Semiconductor News by Dylan Martin

AI data centers eating up CPUs ended up helping AMD take more market share from Intel--and to record levels.

Wild: Even with Intel prioritizing server CPUs and shipping nearly double its seasonal average in the fourth quarter, this wasn’t enough to outpace AMD’s growth in the segment, McCarron said. That’s because AMD’s server CPU shipments “grew at more than triple the average."

Intel’s Supply Issues Helped AMD Grab Record-High CPU Market Share: Researcher Intel’s decision to prioritize server CPU production in the face of supply constraints helped AMD achieve an all-time high in overall market share by ceding ground in the PC space, according to CPU-tr...

Intel’s decision to prioritize server CPU production in the face of supply constraints helped AMD achieve an all-time high in overall market share by ceding ground in the PC space, according to CPU-tracking firm Mercury Research. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Lenovo Restructures Data Center Unit As AI Drives Double-Digit Growth To Record Sales Lenovo said Thursday that it restructured its data center business unit to “accelerate the return to return to profitability” as demand for AI products across its portfolio drove a double-digit increa...

Lenovo said Thursday that it restructured its data center business unit to “accelerate the return to profitability” as demand for AI products across its portfolio drove a double-digit increase to record revenue in its recently completed quarter. www.crn.com/news/data-ce...

Intel: Google Helped Us Find Vulnerabilities In Xeon’s TDX Security Feature Intel said Tuesday that Google’s cloud security team helped the chipmaker identify five vulnerabilities in the most advanced confidential computing feature of its Xeon CPUs.

Intel said Tuesday that Google’s cloud security team helped the chipmaker identify five vulnerabilities in the most advanced confidential computing feature of its Xeon CPUs. www.crn.com/news/securit...

Kyndryl Stock Falls 55 Percent Following SEC Document Request, CFO And General Counsel Exits Kyndryl share prices fell about 55 percent during the day after the company unveiled key executive departures and an SEC investigation into its financial reporting.

Kyndryl Monday launched an accounting review in response to an SEC request, but said it expects no impact on its balance sheets or financial statements. The company's CFO and general counsel also suddenly departed. Share prices V55%.

Details @crndotcom.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/bddb28nj

AMD Hires Salesforce President Ariel Kelman As CMO To ‘Deepen’ Ecosystem Engagement AMD said Monday that it has hired Salesforce CMO and President Ariel Kelman as its new marketing chief, a role that will see him “deepen engagement with customers, partners, developers and the broader...

AMD said Monday that it has hired Salesforce CMO and President Ariel Kelman as its new marketing chief, a role that will see him “deepen engagement with customers, partners, developers and the broader technology ecosystem.” www.crn.com/news/compone...

Lenovo Exec: Partners Should Order ‘Quickly’ For Best Prices Amid Memory Crunch Lenovo’s channel partners should act “quickly” on product orders to get the “most attractive pricing” for customers who are sensitive to rising costs caused by the global memory chip shortage, its Nor...

Lenovo’s channel partners should act “quickly” on product orders to get the “most attractive pricing” for customers who are sensitive to rising costs caused by the global memory chip shortage, its North America president told CRN. www.crn.com/news/data-ce...

WD Unveils Hard Drive Road Map: 100-TB-Plus Capacity, AI-Focused Innovations WD unveiled its roadmap to 100-TB-plus hard drives for cloud and AI implementations and introduced new platforms to connect hard drives and flash to enterprise infrastructure.

Hard drive manufacturer WD (Western Digital) Tuesday unveiled its road map for producing drives with capacities of over 100 TB along with a new intelligent platform the company said will redefine the economics of storage.

Details @crndotcom.bsky.social

tinyurl.com/566827fw

AMD CEO Expects Server CPU Supply Ramp To Help Boost Revenue AMD CEO Lisa Su said Tuesday that the company expects more revenue in the first quarter in part because it was able to boost server CPU production capacity in the face of strong demand from the ongoin...

AMD CEO Lisa Su said Tuesday that the company expects more revenue in the first quarter in part because it was able to boost server CPU production capacity in the face of strong demand from the ongoing AI data center buildout. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Analyst: Qualcomm’s Ventana Acquisition Helps Fill Gap Left By Nuvia Founder Exits While Qualcomm is losing two engineering executives who have been key to its custom CPU strategy, an analyst said the company should be able to fill the leadership gap with its recent acquisition of c...

