Intel's freshly concluded Vision 2025 "Products Update and GTM" showcase included a segment dedicated to forthcoming Core Ultra 300 "Panther Lake" client processors. Industry watchdogs have grabbed a select few screenshots from Team Blue's broadcast from Las Vegas, Nevada—one backdropped slide confirms that Intel's next-generation mobile CPU series will launch in 2026. This information mirrors the company's Chinese office presenting of an AI PC roadmap—coverage of last month's event highlighted a scheduled first quarter 2026 "volume" arrival of "Core Ultra Next-gen Panther Lake (18A)."

Going back to early March, Intel leadership refuted online rumors of "Panther Lake" mobile CPUs being delayed into 2026, due to alleged problems encountered during the development of the Foundry service's 18A process node. An interviewed executive repeatedly insisted that his firm's brand-new series was on track for release within the second half of 2025. Fast-forward to the end of last week; Lip-Bu Tan expressed a similar outlook in a letter addressed to investors. The newly-established boss stated: "we will further enhance our (leadership) position in the second half of this year with the launch of Panther Lake, our lead product on Intel 18A, followed by Nova Lake in 2026." Industry insiders propose that the Core Ultra 300 series will become available in a very limited capacity come October, via an Early Enablement Program (EEP). Returning to this week—Jim Johnson, senior vice president of the firm's Client Computing Group, informed a watchful audience about the merits of his group's design: "I'm personally excited about Panther Lake because it combines the power efficiency of Lunar Lake, the performance of Arrow Lake, and is built to scale 18A and is on track for production later this year...Our client roadmap is the most innovative we've ever had, and we are far from done."

Yesterday, at Intel Vision 2025, IBM announced the availability of Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators on IBM Cloud. This offering delivers Intel Gaudi 3 in a public cloud environment for production workloads. Through this collaboration, IBM Cloud aims to help clients more cost-effectively scale and deploy enterprise AI. Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators on IBM Cloud are currently available in Frankfurt (eu-de) and Washington, D.C. (us-east) IBM Cloud regions, with future availability for the Dallas (us-south) IBM Cloud region in Q2 2025.

IBM's AI in Action 2024 report found that 67% of surveyed leaders reported revenue increases of 25% or more due to including AI in business operations. Although AI is demonstrating promising revenue increases, enterprises are also balancing the costs associated with the infrastructure needed to drive performance. By leveraging Intel's Gaudi 3 on IBM Cloud, the two companies are aiming to help clients more cost effectively test, innovate and deploy generative AI solutions. "By bringing Intel Gaudi 3 AI accelerators to IBM Cloud, we're enabling businesses to help scale generative AI workloads with optimized performance for inferencing and fine-tuning. This collaboration underscores our shared commitment to making AI more accessible and cost-effective for enterprises worldwide," said Saurabh Kulkarni, Vice President, Datacenter AI Strategy and Product Management, Intel.

If you ever wondered when a Windows 11 feature you are looking for is coming, there is now a way to check that out, as Microsoft is now committed to being more transparent with its upcoming features. In the latest Windows IT Pro blog, the statement reads: "At Microsoft, we've had the privilege to talk to thousands of IT professionals just like you, across the globe, about your experience managing Windows. Across those conversations, one thing rings loud and clear: the need for more transparency around what's shipping and when so that you can manage change for your estate." Interestingly, the roadmap will display features currently available for validation in the Windows Insider Program, those gradually rolling out to broader users, and those that will become generally available as part of a future monthly non-security update.

However, Microsoft is using the roadmap for feature cancellations, too. "The Windows roadmap provides estimated release dates and descriptions for features being released. All information is subject to change. As a feature or product is canceled or postponed, information will be removed from this website." This roadmap is tailored for Microsoft's Windows 11 client builds, not the Windows Server users. Large organizations have to manage many PC clients, so knowing when a new feature drops can lead to a better-planned OS update path for minimal downtime and productivity loss. Plus, PC enthusiasts running the latest Windows build can now know when to expect a feature they look forward to, like Recall and Click to Do.

