10% Upswing on Intel's Raptor Lake CPUs as Adoption of AI Chips Stays Snoozy
As per reports from sources in the supply chain, it seems that Intel's old Raptor Lake CPUs may see almost 10% price hike in the last quarter of 2020. The increase follows the demand trend for these relatively cheaper processors, whereas the acceptance of newer AI chips, including Lunar Lake, has not been as quick as promised.
Why Demand for Raptor Lake Remains Strong
Many factors contribute to the increasing market preference of Raptor Lake processors compared with their successors:
- Cost-Effective: Raptor Lake chips are priced over $200 lower than their Lunar Lake alternatives, making them more appealing to consumers and major PC brands such as Lenovo, HP, and Acer.
- Performance Adequacy: Performance from Raptor Lake CPUs is more than enough for most users' daily tasks and gaming; hence, motivation to upgrade decreases.
- No "Must-Have" AI Features: Adoption of AI PCs has been lukewarm since there are no must-have AI applications warranting the exorbitant cost of employing new processors.
- Increasing Prices of Components: A 15-25% increase in DRAM (DDR4/DDDR5) and SSD NAND prices presses PC manufacturers to use older and cheaper CPUs to manage overall system costs.
Market Dynamics Affecting the Price Changes
The increase in shipments of PCs overall is due to the phase-out of Windows 10 and not really from high demand for AI PCs. Hence, the demand for Raptor Lake chips continues to be at its peak, while supply is depleting.
It is suspected that such an imbalance is what leads Intel to adjust prices on its remaining stocks for the benefit of the demand that seems to not diminish anytime soon. Reports from DigiTimes suggest that price increases of up to 20% in some SKUs have already been seen in Japan and South Korea in Alder Lake, Raptor Lake, and Raptor Lake Refresh type chips.
Official Status
So far, Intel has not made any official statement of increasing the prices of its Raptor Lake series CPUs. Based on reports by the supply chain and some studies of pricing trends in some international markets, such findings came about.
Source: digitimes
