Intel Reportedly Plans Thousands of Layoffs Amid PC Market Slowdown

[krspkbl]

I have Mac Mini M1 16 GB. Best spent money. Everything is flying.

As soon as we get an M2 Mini then I'm making Mac my main platform again.

I'm tired of Microsoft's crap and I am done with the stupid prices of components to build a gaming PC. That includes the price of Intel's CPUs. I'll hook my PC up to my TV and use it purely for gaming. Might even use it to mess about with some Linux. Once it can't play games I'll buy a console for gaming.

I'm hoping for a Mac Mini with 24GB RAM with 512GB or even 1TB SSD.

 

[akbarali.ch]

I feel people are spending more and more on the phone and tablets and the budget for the PC has reduced, maybe, my two cents.

 

[Born Again]

It's almost as if a trillion-dollar company has stopped using their processors or something...

The world doesn’t revolve around apple.

While apple won’t share their figures history has shown us that apple computers are a niche product. Hardly the reason why intel isn’t doing well.

My condolences to those losing jobs.

 

[I7guy]

Intel plans to slash its employee numbers by the thousands in a bid to cut costs in the face of the slowing global PC market, a new Bloomberg report has claimed.

The company's sales and marketing teams could see cuts affecting around 20% of staff, said the report, citing people with knowledge of the matter who wished to remain anonymous.

The "major reduction in headcount" hasn't officially been made public, but it is expected to be announced as early as this month around the time of Intel's third-quarter earnings report on October 27. The last big wave of layoffs at Intel was in 2016, when about 12,000 people were made redundant. Based on the last count in July, Intel currently has around 113,700 staff.

The likes of Lenovo, HP, and Dell have all been impacted by a significant drop in PC sales due to global inflation and geopolitical instability, and the steep decline in demand for PC processors has negatively affected Intel's revenue.

Worldwide PC shipments went into free-fall in the third quarter, with overall sales declining by 18%, according to numbers compiled by Canalys. IDC provided similar findings, with sales falling over 15%, while Gartner reported PC shipments down 19.6% over the same quarter.

However, Intel's shares have been hit harder than other chipmakers as it struggles to win back market share lost to rivals like AMD. Earlier this year, Intel said 2022 sales would be around $11 billion lower than it had expected, and analysts are now said to be predicting a third-quarter revenue drop of about 15%. Intel's margins are also on the decline.

During its second-quarter earnings call, Intel pledged to cut expenses and make other changes to improve profits. Still, the short-term outlook remains poor. The chipmaker has not yet recovered from the impact of Apple's decision in 2020 to move away from using Intel processors in its Mac computers and adopt custom Apple silicon instead. It has also lost its prime position in microprocessor manufacturing to TSMC and Samsung Electronics.

To counter market conditions and boost innovation, Intel is looking to sell more advanced AI-powered chips to the data-center market and is working with TSMC to build chips using the Taiwanese foundry's 5nm process. Intel also plans to sell shares of its Mobileye self-driving technology business in an initial public offering, which has been valued at $30 billion.

Article Link: Intel Reportedly Plans Thousands of Layoffs Amid PC Market Slowdown

I still buy intel chips for my windows pcs, but somewhere they lost their eyes on the target.

Also, the phrasing "were made redundant" sounds terrible.

 

[ian87w]

Intel needs to start selling their CPUs at reasonable prices.

Like Nvidia, in recent years they have pushed their prices up due to demand, lack of supply and popularity.

£350 for an i5, never mind the DD5, GPU etc... means that PS5 / xBox looks way more than reasonable when picking a gaming device.

Hell a Steam Desk is £350 and seems to make a decent platform for gaming.

Agree.
With the launch of the M1, I thought Intel laptops would be on fire sale as they are simply not competitive in performance per watt, which is the most important thing for a laptop. But nope, Intel still positioned their 11th gen as a premium CPU for some reason. Only AMD took notice and provided better bang for the buck. All intel did to "compete" was spending money on useless ads and pretending their products are premium.

 

[ian87w]

I feel people are spending more and more on the phone and tablets and the budget for the PC has reduced, maybe, my two cents.

