Article · AI translation
IT Home reported on October 30 that Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said during the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings call that its next-generation client processor, Nova Lake, will fill a gap in its high-end desktop CPU lineup.
For the data center market, Intel plans to launch Coral Rapids Xeon processors built on the 14A process in 2028 and hopes that subsequent products will surpass AMD's EPYC series in competitiveness.
According to Intel's roadmap, Nova Lake will use the Intel 18A-P process, making it the company's first 18A-P product for the client market.
Tan said development of the product is currently ahead of the original schedule, and the number of customer design wins it secures by launch is expected to be twice that of Panther Lake. Intel plans to disclose more information at CES in January 2027 and expects the Nova Lake lineup to help increase its market share as the PC market gradually returns to normal.
Nova Lake will serve multiple markets, from high-end desktops to mainstream laptops. The series' desktop processors are expected to launch in stages: the first products will use a single compute tile and offer configurations of up to 28 cores; a later dual-compute-tile version is expected in the second half of 2027, with configurations of up to 52 cores.
Tan noted that Intel previously had a gap in its high-end desktop processor lineup and hopes to address it with Nova Lake. The previous-generation Core Ultra 200S series did not fully meet the needs of this segment, while Nova Lake will offer options for content creators, high-end enthusiasts and other users.
The client market still faces short-term pressure. In its third-quarter earnings report, Intel said tight memory supply, rising prices and constrained corporate IT budgets are affecting PC market demand, and the company expects these conditions to persist at least through the first half of 2027.
At the same time, Intel remains positive about the long-term prospects for its client business, believing that PCs and other edge devices will see new opportunities as AI workloads gradually move to client devices.
On server CPUs, Intel plans to launch Diamond Rapids Xeon processors in 2027, followed by Coral Rapids on the 14A process in 2028.
Tan said the company believes Coral Rapids will be able to compete with AMD's EPYC series, and that the following generation of products, developed on a Tick-Tock cadence, will be able to take the lead over AMD.
According to Intel's presentation on the earnings call, Diamond Rapids is the first server CPU to use the Intel 18A-P process. It has entered the sampling stage, with shipments planned to ramp up gradually in 2027. Coral Rapids will use the Intel 14A process.
Intel also said it released version 0.9 of the process design kit (PDK) for its 14A process to some customers in October 2026 and remains positive about development progress on the process and potential customer partnerships.
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