In a letter addressed to stockholders, Intel's new CEO—Lip-Bu Tan—roadmapped the importance of a couple of major upcoming product launches. Starting off, Team Blue's new chief detailed a fresh approach, with the casting off of old strategies: "achieving the results I know Intel is capable of starts by refocusing on our customers. This has been priority number one since my first day on the job. I am listening carefully to their feedback so that we continue driving the changes needed to delight our customers and strengthen our competitive position. Plain and simple, the time for talk is over. We must turn our words into action and deliver on our commitments. I have been pleased to see the leadership team has already started driving the culture change needed to make this happen. As CEO, I will continue to drive this transformation so that we move faster, work smarter and make it easier for customers to win with Intel."

Tan's mentioning of Core Ultra "Panther Lake" processors arriving within the second half of this year aligns with prior official statements. Insiders posited that Panther Lake-H (PTL-H) mobile CPUs were delayed into 2026 due to issues with the Foundry's 18A process node, but an Intel executive dismissed these claims a few weeks ago. Interestingly, the firm's Chinese office outlined an "early 2026 volume launch" of "Panther Lake (18A)" chips during a mid-March AI PC press event. A presentation slide indicated that an Early Enablement Program (EEP) is expected to start in October; Team Blue's loose terminology likely classes the sending off of samples—to OEMs, for approval—as a "real" product launch.

Samsung Display today announced plans to boost sales of its QD-OLED for monitors to popularize this cutting-edge, self-emitting display technology. The company expects shipments of QD-OLED for monitors to grow more than 50% this year compared to last year's shipments of 1.43 million units, and is ramping up its supply to meet high consumer demand.

According to the market research firm Omdia, OLED panel monitor shipments have experienced significant growth over the past few years: 8,300 units in 2021, 160,000 units in 2022, and 820,000 units in 2023, reflecting an almost 300% annual increase from 2021 to 2024. This data highlights a rapid shift from Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) to OLED technology, largely driven by the adoption of QD-OLED. Last year, Samsung Display held a commanding 71.2% share of the OLED panels for monitors according to Omdia.

TrendForce reports that NAND Flash suppliers began reducing production in the fourth quarter of 2024, and the effects are now starting to show. In anticipation of potential U.S. tariff increases, consumer electronics brands have accelerated production, further driving up demand. Concurrently, inventory restocking is underway across the PC, smartphone, and data center sectors. As a result, NAND Flash prices are expected to stabilize in the second quarter of 2025, with prices for wafers and client SSDs projected to rise.

Client SSD prices to rise 3-8% while enterprise SSD prices to remain flat
After three consecutive quarters of inventory depletion, client SSD demand is rebounding as OEMs resume production early. The upcoming end of Windows 10 support and the launch of new-generation CPUs are expected to drive replacement demand for PCs. Meanwhile, the DeepSeek effect is accelerating the adoption of edge AI, further fueling client SSD demand. With production cuts and supply adjustments gradually restoring balance, client SSD contract prices are projected to rise 3% to 8% QoQ in Q2.

TrendForce reveals that the combined revenue of the world's top 10 IC design houses reached approximately US$249.8 billion in 2024, marking a 49% YoY increase. The booming AI industry has fueled growth across the semiconductor sector, with NVIDIA leading the charge, posting an astonishing 125% revenue growth, widening its lead over competitors, and solidifying its dominance in the IC industry.

Looking ahead to 2025, advancements in semiconductor manufacturing will further enhance AI computing power, with LLMs continuing to emerge. Open-source models like DeepSeek could lower AI adoption costs, accelerating AI penetration from servers to personal devices. This shift positions edge AI devices as the next major growth driver for the semiconductor industry.

ASUS executives have warned investors that consumers may face higher prices later this year as the company accelerates its manufacturing exodus from China in response to anticipated US tariff policies. Despite efforts to absorb costs internally, ASUS acknowledged during its recent earnings call that production relocation expenses could eventually impact retail pricing. This comes as the PC industry braces for trade policy changes under the new US administration. While competitors like Dell and HP have already established diversified supply chains outside China over several years, ASUS faces the financial pressures of rapidly developing alternative production capacity. Such transitions induce significant costs beyond facility construction, including workforce training, supply chain reconfiguration, and temporary production inefficiencies.

