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Today on the company\u2019s Q3 2025 earnings call<\/a>, where Intel saw its first profit in nearly two years<\/a> due primarily to those lifelines, CEO Lip-Bu Tan and CFO David Zinsner explained how the company doesn\u2019t yet have enough chips. It\u2019s currently seeing shortages that it expects to peak in the first quarter of next year \u2014 in the meantime, leaders say they\u2019re going to prioritize AI server chips over some consumer processors as it deals with supply and demand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cWe expect CCG [Intel\u2019s consumer chips] to be down modestly and DCAI [Intel\u2019s server chips] to be up strongly as we prioritize capacity for server shipments over entry level client parts,\u201d Intel says. Tan revealed today that Intel will also release new AI GPUs each and every year, following Nvidia<\/a> and AMD<\/a> in shaking up their traditional cadence to address the huge demand for AI servers. It\u2019s not clear what that might mean for those hoping for more Intel gaming GPUs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While all eyes are on Intel\u2019s hot new Panther Lake<\/a> and its 18A process to show the world it can still make the most potent consumer PC chips and make them in-house, the company reiterated it\u2019s only launching one SKU of Panther Lake this year and slowly rolling out others in 2026. Here\u2019s another possible reason why: Zinsner hinted today that Panther Lake will be a \u201cpretty expensive\u201d product to start with, and Intel\u2019s going to have to push its existing Lunar Lake chips instead \u201cin at least the first half of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While Intel has repeatedly pushed back against the idea that its 18A process had poor yields, the company admitted to investors and analysts today that it\u2019s not ready to be a huge financial success either: yields are \u201cadequate to address the supply but not where we need them to be to drive the appropriate level of margins,\u201d says Zinsner, suggesting that it might be 2026, or even 2027 for an \u201cacceptable level of yields\u201d in that regard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For now, Intel will be \u201cworking closely with customers to maximize our available output, including adjusting pricing and mix, to shift demand towards products where we have supply and they have demand\u201d \u2014 which sounds like playing with the prices it charges PC makers to stick Intel inside their computers and pointing them at Lunar Lake parts instead of hot new ones. Tan reiterated today that he\u2019s not going to invest in more capacity unless there\u2019s \u201ccommitted external demand,\u201d and Zinsner says investments in capacity next year won\u2019t \u201csignificantly change expectations\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Intel says that 18A will be a \u201clong-lived node\u201d that will power \u201cat least the next three generations of client and server products.\u201d If you were hoping for a return to the \u201ctick-tock\u201d days <\/a>where Intel would alternate between shrinking its chips and releasing new architectures every generation, that\u2019s not happening here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But that doesn\u2019t mean Intel will cancel its next node, Intel 14A, as it warned it might.<\/a> Tan suggested today that customers have stepped in to save 14A, and Intel, that the company is \u201cdelighted and more confident\u201d in it, and Zinsner says it\u2019s not only \u201coff to a good start,\u201d but better than 18A was at this point \u201cin terms of performance and yields.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n