Majority of people in emerging markets do have smartphones as their first computer ever, and many don't see a need for a traditional computer anymore.

I have managed to do most of my PC tasks on my Galaxy Tablet. I only ended up still getting a Windows laptop merely due to one Windows only app for work. But other than that, I had been using the Galaxy Tab as my full time computer.

 

[jtrenthacker]

Intel breaks ground on $20B Ohio semiconductor manufacturing site

The chip giant selected Gilbane Building Co., along with Ohio-based partners, to manage early excavation work on the project.

www.constructiondive.com

 

[idandavid]

I bet not many will read this but I wanna share my view as a former gamer. I am in my early 30's and I had a pc since I was around 10. I got a new pc every 3 years or so. At 19 I got a MacBook. Ever since then I always had a gaming pc + a MacBook. I have to say that the gaming industry has gotten really bad. The graphics are amazing but the games have gotten really bad and so many things are subscription based now. One of my favorite games GTA has not released a new one in almost 10 years. Some games I played recently had everything locked in the game until you progress much further probably to keep you paying for said subscription.

Now regarding pc parts, things are not just way too expensive. What really annoys me is the companies exploiting the pandemic, war, shortage, shipping costs, global climate and whatever reason they'll make up at the time to way overcharge for these pc components.

I am so annoyed that pc part prices went insane for the past year or two that I decided to give up on pc's and pc gaming all together. Apple releases a product like an iPhone or M1 Mac and yea its out of stock for a bit while all the big fans pre order them and all and thats ok. However, Apple sets a price and thats the price. No surprises!

Prices don't suddenly shoot up 2-3 times the price just because of "whatever" excuse.

So, as someone who somewhat had a gaming pc for most of his life, I'm over it. Let's see if it was worth it for these pc component manufacturers to extremely overcharge and make up excuses.

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

Sounds like all the hysterical bad news on the economy is having an effect?

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

Hmm a PC.. What’s that?

/s

 

[bradman83]

I willing to bet that this is because phones and tablets are replacing computers for most users and not due to quality/Windows OS.

Outside of work; I only use my iPhone and iPad w/ Magic Keyboard. I definitely do desire a new Macbook Pro + Studio Display but it's a want rather than a true necessity. Could easily buy one now, but I wouldn't gain much due to the phone/tablet fulfilling any and all needs.

All that said; M Series is a game changer and shows clear advantages over X86.

I would add the additional point that the pandemic and rapid shift to work-from-home prompted both consumer and institutional customers to aggressively upgrade their hardware or otherwise purchase new equipment to allow for the remote work shift. With so many purchases having been made in 2020-2021 it's only natural that would suppress demand for the next several years, even if the current economic headwinds weren't a consideration. Now compound the gradual shift to mobile/tablet computing and the fact that computers have generally been fast enough for most consumers for years now and you've got a recipe for a problem for traditional PC makers.

 

[MayaUser]

You lose Apple, you lose people

 

[bergert]

This is so sad. With the layoffs 2009-11 the 10nm Tech was delayed 10 years. And the same for the 2016 layoffs - 7nm struggeling today.... was a great company in the 1980s and 90s; lots of technology. x86 monopoly ($$$) killed all other products.

 

[chevyboy60013]

I bet not many will read this but I wanna share my view as a former gamer. I am in my early 30's and I had a pc since I was around 10. I got a new pc every 3 years or so. At 19 I got a MacBook. Ever since then I always had a gaming pc + a MacBook. I have to say that the gaming industry has gotten really bad. The graphics are amazing but the games have gotten really bad and so many things are subscription based now. One of my favorite games GTA has not released a new one in almost 10 years. Some games I played recently had everything locked in the game until you progress much further probably to keep you paying for said subscription.

Now regarding pc parts, things are not just way too expensive. What really annoys me is the companies exploiting the pandemic, war, shortage, shipping costs, global climate and whatever reason they'll make up at the time to way overcharge for these pc components.

I am so annoyed that pc part prices went insane for the past year or two that I decided to give up on pc's and pc gaming all together. Apple releases a product like an iPhone or M1 Mac and yea its out of stock for a bit while all the big fans pre order them and all and thats ok. However, Apple sets a price and thats the price. No surprises!