"We will try to limit these costs to within a reasonable level. However, as we make further adjustments to production lines, it may become possible that we need to offset some of these costs to our clients," stated an ASUS co-CEO during the call. The executive noted that several competing manufacturers have already implemented price adjustments to compensate for similar expenses. ASUS wants to maintain competitive pricing despite these pressures, indicating a willingness to accept margin compression in the short term. Component-level products may experience more immediate pricing pressure than fully assembled systems, where manufacturers can partially offset tariff impacts through internal efficiencies. ASUS's cautious messaging suggests the company is attempting to balance shareholder concerns about profitability with consumer sensitivity to price increases in the competitive PC market.

NComputing, a global leader in thin client computing solutions, announces the launch of its RX540 thin client, powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 platform. This state-of-the-art device offers a substantial leap in CPU performance, memory bandwidth, and local GPU performance.

Optimized for a wide range of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solutions, the RX540 provides an exceptional blend of functionality, performance, and affordability. By optimizing LEAF OS on the CM5 platform, NComputing has built a thin client that delivers performance on par with traditional x86-64 endpoints while maintaining cost-effectiveness, enhancing multitasking capabilities and boosting productivity across the board.

IBM and Lenovo today announced at LEAP 2025 a planned expansion of their strategic technology partnership designed to help scale the impact of generative AI for clients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. IDC expects annual worldwide spending on AI-centric systems to surpass $300 billion by 2026, with many leading organizations in Saudi Arabia exploring and investing in generative AI use cases as they prepare for the emergence of an "AI everywhere" world.

Building upon their 20-year partnership, IBM and Lenovo will collaborate to deliver AI solutions comprised of technology from the IBM watsonx portfolio of AI products, including the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority (SDAIA) open-source Arabic Large Language Model (ALLaM), and Lenovo infrastructure. These solutions are expected to help government and business clients in the Kingdom to accelerate their use of AI to improve public services and make data-driven decisions in areas such as fraud detection, public safety, customer service, code modernization, and IT operations.

Dell Technologies builds on decades of PC innovation with a new, simplified portfolio featuring on-device AI for greater end-user creativity and productivity. To accelerate AI PC adoption across enterprises, Dell also provides developers and IT administrators with the tools to seamlessly build and deploy AI applications to Dell AI PCs.

As the number one provider of commercial AI PCs, Dell expands its portfolio with new product designs, increased performance and battery life, the latest silicon innovation and AI accelerators, and industry-leading capabilities across software, management and sustainability. Dell has unified its brand across PCs, displays, services and accessories to make it even easier for customers to find the right technology solutions they need today and in the future.

TrendForce's latest investigations found that the enterprise SSD market experienced significant growth in 3Q24, driven by robust demand from AI-related applications. Prices surged as suppliers struggled to keep pace with market needs, pushing overall industry revenue up by an impressive 28.6% QoQ. Demand for high-capacity models was especially strong, fueled by the arrival of NVIDIA's H-series products and sustained orders for AI training servers. As a result, the total procurement volume for enterprise SSDs rose 15% compared to the previous quarter.

Looking ahead to 4Q24, TrendForce forecasts a slowdown in enterprise SSD revenue as procurement demand begins to cool. Total procurement volume is expected to dip, with the peak buying period behind and server OEM orders being slightly revised downward. As shipment volume declines, overall industry revenue is also projected to decrease in the fourth quarter.

Dell Technologies announces financial results for its fiscal 2025 third quarter. Revenue was $24.4 billion, up 10% year over year. Operating income was $1.7 billion and non-GAAP operating income was $2.2 billion, both up 12% year over year. Diluted earnings per share was $1.58, and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share was $2.15, up 16% and 14% year over year, respectively.

"We continued to build on our AI leadership and momentum, delivering combined ISG and CSG revenue of $23.5 billion, up 13% year over year," said Yvonne McGill, chief financial officer, Dell Technologies. "Our continued focus on profitability resulted in EPS growth that outpaced revenue growth, and we again delivered strong cash performance."

