Intel’s troubles have been widely publicized and reported throughout the year, from CPU launch issues to behind-the-scenes development and foundry production woes. It’s worth keeping this in mind because, with layoffs and cost-cutting measures in place, Intel’s current and future decisions will most likely be influenced by its current state.
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Okay, with that out of the way, let’s look at the future of Intel Arc based on comments made by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger during a recent Q3 2024 Earnings Call. Essentially, with next-gen Arc Xe2 architecture graphics becoming a part of the company’s Lunar Lake mobile line-up – the future of Intel’s entry into the discrete graphics market will focus on integrated graphics.
“We’ve taken steps to simplify the product line, have fewer SKUs to cover the marketplace, and we’re focused on the efficiencies associated with that,” Pat Gelsinger said. Simplifying the road map means“large integrated graphics capabilities” will become the new norm for Intel, with “less need for discrete graphics in the market going forward.”
Less need doesn’t mean Intel is abandoning the discrete desktop GPU market altogether, which was one of the main reasons Intel Arc was created. Intel is still expected to launch its next-gen Battlemage desktop GPUs in early 2025; however, there might only be a handful of models from a handful of partners.
Since launching in 2022 with the Intel Arc A750 and A770 desktop graphics cards, Intel has failed to challenge NVIDIA’s complete GeForce dominance. Driver and teething issues led to an overall mixed reaction to Intel Arc as a viable alternative to GeForce or even Radeon, making it an uphill battle for Team Blue to improve the public perception of Arc graphics.
In 2024, Arc driver stability and support is exponentially better than it was at launch, so desktop Arc graphics are decent 1080p gaming performers for the price. Now, as much as we’d love to see Intel release a desktop Arc GPU that can rival the GeForce RTX 4070’s performance at a much lower cost of entry, it makes sense for the company to shift to Arc development to focus on integrated graphics.
“We’re all in on AI PC,” Pat Gelsinger said during the identical Q3 2024 Earnings Call. Regarding AI PCs, processors with NPUs and integrated graphics will become more and more critical. Desktop GPUs are also crucial for AI workloads, but it sounds like Arc’s future will be mobile-first.