Intel’s Panther Lake Reclaims Process Leadership with 18A Node

Intel's Panther Lake showcases a competitive notebook SoC, but issues lie ahead with crowded markets and reduced consumer demand of new notebook PCs.

Panther Lake is the culmination of multiple multi-year efforts into a single product. Advancements in the 18A process node, Cougar Cove performance core, Darkmont efficiency core, Battlemage GPU, and Intel Foundry’s advanced packaging capabilities contribute to a competitive notebook SoC. The challenge ahead for Intel is that Panther Lake is launching against a crowded market with AMD and Qualcomm offering alternatives to OEMs, Apple’s captive SoCs in Mac products taking market share from PCs, and NVIDIA rumored to enter the Windows on Arm market. Concurrently, the industry at large is contending with inflated component pricing resulting from AI infrastructure demand, as well as government policies leading to a weaker dollar and higher tariffs. These factors could reduce consumer demand, lowering sales of new notebook PCs throughout the year.