Report: Intel CPU Shortages Still Hit Laptop Market in Q4 2019

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Laptop shipments may drop up to 15% in Q1 2020.

(Image credit: Shutterstock)

Notebook original design manufacturers (ODMs) were still impacted by Intel’s ongoing supply issues in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to DigiTimes (opens in new tab), which also reported that CPU shipments in Q1 2020 will be up to 15% lower compared to Q4 2019.

DigiTimes reported on Friday that notebook makers experienced weaker-than-expected shipments in Q4 2019. The report attributed this to Intel’s CPU shortages, as well as previous high inventory build-ups to avoid U.S. tariffs.

For Q1 2020, shipments are expected to drop 10-15% sequentially compared to Q4 2019. A large part of this may be due to regular seasonality, considering the end of the holiday season.

Intel’s CPU supply issues (opens in new tab) seemingly continue to linger. Intel said (opens in new tab)in October it had increased its wafer capacity by 25% in 2019 and expects to realize a similar increase in 2020. The company said this would increase its PC client supply by double digits in the second half of 2019 (compared to H1) and expected to see another single digit increase in CPU (opens in new tab)supplies in 2020. However, the company admitted that growth wasn’t enough and that it would continue to struggle in Q4 2019. 

Intel has also apologized to customers (opens in new tab) for supply constraints. 

Arne Verheyde
6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • InvalidError
    Quite amazing how Intel's sales remain maxed-out despite two years of AMD offering significantly more bang-per-buck across the board. With AMD having under-estimated demand for 3rd-gen, AMD won't have the spare wafers to push for market share by filling in for more of Intel's shortages any time soon either.
    Reply
  • GetSmart
    InvalidError said:
    Quite amazing how Intel's sales remain maxed-out despite two years of AMD offering significantly more bang-per-buck across the board. With AMD having under-estimated demand for 3rd-gen, AMD won't have the spare wafers to push for market share by filling in for more of Intel's shortages any time soon either.
    Remember the MSI CEO interview posted by Tom's Hardware? Could be due to AMD's less than stellar support for laptop ODMs and manufacturers. Perhaps that is why Intel's chips remained the prefered (first) choice, especially the smaller ODMs.

    Edit: Here's a bit of proof
    Reply
  • urbanman2004
    InvalidError said:
    Quite amazing how Intel's sales remain maxed-out despite two years of AMD offering significantly more bang-per-buck across the board. With AMD having under-estimated demand for 3rd-gen, AMD won't have the spare wafers to push for market share by filling in for more of Intel's shortages any time soon either.
    There's more to the PC market than just your average PC gamer. Enterprise (server) and mobile market segments are Intel's bread and butter... This should offer you a better understanding behind Intel's shortcomings. Please read: https://wccftech.com/intel-10nm-yield-is-ahead-of-expectation-7nm-ponte-vecchio-gpu-on-track/
    Reply
  • InvalidError
    urbanman2004 said:
    There's more to the PC market than just your average PC gamer. Enterprise (server) and mobile market segments are Intel's bread and butter...
    AMD has more than just desktop products too and its enterprise/server CPUs have a huge performance per dollar advantage over Intel's parts so Intel has to drop its high-end server CPUs' MSRPs by $3000-5000 to remain remotely competitive.
    Reply
  • spongiemaster
    InvalidError said:
    Quite amazing how Intel's sales remain maxed-out despite two years of AMD offering significantly more bang-per-buck across the board. With AMD having under-estimated demand for 3rd-gen, AMD won't have the spare wafers to push for market share by filling in for more of Intel's shortages any time soon either.
    Has AMD really ever challenged Intel in the notebook market? Especially with notebooks, it's not just the CPU, Intel's total platform offerings have always been superior to AMD's and still are today.
    Reply
  • urbanman2004
    InvalidError said:
    AMD has more than just desktop products too and its enterprise/server CPUs have a huge performance per dollar advantage over Intel's parts so Intel has to drop its high-end server CPUs' MSRPs by $3000-5000 to remain remotely competitive.
    I never disputed that AMD's products offer more value for its performance compared to Intel. Hell, I just built myself an 3700X rig last month which is my first AMD rig in like "forever". You on the other hand negate the fact that Intel's consumer desktop computing side of their business is not priority which is what I originally argued in the first place.
    Reply