Intel Talks Demand, Supply, Roadmap, and Partner Program in the Year Ahead

Cloud computing and security may be sexier corners of the tech market these days, but don’t count hardware—and specifically PC hardware—out just yet.

So said Intel today at its online Partner Connect event. Thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic and the massive uptick in demand for work-from-home computing it triggered, the company said, OEMs worldwide are shipping over a million PCs a day at present.

And that’s not a passing trend either. According to Intel, the total addressable market (TAM) for PCs climbed double digits in 2020 and will do so again in 2021.

“The PC category is alive and well and more essential than ever,” said Steve Long (pictured), corporate vice president of Intel’s Sales, Marketing & Communications Group and general manager of Client Computing Group sales. “We see enormous growth opportunities in every single segment we operate in.”

Those opportunities were among several important topics covered by Long and other Intel executives during today’s conference, along with the current status of Intel’s long-running supply chain woes, the PC processor roadmap for the year ahead, and the new Intel Partner Alliance program. Here’s the lowdown on what was said.