Intel’s CEO is not worried about the possible emergence of ARM processors in PCs, despite the entry of important new players and the loss of Apple as a customer.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger doesn’t fear that ARM chips will become strong competitors to Intel processors in the PC market. Gelsinger revealed this during a phone call about his company’s quarterly results. “ARM alternatives have generally played a minor role in the PC business,” it said. “We take the competition seriously, but if history is anything to go by, we don’t see these chips being too important. Our momentum is high. We have a strong roadmap.”

Gelsinger understandably points to ARM’s abysmal track record on Windows. Since Windows 8, Microsoft has been trying to make Windows computers with ARM inside a success, but in vain. The software side is lagging a bit behind, but when it comes to hardware, we haven’t seen any chips that really made an impact. The promises of high performance with extra-long battery life and a fanless laptop design have not been fulfilled.

More than history

However, history is not always the best guide. The steam engine had already been around 1,700 years when Thomas Savery created his version, and the fact that things had no real impact historically didn’t stop the Industrial Revolution. ARM hasn’t meant much in recent years, but that was before Nvidia wanted to commit to a PC CPU and before Qualcomm used Nuvia’s talent to bring to market for the first time a truly promising processor that was more than a derivative a smartphone CPU is .

Furthermore, Gelsinger is only right if one defines “history” and “PC market” very narrowly. Finally, let’s not forget that Apple is there too personal computers does, but with a different operating system. Apple has successfully eliminated Intel, meaning Gelsinger and his associates have already lost around 8.6 percent of the broader PC market.

reassurance

When Gelsinger says he’s not afraid of ARM, his main concern seems to be reassuring shareholders. He also said he would welcome ARM as Intel Foundry Services is ready to bake all future chips. We suspect that the margins here are significantly lower than with the latest generation Intel Core i7.

It remains to be seen whether ARM will become a competitor for x86 and thus Intel. However, history is not the best guide, because today, for the first time, the cards are very favorable in favor of alternative architecture. Of course, Microsoft continues to play a very important role in preparing both Windows and developers for ARM. There’s a good chance that something else goes wrong there and Gelsinger is still right.