Upcoming Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has said the company should “deliver better products” than Apple, which he described as a “lifestyle company,” and says Intel’s best days are “ahead” (via The Oregonian).
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Gelsinger sneered at an Intel all-hands meeting yesterday that Apple is just a “lifestyle company”, so Intel must be able to surpass its technology:
“We have to deliver better products to the PC ecosystem than anything possible than a lifestyle company in Cupertino. We have to be this good in the future.”
The jibe at Apple comes after the launch of Apple Silicon last year, which is starting to displace Intel chips in Mac computers. The M1 chip, Apple’s first custom silicon processor for the Mac, has far surpassed the capabilities of comparable Intel offerings, with significantly better performance and power consumption.
Gelsinger will replace Bob Swan as CEO of Intel, having spent 30 years with the company before leaving in 2009. He was the company’s first Chief Technology Officer before becoming CEO of VMware. Gelsinger told employees Intel is having its best days “for it.”
He joins the company in times of crisis because it faces multiple threats. With major customer Apple dropping Intel for its own custom silicon, and Microsoft expects to follow suit in the near future, Intel is struggling to deliver technological innovations. This is after the company has repeatedly reported delays with its latest processors, while its main competitor, AMD, has captured valuable market share.
In December, Third Point, a major hedge fund with a billion dollar stake in Intel, published a letter urging Intel to take “immediate action” and shake up its business model to combat growing threats to the company. Gelsinger’s arrival will calm shareholders somewhat, but the company still has a long way to go to get back on its feet.
Gelsinger will start as CEO next month, after being lured away from his current job with a package reportedly worth $ 116 million.