Intel Admits Arrow Lake Flopped, New Nova Lake CPUs Coming Soon

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Intel has acknowledged that the upcoming Nova Lake CPUs will better address the high-end desktop market in 2026 compared to its previous launch, Arrow Lake. This revelation was made by David Zinsner, Intel’s CFO, during a discussion at the Deutsche Bank 2025 Technology Conference.

According to Zinsner, Arrow Lake did not perform well this year, delivering lower gaming performance and losing ground to AMD’s Ryzen 9000 “AM5” series. In response, Nova Lake is poised to improve Intel’s position in the high-end desktop market, specifically targeting AMD’s Zen 6 desktop CPUs.

Intel has stated that Nova Lake will cover both desktop and laptop segments with a more comprehensive lineup of products. Zinsner highlighted that while Intel was struggling in the high-end desktop segment this year, Nova Lake is expected to bring stronger competition and improve their share position next year.

Regarding the Xeon server strategy, David Zinsner noted that Diamond Rapids, despite offering better performance in certain cases, still falls short of meeting Intel’s goals. Coral Rapids, which will introduce Multi-Threading support, is seen as a critical opportunity for Intel to regain ground against AMD’s EPYC line.

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October 8, 2025

Zinsner explained that under the leadership of Lip Bu, the company has reevaluated its strategy and roadmap, addressing gaps in multi-threading capabilities. This shift aims to deliver products that better meet customer needs and improve pricing competitiveness.

Intel plans to launch several new product families this year and next, including Panther Lake for clients and Nova Lake for both desktops and laptops. Server-side additions will include Clearwater Forest “Xeon 7E” and Diamond Rapids “Xeon 7P.” While Coral Rapids is expected around 2027-2028, it remains a future product.

Diamond Rapids, Clearwater Forest, and Panther Lake will use Intel’s 18A process node, whereas Nova Lake will employ a combination of TSMC and Intel technologies for its tiles.