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Let’s call a spade a spade: it’s been the unexpected revival of a left-for-dead Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) that’s made life miserable for Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) shareholders of late. Although Intel stock was up as much as 24% for the year as of June, another batch of new products from AMD has taken the Intel stock price from more than $57 to less than $46.
It’s not just AMD that gets the credit/blame, though. Although Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) has long been a fan of Intel’s modems and connectivity tech for its iPhones, the buzz is that Apple won’t be tapping Intel to supply Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips for the version of the smartphone expected to launch in 2020 after all. In the meantime, Samsung Electronics (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) has reportedly lapped Intel in the broad semiconductor market.
They’re just the kind of scandalous headlines investors of all sorts not only love to circulate, but embellish as they do so. It’s the embellishment, in fact, that’s been so problematic for INTC stock of late.
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What if, however, all the rumors of Intel’s irrelevancy and failure to innovate were just that — rumors?
As it turns out, Intel isn’t quite as dead in the water as the headlines would have you believe. Its newest three products make the point.
1. 5G
Apple may not be in love with Intel’s near-field connectivity tech for 2020’s iPhones, but Apple has long been a fan of Intel’s modems, and should continue to lean heavily on Intel going forward on that front. The newly unveiled iPhone XS sports an Intel modem and there’s a chance Intel could meet the vast majority of Apple’s 5G modem needs come 2019.
It’s not just Apple, though.
As fast as the race to 5G connectivity is being run in North America, China is racing even faster to that finish line. And Intel is helping to make it happen. It’s working with China’s UNISOC Technologies, H3C, Comba Telecom and even Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), positioning itself as a go-to 5G solutions provider in that important market.
2. i9 Processor
Several months ago, an i9 processor was more of a dream and less of a product. Intel’s i7 was as good as it practically got.
Not anymore, though. The company’s ninth-generation is almost here and the most premium version of it — the i9-9900K — is a beast. Sporting eight cores and sixteen threads, it hums along at a base speed of 3.6 GHz, but can be boosted up to 5.0 GHz. Intel calls it the best gaming CPU ever — and it probably is. And, reasonably priced at $488, hardcore gamers may well take the plunge. Performance-oriented computer users will be just as pleased with lesser versions of the i9.