After spending some time testing the feature in the Steam Beta client, Valve has finally made native recording via the Steam game overlay public in the mainline Steam client. In the latest Steam client update, which landed on November 5, game recording finally went live for all versions of Steam. While the new feature is undoubtedly helpful for gamers on all platforms, it's particularly useful for Linux and Steam Deck gamers, who have, until now, had to rely on myriad third-party software, which can be a hassle to set up and present additional overhead that may cause issues in games.

Similar to the likes of NVIDIA's GeForce Experience (soon to be replaced by the NVIDIA App) and AMD's Adrenaline Software, Steam offers a number of different options to record entire sessions or just short gameplay clips. Unsurprisingly, Steam game recording works with the Steam Deck (and thus many other Linux distributions), but perhaps not as expected is that it also works with non-Steam games that allow the Steam overlay to work. Valve also put some thought into the technical side of things, with optimizations to minimize CPU usage and rely on NVIDIA and AMD GPU video encoding wherever possible. This should minimize any performance impacts and increase power efficiency where applicable—as in the case of gaming handhelds. Valve does note that non-AMD and -NVIDIA GPUs may see significant performance impacts, which is not great news for Intel Xe owners.

AMD today announced revenue for the third quarter of 2024 of $6.8 billion, gross margin of 50%, operating income of $724 million, net income of $771 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.47. On a non-GAAP basis, gross margin was 54%, operating income was $1.7 billion, net income was $1.5 billion and diluted earnings per share was $0.92.

"We delivered strong third quarter financial results with record revenue led by higher sales of EPYC and Instinct data center products and robust demand for our Ryzen PC processors," said AMD Chair and CEO Dr. Lisa Su. "Looking forward, we see significant growth opportunities across our data center, client and embedded businesses driven by the insatiable demand for more compute."

TrendForce's latest findings reveal that NAND Flash products have been impacted by weaker-than-expected seasonal demand in the second half of 2024, leading to a decline in wafer contract prices in Q3. This downward trend is projected to deepen, with prices expected to drop by more than 10% in Q4.

Enterprise SSDs are the only segment likely to see modest price growth—supported by stable order momentum—with contract prices forecast to rise by 0-5% in Q4. However, PC SSDs and UFS will see more cautious procurement strategies from buyers, as weaker-than-expected sales of end products drive buyers to adopt a conservative approach. As a result, TrendForce projects overall NAND Flash contract prices will decline by 3-8% in Q4.

In a recent report by Mercury Research, AMD has shown significant progress in the CPU market during Q2 2024, particularly in the data center and laptop segments. AMD's most notable achievement comes in the server CPU space, where it now holds 24.1% of the market, a 5.6% increase year-over-year, and a 0.5% increase from the previous quarter. This growth is particularly impressive in terms of revenue, with AMD capturing 33.7% of server CPU revenue despite its lower unit share. This suggests that AMD's high-end EPYC processors carry premium prices in the data center market and are most of the unit volume. AMD has also made advancements in the laptop CPU segment, reaching a 20.3% market share. This represents a 1% increase from the previous quarter and a 3.8% rise year-over-year. The company's success in laptops can be attributed to solid demand for its existing products, propelled by Intel's reported supply issues with Meteor Lake processors.

However, AMD experienced a slight setback in the desktop CPU market, losing a 1% share to Intel quarter-over-quarter. AMD now controls 23% of this segment, compared to Intel's 77%. This dip may be due to AMD's preparation for the launch of its new Zen 5-based CPUs in August. Despite AMD's gains, Intel maintains its overall dominance in the CPU market. In the total client PC space, Intel holds a 78.9% market share, with AMD at 21.1%. Intel still holds the majority of revenue and market share on all fronts. However, AMD is executing well, and Intel's financial troubles could be a setback for team blue. More competition at every front is great to see, and we are curious to look at the data from upcoming quarters and analyze how well both of companies perform.

Intel today announced that its lead products on Intel 18A, Panther Lake (AI PC client processor) and Clearwater Forest (server processor), are out of the fab and have powered-on and booted operating systems. These milestones were achieved less than two quarters after tape-out, with both products on track to start production in 2025. The company also announced that the first external customer is expected to tape out on Intel 18A in the first half of next year.

