Intel Corp. has postponed a product event where executives usually introduce new chips on account of a cost-cutting initiative it launched earlier this month.

The company announced the decision late Thursday. The two-day Intel Innovation conference was originally set to kick off on Sept. 24 in San Jose, California. The company has pushed back the event to next year.

An Intel spokesperson told PCMag that “given our financial results and outlook for the second half of 2024, which is tougher than previously expected, we are having to make some tough decisions as we continue to align our cost structure and look to assess how we rebuild a sustainable engine of process technology leadership.”

Intel posted its second-quarter results at the start of the month. The company’s revenue dipped 1% year-over-year, missing analyst expectations, while the $1.48 billion profit it posted 12 months earlier turned into a $1.61 billion net loss. 

In response to the disappointing results, Intel announced a 20% cut to its full-year capital expenditures. Such expenditures include, among others, big-ticket purchases such as chipmaking equipment. Intel also launched a round of job cuts that will affect more than 15,000 employees, or 15% of its staff.

The chipmaker usually announces new products at its Intel Innovation event. The past two editions of the conference both saw executives introduce new central processing units for the personal computer market. According to Intel, the decision to postpone the event won’t affect the launch schedule of its next-generation PC processors. Indeed, ahead of the IFA 2024 conference in Berlin, Intel will introduce on Sept. 3 its next generation of Intel Core Ultra processors, code-named Lunar Lake.

“There are no changes to Intel’s launch plans, timing, or product readiness,” the company said in a statement. “We’ll share more details on our next-gen desktop processor products, codenamed Arrow Lake, later this year.”

Recent reports suggest that the Arrow Lake series will feature a chiplet architecture. A chiplet-based processor isn’t implemented on a single piece of silicon, but rather comprises multiple modules that are manufactured separately. Intel has already incorporated the technology into several product lines. 

The fastest Arrow Lake processor is expected to have a top clock speed of 5.7 gigahertz. The chips in the series are expected to ship with up 24 CPU cores, including 16 that prioritize power-efficiency and eight optimized to maximize performance. There’s also a built-in graphics processing unit, as well as a module optimized to run artificial intelligence models.

Arrow Lake’s performance-optimized CPU cores are reportedly based on a new design called Lion Cove that Intel detailed in June. Lion Cove provides better performance than the company’s previous-generation silicon thanks to a faster onboard cache. Additionally, Intel has added an AI mechanism that can automatically boost Lion Cove cores’ performance when there’s no risk of overheating.

Intel’s development roadmap includes not only new chips but also new manufacturing processes. Earlier this week, the company disclosed that its next-generation Intel 18A process is on track to come online in 2025. Early prototype chips based on the node have reached several technical milestones, including a successful operating system boot, that suggest they will be ready for mass production next year. 

Photo: Intel