8 Big Comments By Intel’s CEOs On Its AI, PC, Data Center And Foundry Efforts

[XYang2023]

Intel’s interim co-CEOs gave blunt assessments of the company’s accelerator chip and server CPU efforts in their first public appearance together while noting that more rivals are set to enter the PC market next year and leaving open the possibility of splitting the chipmaker in two.

David Zinsner, also Intel’s CFO, and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who was also given the newly created position of CEO of Intel Products, discussed the state of the beleaguered semiconductor giant and homed in on its most strategic businesses at the Barclays 22nd Annual Global Technology Conference on Thursday.

8 Big Comments By Intel’s CEOs On Its AI, PC, Data Center And Foundry Efforts

Intel co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus indicated she is more confident about the company’s PC efforts than those with AI accelerator chips or server CPUs in her first public appearance with her counterpart, David Zinsner, at a Thursday event.

www.crn.com

 

[blueone]

What a nothing-burger.

 

[XYang2023]

What a nothing-burger.

I believe transparency is crucial. It should be a prerequisite for any turnaround effort by a public company.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

I believe transparency is crucial. It should be a prerequisite for any turnaround effort by a public company.

Do you really feel they are qualified to lead Intel? Like a train wreck, I just can't stop looking.


Michelle Johnston Holthaus is interim co-chief executive officer and chief executive officer of Intel Products at Intel Corporation. As CEO of Intel Products, she is responsible for a group that encompasses the company’s Client Computing Group (CCG), Data Center and AI Group and Network and Edge Group.

In previous roles, Holthaus was executive vice president and general manager of the CCG; chief revenue officer; and general manager of the Sales, Marketing and Communications Group. Prior to her role as CEO of Intel Products, she was responsible for all aspects of running and growing the client business, including strategy, financial performance and product development for the full portfolio of client technologies and platforms designed to enable exceptional personal computing experiences.

A proven leader in sales and product marketing, Holthaus has held a variety of management roles since joining Intel in 1996. Before leading the sales, marketing and communications teams, she led global Client Computing Group sales. In that role, she managed worldwide sales strategy and customer relationships for Intel’s client computing product lines, including notebooks, desktops, tablets, 2 in 1 devices and home gateways. Earlier roles in her tenure at Intel include leading the Microsoft Global Account team and managing channel products, central marketing and operations within Intel’s PC Client Group. Holthaus has also served as general manager of Intel’s Reseller Product Group and has been recognized three times by CRN magazine as one of the Top 100 Women of the Channel.

Holthaus began her Intel career as a program manager in the OEM Platform Solutions Division in Hillsboro, Oregon. A native Oregonian, she graduated from Linfield College with a bachelor’s degree in finance.


David Zinsner is interim co-chief executive officer, executive vice president and the chief financial officer (CFO) at Intel Corporation. He leads Intel’s global finance organization, including finance, accounting and reporting, tax, treasury, internal audit and investor relations.

Prior to joining Intel in January 2022, Zinsner was executive vice president and CFO at Micron Technology Inc. During his tenure, he served on the company’s executive leadership team and was responsible for leading the global finance organization and investor relations. Zinsner has more than 20 years of financial and operational experience in semiconductors, manufacturing and the technology industry.

Earlier in his career, Zinsner served as president and chief operating officer at Affirmed Networks. He also served as senior vice president of finance and CFO at Analog Devices, and senior vice president and CFO at Intersil Corp.

He holds a master’s degree in business administration, finance and accounting from Vanderbilt University and a bachelor’s degree in industrial management from Carnegie Mellon University.

 

[Daniel Nenni]

This is what Intel is competing against:

CEO of the Year Lisa Su Discusses the Semiconductor Industry​

TIME Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs had a wide-ranging conversation with the leader named TIME’s 2024 CEO of the Year, Lisa Su, chair and CEO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) on Dec. 11 over dinner in New York City.

Semiconductors, or chips, power computers, phones, cars, internet services, and artificial intelligence programs. Whether it’s sending emails, buying something online, streaming movies, chatting with an AI assistant—there’s a good chance that an AMD chip is behind some of the computing capabilities.

