AnandTech editor reports that Intel may be incentivizing mini PC makers to delay or not build AMD-based models

AMD was introducing its Ryzen-based mini PCs in late 2019 as alternatives for Intel’s NUC models, but most of these came powered with embedded solutions like the V1000 and R1000 CPUs, or at most Ryzen 2000 APUs. Only Zotac announced a few Ryzen 3 3200U models earlier this year and the company hinted that we could eventually see some mini PCs powered by the freshly launched Ryzen 4000 Renoir APUs later this year. Anandtech's respected reviewer Ian Cutress suggests that this might not be the case and it may take mini PC OEMs up to a year to introduce Renoir-based models, as Intel is actually incentivizing most prominent vendors to delay or not build any AMD-based mini PCs at all.

Some of the OEMs that already joined AMD’s “anti-NUC alliance” include OnLogic, EEPD, Simply NUC, Tranquil PC and ASRock. While the first four are smaller companies that do not have a highly-diversified portfolio, ASRock is already a well-established mini PC maker, and we would expect more powerful mini PC solutions, yet, as it stands, ASRock just began offering mini PC builds sporting the Ryzen 3000 Picasso APUs along with the older Raven Ridge and Bristol Bridge solutions, and that is exactly one year after the launch of the Picasso APUs, as pointed out by Ian Cutress. We are seeing either a 1-year delay for AMD-based small form-factor models, or absolutely no AMD-based mini PCs in the case of big brands like Dell, Asus or MSI, so Cutress may be onto something here.

This could also explain why we are just starting to see more AMD-based laptops. Sure, previous AMD laptop solutions were not really on par with Intel’s solutions like Renoir today, but that would have made for even more budget-friendly solutions that could have brought considerable profits to laptop OEMs.