Business as Usual: Intel Says GPU Division Unaffected by NVIDIA Partnership
In the wake of today’s landmark announcement of a strategic partnership between Intel and NVIDIA, Intel has moved to reassure the market that its discrete graphics business will continue unchanged. The company issued a short but significant statement clarifying that the collaboration with NVIDIA is “complementary to Intel’s roadmap” and that “Intel will continue to have GPU product offerings.”
This statement directly addresses the biggest question arising from this morning’s surprise announcement: what happens to Intel’s Arc graphics division? The partnership revealed that Intel will use NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX GPU chiplets in its system-on-chip (SoC) designs for laptops, while NVIDIA will purchase Intel CPUs for its data center products, connected via NVLink technology.
Reading Between the Lines
Intel’s carefully worded statement suggests several important points:
- Xe3 Architecture Still On Track: The description of the partnership as “complementary” implies Intel’s next-generation Xe3 graphics architecture remains part of the company’s plans
- No Immediate Changes: With joint products likely 1-2 years away, current Arc GPU production and sales should continue unaffected
- Strategic Coexistence: Intel appears to be planning for both internal GPU development and external collaboration with NVIDIA
During the announcement call, executives revealed that discussions between the two companies have been ongoing for months, indicating that any products resulting from this partnership are still in early development stages rather than imminent releases.
The Competitive Landscape
The partnership creates an interesting future scenario where Intel-powered laptops with NVIDIA GPU chiplets would compete directly with Intel’s own discrete Arc graphics solutions. However, this competition remains distant enough that Intel has time to adjust its strategy and product positioning.
What remains unclear is Intel’s commitment to future discrete desktop and mobile GPUs beyond the current generation. The company has not confirmed plans for Xe3-based discrete graphics cards, leaving some uncertainty about the long-term future of the Arc brand as a standalone product line.
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The Bottom Line
For now, Intel’s graphics business continues as usual. The company’s first Arc GPUs launched in March 2022, and this statement suggests that journey isn’t ending prematurely. However, the NVIDIA partnership undoubtedly changes the competitive landscape in the long term, potentially positioning Intel as both a competitor and collaborator in the graphics market—a unique position that could either create conflicts or complementary product strategies depending on how both companies manage the relationship.
Source: pcworld