In the decade that Su, an engineer, has been at the helm of the computing juggernaut, the overall value of AMD surpassed rival Intel’s for the first time and its stock trades at a nearly 50-fold increase since she took over. While it’s unclear what President Donald Trump’s second term will mean for her industry, Su is cautiously optimistic, stating, “We are optimistic about business.”

However, Su was much more certain about the potential of AI to bring about transformative change in all aspects of society. She called AI “the most important technology that I’ve certainly seen in my career.” Even though AI is only in its “very, very beginning” stage, she predicted it will be “10 times more amazing 12 months from now.”

Jacobs pointed out that many of the most advanced chips are made outside of the U.S. When he asked her when they would be made in the U.S. she estimated three to five years. She explained that chips only became a hot-button political issue relatively recently, citing the semiconductor shortage that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, there has been a lot more investment in this area.

Then Jacobs brought up her competitors, Nvidia and Intel. Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger recently stepped down, and when Su was asked who should replace him, she did not name names but said she has “a lot of respect for Pat as a colleague” and emphasized that the role is “a tough job.” When Jacobs asked whether President Joe Biden’s administration has encouraged her to merge AMD with Intel, she said no.

Despite the rivalries, Su said “there are multiple winners in this market” and that semiconductor companies need one another: “We’re partnering with many of the companies in the semiconductor industry because no one company has all of the good ideas. It is a place where we absolutely have to come together. There are places where we’re going to compete, and there are places where we’re going to collaborate.”

In his final question, Jacobs pointed out that sometimes the most important decisions leaders make is not to do something and asked Su if she would share an example. Su said that sometimes her board will ask her why AMD is not making popular small computer devices like phones or tablets. She argues that AMD has to stick to what it does best: making the underlying technology, joking, “Big computers were not sexy 10 years ago, but they’re kind of sexy now.”

Jacobs responded, “Well, Lisa Su, thank you for making supercomputers sexy.”

MSN

 

[XYang2023]

I think it is about stopping further losses and recovering market capitalization through financial discipline and strategic clarity.

I checked Hock Tan's background, and he holds an MBA degree. I suppose business acumen is crucial.

By the way, the recent desktop GPU launch has been well received. Lunar Lake is also a good product. MJ is confident on CCG's path.

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[Daniel Nenni]

I think it is about stopping further losses and recovering market capitalization through financial discipline and strategic clarity.
I checked Hock Tan's background, and he holds an MBA degree. I suppose business acumen is crucial.
By the way, the recent desktop GPU launch has been well received. Lunar Lake is also a good product. MJ is confident on CCG's path.

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You did a bad job checking. Hock Tan has a master's degree from MIT in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Harvard. MJ has a bachelor's degree in finance from Linfield, a private liberal arts college. Lisa Su has a PhD from MIT. Jensen Huang has a master's degree in EE from Stanford.

 

[BruceA]

One should share the Bios of the leadership at TSMC.

Is it any wonder that between the Intel Boards lack of industry experience result in leaders selected that haven’t a clue nor governance of any quality.

The one group that should be fired is the Board

 

[XYang2023]

You did a bad job checking. Hock Tan has a master's degree from MIT in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Harvard. MJ has a bachelor's degree in finance from Linfield, a private liberal arts college. Lisa Su has a PhD from MIT. Jensen Huang has a master's degree in EE from Stanford.

I did notice he has an mechanical engineering degree. I am not sure the extent he had been working as an engineer. M&A and management require different skill set.

 

[XYang2023]

I also think market cap recovery for Intel and us semi manufacturing resiliency are two different things. It makes a strong sense for Intel to adopt a capital efficient business model.

PG's approach would work in an environment such as China where the government gives unlimited support to strategic areas such as leading edge semi manufacturing.

 

[milesgehm]

You did a bad job checking. Hock Tan has a master's degree from MIT in mechanical engineering and an MBA from Harvard. MJ has a bachelor's degree in finance from Linfield, a private liberal arts college. Lisa Su has a PhD from MIT. Jensen Huang has a master's degree in EE from Stanford.

I did notice he has an mechanical engineering degree. I am not sure the extent he had been working as an engineer. M&A and management require different skill set.