While Qualcomm is losing two engineering executives who have been key to its custom CPU strategy, an analyst said the company should be able to fill the leadership gap with its recent acquisition of chip design startup Ventana Micro Systems. www.crn.com/news/compone...

HP CEO Enrique Lores Steps Down To Lead PayPal HP Inc. CEO and President Enrique Lores said Tuesday that he has stepped down from his position and is leaving the company to lead PayPal as its next chief executive.

HP Inc. CEO and President Enrique Lores said Tuesday that he has stepped down from his position and is leaving the company to lead PayPal as its next chief executive. www.crn.com/news/computi...

Qualcomm Loses Executive Who Was Key To Custom Arm CPU Push Qualcomm has lost the founder and former CEO of the Nuvia chip startup it acquired nearly four years ago to boost its CPU business by focusing on custom Arm designs.

Qualcomm has lost the founder and former CEO of the Nuvia chip startup it acquired nearly four years ago to boost its CPU business by focusing on custom Arm designs. www.crn.com/news/compone...

How Intel Got Caught Off Guard By A CPU Shortage Again Intel has been caught off guard again by higher-than-expected demand for its CPUs, and the situation is leading to shortages that are putting a damper on revenue and the ability of partners to sell sy...

Intel has been caught off guard again by higher-than-expected demand for its CPUs, and the situation is leading to shortages that are putting a damper on revenue and the ability of partners to sell systems using its processors. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Microsoft Takes On AWS, Google And Nvidia With Maia 200 AI Chip Launch Microsoft is taking on Amazon and Google with the launch of its Maia 200 AI accelerator chip, calling the processor “the most performant, first-party silicon from any hyperscaler.”

Microsoft is taking on Amazon and Google with the launch of its Maia 200 AI accelerator chip, calling the processor “the most performant, first-party silicon from any hyperscaler.” www.crn.com/news/ai/2026...

Intel Expects CPU Shortage To Peak Before April As AI Boom Drives Server Chip Demand Intel said Thursday it expects its CPU shortage to peak in the first quarter as the company indicated that the ongoing AI data center boom is creating unexpectedly high demand for server chips.

Intel said Thursday it expects a shortage of its CPUs to peak in the first quarter as the company indicated that the ongoing AI data center boom is creating unexpectedly high demand for its server processors and could potentially hurt PC chip demand. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Nvidia Channel Chief: Neoclouds Represent ‘Next Phase Of Opportunity’ For Partners Nvidia Americas Channel Chief Craig Weinstein said the growing number of AI-focused neocloud companies represent the “next phase of opportunity” for its solution provider partners who want to particip...

Nvidia Americas Channel Chief Craig Weinstein said the growing number of AI-focused neocloud companies represent the “next phase of opportunity” for its solution provider partners who want to participate in the ongoing AI data center boom. www.crn.com/news/data-ce...

Exclusive: Intel Taps Ex-Arm, HPE Exec For Data Center Systems Post Amid AI Reorg Intel has hired a former Arm and HPE executive to take on a new leadership role focused on data center systems and solutions as its CEO made another AI-related reorganization, CRN has learned.

Intel has hired a former Arm and HPE executive to take on a new leadership role focused on data center systems and solutions as its CEO made another AI-related reorganization, CRN has learned. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Not necessarily market-moving, but a story of interest for the $INTC followers.

Intel Hires Qualcomm Executive To Lead GPU Engineering For Data Centers Intel has hired a Qualcomm executive who led the rival’s GPU engineering efforts to aid with the semiconductor giant’s latest attempt at building AI chips for data centers.

Breaking: Intel has hired an executive who led Qualcomm’s GPU engineering efforts to aid with the semiconductor giant’s latest attempt at building AI chips for data centers. www.crn.com/news/compone...

TCS To Push AMD’s Instinct, EPYC And Ryzen Chips In Enterprise AI Pact Tata Consultancy Services plans to offer AMD’s Ryzen, EPYC and Instinct chips in enterprise computing solutions to customers as part of a new pact with the chip designer.

Tata Consultancy Services plans to offer AMD’s Ryzen, EPYC and Instinct chips in enterprise computing solutions to customers as part of a new pact with the chip designer. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Nvidia Becomes First To Surpass $100B In Annual Semiconductor Revenue: Analyst Nvidia has become the first company to surpass $100 billion in annual semiconductor revenue as the gap widens between the AI infrastructure giant and other vendors.

