 2001, Intel had risen to #41 on the Fortune 500 list and held an impressive 78.7% share of the PC-related microprocessor market. However, tides were beginning to turn: after hitting then-record revenues of $33.7B in 2000, the company saw its revenues drop to $26.5B in 2001. To turn things around, management needed to make bold decisions about Intel’s brand and marketing strategy.

Key Issues

What’s interesting, and ironic, is that Intel was partly responsible for creating its own enemy: unrelenting competition in a growing market. Intel had a long track record of blisteringly fast innovation, releasing new chips ~1x/year with performance improvements of orders of magnitude. This allowed Intel to rapidly grow in an uncrowded market, but also set an industry standard for high-speed product releases and created a whole category of PC-related media. This came back to bite Intel when companies like AMD, Texas Instruments, and Cyrix began producing Microsoft-compatible chips in the mid-1990s. The new entrants innovated quickly, and ate up market share as cheap PCs flooded the market. 

Another challenge for Intel was rapid growth of portable digital device sales (cell phones and PDAs - for the youngins, ask your parents if they had a Palm Pilot). In the early 2000s, it held just 1% of the cell phone chipset market. As desktop computer sales slowed, Intel had to choose their path in the mobile device space.

Intel’s Solutions

One of Intel’s early solutions to flagging sales was the introduction of the “Intel Inside” campaign. The campaign was built on the insight that end users, not just computer design engineers, needed to know about Intel’s product differentiators. The team started with some market research, then through a quick-and-dirty billboard experiment, showed that marketing Intel directly to consumers had a meaningful impact on sales. This proof point was expanded to the umbrella brand of “Intel Inside”, which included a co-op advertising program to appease OEM partners.

Branding took on new meaning for Intel, as the “Intel Inside” campaign expanded and successfully introduced dozens of products to the market. Marketing and product development started to work hand-in-hand. 150M Intel Inside stickers were printed in 2001 alone, and Intel was ranked by BusinessWeek/Interbrand as the 6th most valuable brand in the world. You’ve definitely seen the sticker, potentially without noticing it.

And that last piece is the real issue. As Intel’s business grew, the clarity of “Intel Inside” branding began to fade, and the company had to compete in new areas. For example, Steve Jobs was not going to mar one of his Mac products with a blue sticker. Which brings me to...

Lessons for Apple’s iPod

Seeing the long list of Intel chips and their release dates reminded me of Apple’s many iPod iterations. Much like the “Intel Inside” campaign, iPods enjoyed massive success when they were first introduced. Eventually, sales slowed as competition entered the market, and Apple had to innovate (in product and branding) to keep up. Eventually, broader market trends shifted (for Intel, it was PC to mobile; for Apple, it was MP3 to smartphone), and Apple’s own products (iPhone, strengthened by App Store) killed its earlier ones (iPods).

Logos courtesy of https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Intel_Inside. iPod evolution image found on Pinterest.

[phonemantra-blog]

Lunar Lake will be mobile only Intel today introduced Meteor Lake mobile processors, which it calls a revolutionary step forward. In addition, Intel spoke about the next generations of its CPUs. [caption id="attachment_57471" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Intel[/caption] In total, we will have three of them over the next year: Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, and Panther Lake. Of course, this does not mean that Intel will replace three generations of processors in a year. Intel will bombard the market with processors of different generations. Arrow Lake will be available in both desktop and mobile segments. On desktop, they will replace the Raptor Lake Refresh line, which will be released in October. In mobile, Arrow Lake will coexist with Meteor Lake, playing in the segment of higher-performance solutions. Such CPUs will be produced partly at Intel facilities using the Intel 20A process technology and partly at TSMC facilities using the N3 process technology. Lunar Lake processors, as it turns out, will be similar to Meteor Lake in that they will be available only in the mobile segment. It is unclear whether this division is temporary or whether Intel will now continue to divide its CPU lines in this way. Lunar Lake will also be released next year. Given that this is technically a replacement for Meteor Lake, this may happen late next year. Panther Lake will be available in both the mobile and desktop segments, that is, they will replace Arrow Lake. But in this case, it is unclear why they should also be expected in 2024 because the same Arrow Lake in this case will be relevant for less than a year.

[phonemantra-blog]

The bandwidth of the new interface is huge Intel yesterday introduced the Thunderbolt 5 interface with a gigantic throughput of 120 Gbps. By comparison, USB4 is only capable of transferring 20 Gbps, while Thunderbolt 3 and 4 are limited to 40 Gbps. Such a huge increase in throughput provides great opportunities. Intel itself believes that the emergence of Thunderbolt 5 will lead to a revival of the external video card market. [caption id="attachment_56020" align="aligncenter" width="780"] Intel[/caption] We've also seen external graphics connected via Thunderbolt over the years, and I think with the new version doubling the bandwidth we'll see a resurgence in this category Intel believes Thunderbolt 5 will revive the external graphics The company also believes that Thunderbolt 5 can make it so that not only external video cards will appear, but also external AI accelerators. I think in the next few years we may start to see some external AI accelerator products because of the desire for AI in the client space. Let us remind you that Thunderbolt 5 allows you to connect up to three 4K screens with a frequency of up to 144 Hz and transmit up to 240 W of power. The first laptops with Thunderbolt 5 are expected after the release of Meteor Lake processors, but probably as early as next year.