Read the wikipedia page for Hock Tan. Scholarship to MIT for BS and MS in mechanical engineering in the 70s. A few years later he got the Harvard MBA. Clearly a highly technical and financially astute guy. The Intel co-CEOs seem like light weights compared to him and Jensen and Su

 

[XYang2023]

Read the wikipedia page for Hock Tan. Scholarship to MIT for BS and MS in mechanical engineering in the 70s. A few years later he got the Harvard MBA. Clearly a highly technical and financially astute guy. The Intel co-CEOs seem like light weights compared to him and Jensen and Su

Steve Jobs was not an engineer. My point is that, regardless of being an engineer or not, the objective is to stabilize the business and recover from the market capitalization decline.

 

[meo9725]

With the current board and leadership Intel is sure to go down.

 

[Mickey]

One should share the Bios of the leadership at TSMC.

Is it any wonder that between the Intel Boards lack of industry experience result in leaders selected that haven’t a clue nor governance of any quality.

The one group that should be fired is the Board

@BurceA: One should share the Bios of the leadership at TSMC.

In '23 and before, the Board consists of 10 distinguished members with diverse backgrounds in global industries, academia, and finance, bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to make TSMC better and successful in past years. The names on the list were all invited by Dr. Morris Chang in person before being appointed by BoD.

As of my best knowledge, Here is the TSMC’s BoD '23 along with their working and educational experience:

[Internal]

- Mark Liu (Chairman)
Education: BS, National Taiwan University; MS/Ph.D. in EECS, Berkeley US.
Experience: Former President, WSMC.; Sr VP, Advanced Technology Business; E VP and Co-COO; President and Co-CEO, TSMC.

- C.C. Wei (Vice Chairman and CEO)
Education: BS/MS EE, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University; Ph.D. Yale, US; Honorary Ph.D., National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University.
Experience: Former Sr VP Tech, CSM, Singapore; Sr VP, Tech Business; E VP and COO; President and Co-CEO, TSMC.

- F.C. Tseng (BoD Director)
Education: BS EE, Taiwan National Cheng Kung University; MS EE , Taiwan National Chiao Tung University; Ph.D. EE, Taiwan National Cheng Kung University; Honorary Ph.D., Taiwan National Chiao Tung University
Experience: Extensive experiences and various leadership roles in Taiwan Si industry, e.g. Fab Managing Dir., President, Vice Chairman at TSMC.

[External, Independent (external) directors]

- Sir Peter L. Bonfield
Education: BS Engineering, Loughborough University, UK.
Experience: Former CEO of British Telecommunications; Chairman of NXP N.V.; Director of Sony; Director of Ericsson.

- Stan Shih
Education: BS/MS EE, Taiwan National Chiao Tung University.
Experience: Co-Founder and Chairman of Acer Group; Chairman of iD SoftCapital Group; Director of Wistron Taiwan.

- Kok-Choo Chen
Education: BA Economics, Wellesley College, US; MBA, HBS US.
Experience: Former Chairman of Taiwan National Performing Arts Center; Former Advisor of Executive Yuan, ROC; Director of Taiwan Mobile Ltd.

- Michael R. Splinter
Education: BS/MS, Wisconsin-Madison, US.
Experience: Former Chairman and CEO of Applied Materials; Director of NASDAQ OMX Group; Director of Pivotal Systems.

- Ms. Moshe Gavrielov:
Educational Background: Not specified in the source.
Professional Experience: Former CEO of Xilinx.

- Mr. Yancey Hai:
Educational Background: MBA from Taiwan National Chengchi University.
Professional Experience: Chairman of Delta Electronics.

- Dr. L. Rafael Reif
Educational Background: BS EE de Carabobo, Valencia,Venezuela;
MS/Ph.D. EE Stanford California, US.
Professional Experience: is a prominent in academia, particularly known for his contributions to the field of EE.

It seems, among 10 newly elected BoD members June '24, the board included a few diverse backgrounds in other areas owing to geo-political strategic thoughts. If desired, you may find the details on the tsmc.com. This is a 'Good or Bad' sign might depend on Si industry investor's wisdom to make the right judgment.

 

[milesgehm]

Mr. Gavrielov holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's degree in computer science from Technion - Israel Institute of Technology.

