Intel, the biggest maker of semiconductors, said its new processors are going to deliver the biggest bump in performance that personal computer users have experienced in years.
The eighth generation of its Core line will provide as much as a 40 percent jump over its predecessor, according to the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company. That’s a leap in performance that arguably happens only once in a decade, Intel said. New laptops built on the chips will come to market in September.
Intel, whose chips are the heart of more than 80 percent of the world’s PCs, has been remarkably successful in a market that’s been declining since it peaked in 2011 and is now more than 100 million units smaller than it was then. In the second quarter, Intel’s PC chip unit posted a 12 percent increase in sales even as overall shipments of PCs continued their slide.
Intel’s winning strategy — one that the new lineup will try to keep going — has been to persuade consumers that they need to buy up, spending extra on computers with more expensive chips even though they’re not replacing their old PCs as often as they did. The challenge the new Core systems will face is that Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Intel’s only remaining rival in PC processors, is bringing its own new design to market this year. Chips built on its Zen are able to challenge Intel parts on performance for the first time in years, AMD has said, and they’re cheaper.