2024 did not look too good for Intel, especially with CEO Pat Gelsinger stepping down, and the latest quarterly earning report clearly proves that Team Blue is not out of the woods yet. Nevertheless, Intel is reassuring its investors that at least the client roadmap for the next few years is still on track, as detailed by co-CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus in the Q4 2024 earnings call.
Next up on the client roadmap is the Panther Lake CPU family, which, according to Johnston Holthaus will be the first generation to use the 18A nodes, with volume production and launch both being scheduled for 2H 2025. Apparently, just like Lunar Lake, Panther Lake will first launch on the laptop platform. Details on the desktop Panther Lake chips were not officially provided, but these versions might also launch in late 2025, possibly under a different name, similar to how Arrow Lake launched after Lunar Lake.
Intel’s co-CEO also mentions the Nova Lake family scheduled for 2026. It is unclear if this is the direct successor for Panther Lake or the desktop family derived from Panther Lake. Johnston Holthaus does specify that both Panther Lake and Nova Lake “will provide strong performance across the entire PC stack,” hinting at desktop CPUs.
On the other hand, Intel’s Falcon Shore XPU/GPU targeted at data centers as a competitor for the established Nvidia's AI GPUs and AMD's Instinct solutions will not be launched as a consumer product anymore. Intel’s co-CEO explains that Falcon Shore is to remain “an internal test chip” that will help the development of the next gen Jaguar Shores.