"We are pioneering multiple systems foundry technologies for the AI era and delivering a full stack of innovation that's essential to the next generation of products for Intel and our foundry customers. We are encouraged by our progress and are working closely with customers to bring Intel 18A to market in 2025." -Kevin O'Buckley, Intel senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services

Mobile tech tipster, Revegnus, has highlighted an interesting Samsung presentation slide—according to machine translation, the company's electronics division is already responding to an anticipated growth of "client-side large language model" service development. This market trend will demand improved Universal Flash Storage (UFS) interface speeds—Samsung engineers are currently engaged in: "developing a new product that uses UFS 4.0 technology, but increases the number of channels from the current 2 to 4." The upcoming "more advanced" UFS 4.0 storage chips could be beefy enough to be utilized alongside next-gen mobile processors in 2025. For example; ARM is gearing up "Blackhawk," the Cortex-X4's successor—industry watchdogs reckon that the semiconductor firm's new core is designed to deliver "great Large Language Model (LLM) performance" on future smartphones. Samsung's roadmap outlines another major R&D goal, but this prospect is far off from finalization—their chart reveals an anticipated 2027 rollout. The slide's body of text included a brief teaser: "at the same time, we are also actively participating in discussions on the UFS 5.0 standard."

ASML celebrated an important milestone last week—the company's social media account shared news about their third generation extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography tool reaching an unnamed customer: "chipmakers have a need for speed! The first Twinscan NXE:3800E is now being installed in a chip fab. 🔧 With its new wafer stages, the system will deliver leading edge productivity for printing advanced chips. We're pushing lithography to new limits." The post included a couple of snaps—ASML workers were gathered in front of a pair of climatized containers, and Peter Wennink (President and CEO) and Christophe Fouquet (EVP and CBO) thanked staff at company HQ.

The Twinscan NXE:3800E is ASML's latest platform from a series of 0.33 numerical aperture (Low-NA) lithography scanners. Information is scarce—the company has not yet published a 3800E product page. The preceding model—Twinscan NXE:3600D—supports EUV volume production at 3 and 5 nm. ASML roadmaps imply that the Twinscan NXE:3800E has been designed to produce chips on 2 and 3 nm-class technologies. The company's cutting-edge High-NA extreme ultraviolet (EUV) chipmaking tools (High-NA Twinscan EXE) are expected to cost around $380 million—reports from last month point to a possible $183 million price point for "existing Low-NA EUV lithography systems." Another Low-NA EUV machine is reported to be lined up for a possible 2026 release window—ASML's next-gen Twinscan NXE:4000F model will co-exist alongside emerging (pricier) High-NA solutions.

IBM has announced (on January 29) that Korea Quantum Computing (KQC) has engaged IBM to offer IBM's most advanced AI software and infrastructure, as well as quantum computing services. KQC's ecosystem of users will have access to IBM's full stack solution for AI, including watsonx, an AI and data platform to train, tune and deploy advanced AI models and software for enterprises. KQC is also expanding its quantum computing collaboration with IBM. Having operated as an IBM Quantum Innovation Center since 2022, KQC will continue to offer access to IBM's global fleet of utility-scale quantum systems over the cloud. Additionally, IBM and KQC plan to deploy an IBM Quantum System Two on-site at KQC in Busan, South Korea by 2028.

"We are excited to work with KQC to deploy AI and quantum systems to drive innovation across Korean industries. With this engagement, KQC clients will have the ability to train, fine-tune, and deploy advanced AI models, using IBM watsonx and advanced AI infrastructure. Additionally, by having the opportunity to access IBM quantum systems over the cloud, today—and a next-generation quantum system in the coming years—KQC members will be able to combine the power of AI and quantum to develop new applications to address their industries' toughest problems," said Darío Gil, IBM Senior Vice President and Director of Research. This collaboration includes an investment in infrastructure to support the development and deployment of generative AI. Plans for the AI-optimized infrastructure includes advanced GPUs and IBM's Artificial Intelligence Unit (AIU), managed with Red Hat OpenShift to provide a cloud-native environment. Together, the GPU system and AIU combination is being engineered to offer members state-of-the-art hardware to power AI research and business opportunities.