Prices don't suddenly shoot up 2-3 times the price just because of "whatever" excuse.

So, as someone who somewhat had a gaming pc for most of his life, I'm over it. Let's see if it was worth it for these pc component manufacturers to extremely overcharge and make up excuses.

Plus Apple’s products perform as expected and do not throw a hissy fit every other day.

 

[Digitalguy]

I willing to bet that this is because phones and tablets are replacing computers for most users and not due to quality/Windows OS.

Outside of work; I only use my iPhone and iPad w/ Magic Keyboard. I definitely do desire a new Macbook Pro + Studio Display but it's a want rather than a true necessity. Could easily buy one now, but I wouldn't gain much due to the phone/tablet fulfilling any and all needs.

All that said; M Series is a game changer and shows clear advantages over X86.

This is mainly because everyone who had not a computer bought one during the pandemics already

 

[AppleTO]

I used to love building Windows desktops, but it’s not worth it anymore. The cost of the components has skyrocketed. I’m sure a lot of others are in the same boat.

Nowadays I almost exclusively use an M1 MacBook Air.

 

[chevyboy60013]

I used to love building Windows desktops, but it’s not worth it anymore. The cost of the components has skyrocketed. I’m sure a lot of others are in the same boat.

Nowadays I almost exclusively use an M1 MacBook Air.

The funny thing is I have an m1 MacBook Air, but since I got my 3rd generation iPad Pro 11 inch with the m1 chip and the magic keyboard, I use the iPad Pro for 98% of what I need to do.

 

[progx]

The funny thing is I have an m1 MacBook Air, but since I got my 3rd generation iPad Pro 11 inch with the m1 chip and the magic keyboard, I use the iPad Pro for 98% of what I need to do.

I’ve used my Air 5 way more than my 8th Gen. I’m putting my future Mac on hold… for now. Might jump in at the M3 mark since my late 2018 Mac mini still has some legs (32 GB of RAM and a 4GB RX70 on an eGPU sled). Really want to see what I can get away with on the iPad Air 5, then I’ll figure out which Mac I’d want in 2024.

 

[MacLawyer]

Poor Justin Long.

 

[Saturn1217]

Mass layoffs suck. Make all the Wintel jokes you like. I feel bad for the people having to go through this (even if obviously someone who has a job at Intel probably isn't living paycheck to paycheck).

On another note. I see many people in this thread commenting on how everyone has moved towards tablets and phones for personal computing. I was doing this too, using my smartphone and sometimes an iPad for all personal computing.

With the purchase of a 14" Macbook Pro, I moved back towards having a laptop as the hub of my personal computing and it is SO MUCH better. I spend way more of my leisure time being productive. Learning new things etc. Instead of just mindlessly scrolling social media. I am more organized because it is easier to be with access to a full desktop OS. Obviously an Apple Silicon based laptop does nothing to help Intel, but this trend towards personal computing moving to mobile OS appliances is not necessarily a good thing.

 

[switz]

The downward spiral gets ever tighter over time. But the executive jets will one of the last things to go.....

 

[CouponPages]

I'm still wondering how a chip company would lay off thousands when we're still in the middle of a global chip shortage?

Most of the car companies still claim their production problems are due to the shortage.

 

[Techwatcher]

This is just common practice for any public company - reduce costs by laying off staff = happier shareholders. It's harsh but that's how business works.

Correct. But it’s happening even at the slightest downward shift in revenue. Shareholders need to relax and keep their panties on.

 

[BaltimoreMediaBlog]

Yeah, those ad campaign using Justin “Mac” Long was not such a great investment eh intel? 😂

Not good for Intel, but at least Justin Long finally got out of the unemployment line still smarting after they killed his character off in Jeepers Creepers at the end of the movie.

 

[shadowmatt]

Agree.
With the launch of the M1, I thought Intel laptops would be on fire sale as they are simply not competitive in performance per watt, which is the most important thing for a laptop. But nope, Intel still positioned their 11th gen as a premium CPU for some reason. Only AMD took notice and provided better bang for the buck. All intel did to "compete" was spending money on useless ads and pretending their products are premium.

The 11th Gen were worse than the 10th in many cases!