"When Arm comes out, I want to be a foundry.Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger gave 2 answers when asked in a Q&A after the keynote at the Computex show whether Arm chips are eating over Intel's market share of x86 chips for Pcs.

In fact, Gelsinger gave 2 answers. First, he claimed that Intel's x86 product line-up is super powerful. 

"This is not the first Windows of Arm's announcement, right' and x86 market share remains very hot, you must have a reason to change. So, if you believe what I showed on stage today, literally the best CPU, the best graphics, the best NPU, and the very attractive battery life, why would you be weird

but he also hedged his and Intel's bets. "That said, if Arm comes out, I want to be a foundry," he explained. "We don't call it cavaliery. We mean it. The partnership Intel has built with Arm is dramatically more powerful and beneficial for both companies than I imagined when I did this job. A lot of momentum has also been seen for Arm as Intel's foundry partner."

Exactly what we need to make of all this stuff' For starters, there's a compelling reason to change to Arm, and that's battery life. As we reported yesterday, Dell said the move to the Arm-powered Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip will bring the battery life of the XPS13 laptop with the Intel Meteor Lake chip from 18 hours to 27 hours, which is a convincing definition.

Of course, Intel says the upcoming Lunar Lake mobile CPU will improve battery life. But it is not yet out and will be a few months behind the X Elite, which will be able to buy on the laptop within weeks at best. Additionally, when talking about Lunar Lake and its Panther Lake follow-up, Gelsinger claims that Intel has the best CPUs, GPUs, and NPU, but Lunar Lake says that in order for it to have the best battery life, it needs some generation of Intel laptop processors to match what Dell claims to be the x Elite Arm chip in terms of battery life. From the Ba to the next generation

Lunar Lake can rival or beat the X Elite for battery life, but it's pretty unlikely. At the same time, it's a bit odd to note that the 2 active tiles in Lunar Lake are both made by TSMC. So, while Intel is making the pitch as a foundry for future generations of Arm chips for PCs, it's a generous way to look at all of this in those Arm

external foundries is that Intel is still very much in transition. Gelsinger returned to Intel as CEO in 2021. But it will always take a long time to turn the company around, that's the extent to which it had lost its way, and so far, in terms of chip production technology, TSMC

realistically, the earliest likely to see the real impact of Gersinger's efforts has ranged from the beginning of his new tenure to more than 5 years. And by Gelsinger's own admission on the keynote stage this morning, it's certainly the Panther Lake CPU that excites him the most.

Gelsinger showed off a Panther Lake wafer using Intel's next-generation 18a process node, promising that the chip will power up in the coming weeks. Intel has Panther Lake pencil on Intel's roadmap for 2025. But in most cases, it won't be widely available on laptops until about 5 years after Gelsinger took over in early 2026.

Earlier this year, Intel announced a partnership with Arm to ensure Arm's future in-house CPU core designs are compatible with Intel's 18A process, paving the way for Arm customers to choose Intel for manufacturing. For now, there's actually only 1 major Arm chip for PC, and it's the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite, made by TSMC.

Someday you'll see a PC with Arm "Intel internal" instead of Intel x86IP, but don't bet on that.