As of January 1st, 2024, Steam has officially stopped supporting the Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 operating systems. After that date, existing Steam Client installations on these operating systems will no longer receive any updates, including critical security updates. Steam Support will be unable to offer technical assistance to users still on these older operating systems. Steam also cannot guarantee the continued functionality or security of the Steam client and games purchased through Steam on unsupported Windows versions. Users are strongly encouraged to update to a newer Windows 10 or 11 version to ensure Steam and its games continue functioning properly beyond the January 1st cutoff date.

This change is necessary because core Steam features rely on an embedded version of Google Chrome that no longer functions on older Windows. Future Steam versions will also require Windows features and security updates only present in Windows 10 and later. With Microsoft having ended security updates and technical support for Windows 7 in 2020 and Windows 8.1 in 2023, these older operating systems are increasingly vulnerable to new malware exploits when connected to the internet. This malware can negatively impact PC performance, cause Steam and games to crash, or be used to steal Steam account credentials. Updating to a supported Windows version is highly recommended for all Windows 7/8/8.1 users to continue securely running Steam.

According to sources close to Reuters, NVIDIA is reportedly developing its custom CPUs based on Arm instruction set architecture (ISA), specifically tailored for the client ecosystem, also known as PC. NVIDIA has already developed an Arm-based CPU codenamed Grace, which is designed to handle server and HPC workloads in combination with the company's Hopper GPU. However, as we learn today, NVIDIA also wants to provide CPUs for PC users and to power Microsoft's Windows operating system. The push for more vendors of Arm-based CPUs is also supported by Microsoft, which is losing PC market share to Apple and its M-series of processors.

The creation of custom processors for PCs that Arm ISA would power makes the decades of x86-based applications either obsolete or in need of recompilation. Apple allows users to emulate x86 applications using the x86-to-Arm translation layer, and even Microsoft allows it for Windows-on-Arm devices. We are left to see how NVIDIA's solution would compete in the entire market of PC processors, which are expected to arrive in 2025. Still, the company could make some compelling solutions given its incredible silicon engineering history and performant Arm design like Grace. With the upcoming Arm-based processors hitting the market, we expect the Windows-on-Arm ecosystem to thrive and get massive investment from independent software vendors.

Moore Threads Technology (MTT), a Chinese GPU manufacturer, is reportedly testing its next-generation graphics processors for client PCs and data centers. The products under scrutiny are the MTT S90 for client/gaming computers and the MTT S4000 for data centers. Characterized by their Device IDs, 0301 and 0323, this could imply that these GPUs belong to MTT's 3rd generation GPU lineup. While few details about these GPUs are available, the new Device IDs suggest a possible introduction of a novel microarchitecture following the MTT Chunxiao GPU series. The current generation Chunxiao series, featuring the MTT S70, MTT S80, and MTT S3000, failed to compete effectively with AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs.

Thanks to @Löschzwerg who found the Device Hunt submission, we see hardware identifiers in PCI ID and USB ID repositories earlier than launch, as this often signals the testing of new chips or drivers by various companies. In the case of MTT, the latest developments are complicated by its recent inclusion on the U.S. Entity List, limiting its access to US-made technologies. This introduces a problem for the company, as they can't access TSMC's facilities for chip production, and will have to turn to domestic production in the likely case, with SMIC being the only leading option to consider.

EnGenius, a leading innovator in connectivity solutions, is thrilled to announce the launch of its latest product, the XG60-FIT gateway, a solution designed specifically for small businesses' security and networking needs. With the XG60-FIT gateway, small businesses can efficiently manage remote worker networks and branch locations, ensuring secure communication and data protection without needing dedicated IT teams.

Robust Cybersecurity and Seamless Network Performance
The XG60-FIT gateway provides dependable connectivity, efficient security, and easy management. This robust connectivity solution offers high throughput performance and real-time protection for businesses' networks, allowing for collaboration and secure data sharing. Its innovative approach to simplicity makes VPN setup a breeze, enabling quick and secure connections between branches or remote workers with just a few clicks. To enhance network reliability, the gateway features dual-WAN ports for load balancing and failover support, with cellular WAN serving as a backup connection in case of WAN failures. Additionally, it offers multiple gigabit ports and a PoE+ port to power Wi-Fi access points, delivering high-performance Wi-Fi for small businesses, branch offices, and WFH employees.