 

[Maximus]

Qualcomm claps back at Intel, denies high return rates of Snapdragon PCs

Qualcomm claims that its "device return rates are within industry norm" despite what Intel's co-CEO stated recently.

www.windowscentral.com

Intel's interim CEO follows in Pat's footsteps, frustrating potential IFS customers.

 

[XYang2023]

Qualcomm claps back at Intel, denies high return rates of Snapdragon PCs

Qualcomm claims that its "device return rates are within industry norm" despite what Intel's co-CEO stated recently.

www.windowscentral.com

Intel's interim CEO follows in Pat's footsteps, frustrating potential IFS customers.

She is the CEO of Intel Products. It is her responsibility to report the market conditions as they are. Notably, since Qualcomm launched X-Elite, Qualcomm has repeatedly thrown shade at Intel. Intel Foundry will operate as a company with its own governance and will be a subsidiary of Intel Group. Customers choose Intel Foundry for risk mitigation, cost considerations, and a variety of other factors. I don’t think what you mentioned is related to their concerns.

 

[hist78]

Qualcomm claps back at Intel, denies high return rates of Snapdragon PCs

Qualcomm claims that its "device return rates are within industry norm" despite what Intel's co-CEO stated recently.

www.windowscentral.com

Intel's interim CEO follows in Pat's footsteps, frustrating potential IFS customers.

TSMC often says something like: "Our customers' success speaks for us." Intel's leaders need to learn how to build relationships without unintentionally burning bridges.

 

[Maximus]

She is the CEO of Intel Products. It is her responsibility to report the market conditions as they are. Notably, since Qualcomm launched X-Elite, Qualcomm has repeatedly thrown shade at Intel. Intel Foundry will operate as a company with its own governance and will be a subsidiary of Intel Group. Customers choose Intel Foundry for risk mitigation, cost considerations, and a variety of other factors. I don’t think what you mentioned is related to their concerns.

She is not just the CEO of Intel Products; she is also the interim CEO representing the entire Intel organization until a new CEO is appointed.

In contrast, when Intel faced significant stability issues with their 13th and 14th generation CPUs, Lisa Su did not publicly criticize Intel. Instead, she highlighted the superior performance of AMD's products. Similarly, when Intel and Samsung's processes were lagging, Morris Chang, Mark Liu, and C.C. Wei did not criticize them but confidently asserted that TSMC's processes were the best. There are many ways to make a statement. Michelle could have simply said, "Intel's products have lower return rates than competitors" without directly criticizing a specific competitor.
----
In a recent interview about his new book, Morris Chang commented on all the Intel CEOs from Noyce and Moore to Pat. He mentioned that he is good friends with every Intel CEO except one, whom he referred to only as "that guy" without naming him. How could such a relationship be beneficial for business?

 

[XYang2023]

She is not just the CEO of Intel Products; she is also the interim CEO representing the entire Intel organization until a new CEO is appointed.

In contrast, when Intel faced significant stability issues with their 13th and 14th generation CPUs, Lisa Su did not publicly criticize Intel. Instead, she highlighted the superior performance of AMD's products. Similarly, when Intel and Samsung's processes were lagging, Morris Chang, Mark Liu, and C.C. Wei did not criticize them but confidently asserted that TSMC's processes were the best. There are many ways to make a statement. Michelle could have simply said, "Intel's products have lower return rates than competitors" without directly criticizing a specific competitor.
----
In a recent interview about his new book, Morris Chang commented on all the Intel CEOs from Noyce and Moore to Pat. He mentioned that he is good friends with every Intel CEO except one, whom he referred to only as "that guy" without naming him. How could such a relationship be beneficial for business?

I don't think there is another way to reframe the issue of X-Elite. The question was about the ARM threat. She mentioned the current challenges, particularly software compatibility and high return rates. What she said was important not only for analysts but also for potential customers. In fact, several reports from Taiwan a few months ago highlighted OEMs' frustration with X-Elite.

The primary selling point of X-Elite is its battery life. However, with Lunar Lake offering essentially the same battery performance without potential software compatibility issues, it becomes a stronger option. Additionally, Lunar Lake supports gaming thanks to its Xe2 iGPU.