Intel has stated that it will not shut down its graphics card business. "We are highly committed to the discrete graphics market and will continue making strategic investments in this direction," said Intel's new co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holtshaus during her presentation at CES 2025, as reported by The Verge.
In the latest earnings call, former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger was incredibly candid, mentioning that the new Lunar Lake processors for laptops were something like a failed experiment from a financial standpoint. He suggested that the company’s investments in discrete graphics might be "less necessary": "As we work with graphics, it’s increasingly becoming about large, integrated graphics capabilities, so in the future, the need for discrete graphics in the market will be smaller."
However, just a few weeks later, Intel achieved its first success in the discrete graphics card market by releasing the Intel Arc B580, the initial batches of which were quickly sold out due to its attractive price of $250.
Michelle Johnston Holtshaus' overall tone was very optimistic, despite Intel’s recent challenges. She also highlighted the Lunar Lake chip and called 2024 the "year when Intel will truly confirm its leadership position in the AI PC market."
Intel’s future strategic investments may also be directed towards AI rather than gaming solutions, similar to how AMD and NVIDIA have recently refocused their efforts on the vast opportunities opening up in this field. However, Holtshaus noted that next week, Intel will release its next, already announced graphics card, the B570, which will be even more budget-friendly than the B580.