Nvidia has become the first company to surpass $100 billion in annual semiconductor revenue as the gap widens between the AI infrastructure giant and other vendors, according to Gartner. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Qualcomm Loses Second Channel Leader Amid Snapdragon X2 PC Chip Push Qualcomm’s global commercial channel chief has left the chip designer, marking its second major channel departure as it ramps up competition against Intel and AMD.

Qualcomm’s global commercial channel chief has left the chip designer, marking its second major channel departure as it ramps up competition against Intel and AMD with the Snapdragon X Series processors. www.crn.com/news/compone...

AMD Refreshes Ryzen AI Chips, Goes After Nvidia’s DGX Spark AMD used CES 2026 to announce a new line-up of Ryzen AI processors to go up against Intel’s latest in thin-and-light laptops—and show how it’s fighting Nvidia in a new arena.

AMD used CES 2026 to announce a new line-up of Ryzen AI processors to go up against Intel’s latest in thin-and-light laptops—and show how it’s fighting Nvidia in a new arena. www.crn.com/news/compone...

Nvidia Touts New Storage Platform, Confidential Computing For Vera Rubin NVL72 Server Rack Nvidia on Monday revealed a new “context memory” storage platform, “zero downtime” maintenance capabilities, rack-scale confidential computing and other new features for its forthcoming Vera Rubin NVL...

Nvidia on Monday revealed a new “context memory” storage platform, “zero downtime” maintenance capabilities, rack-scale confidential computing and other new features for its forthcoming Vera Rubin NVL72 server rack for AI data centers. www.crn.com/news/data-ce...

Qualcomm: Snapdragon X2 Plus PC Chips Bring Big Speed Boosts For ‘Modern Professionals’ Qualcomm said Monday that its forthcoming Snapdragon X2 Plus processors for Windows 11 PCs will bring major performance boosts over the previous generation, pitching the chips for “modern professional...

Qualcomm said Monday that its forthcoming Snapdragon X2 Plus processors for Windows 11 PCs will bring major performance boosts over the previous generation, pitching the chips for “modern professionals” who want a “fast, responsive and portable device. www.crn.com/news/compone...

I asked the chatbot: "How many exhibitors at CES 2026?" It responded: "There are 20 exhibitors at CES 2026." There are typically thousands of exhibitors at CES.

The AI chatbot for the CES 2026 website is doing a great job demonstrating the promise of AI.

The 10 Biggest Nvidia News Stories Of 2025 CRN goes deep into this year’s biggest Nvidia news stories that underline its central role in the ongoing AI infrastructure buildout and reflect how Jensen Huang has become a major geopolitical player...

While last year cemented Nvidia’s role as the biggest, most critical provider of AI infrastructure, the events of 2025 further elevated the company’s role on a global stage, with its CEO and founder, Jensen Huang, becoming a major geopolitical player. www.crn.com/news/ai/2025...

After Bright Computing was acquired, Daninger said, the vendor’s Bright Cluster Manager software got “very expensive” because of rising licensing and support costs. “And we just didn’t see the same level of support either, so it caused us to, for the most part, discontinue the use of Bright,” Daninger said. Daninger said the costs increased as Nvidia merged the product into Base Command Manager software in 2023, which resulted in the company changing the way it charges for licenses to a per-GPU basis and away from Bright’s traditional per-node pricing. Then late last year, Nvidia made Base Command Manager only available through the Nvidia AI Enterprise software suite, which costs $4,500 per GPU for a year-long subscription and includes enterprise support, Nvidia partner Boston Limited said in a notice at the time. By contrast, Bright Cluster Manager’s per-node licenses typically cost hundreds of dollars per year before the acquisition, according to Daninger. “The orientation changed to what Nvidia needed out of it. They can do that when they own it. And I would expect to see some of the same things here with Slurm,” Daninger said.

Dominic Daninger, head of engineering at systems integrator Nor-Tech, told me that Nvidia's acquisition of Slurm maker SchedMD has him concerned because of how the company significantly raised software support and licensing costs with its Bright Computing acquisition. www.crn.com/news/softwar...

Nvidia Bought Slurm’s Creator: It Makes Sense To One Partner, Another Is Concerned While one partner said Nvidia’s acquisition of Slurm maker SchedMD, announced on Monday, makes sense for its AI factory push, another raised concerns about Slurm’s future based on Nvidia’s history wit...

Nvidia said Monday that it acquired SchedMD, the maker of open-source workload management system Slurm. While one top Nvidia partner told me the move makes sense because of the complex work of running AI data centers, another partner said he has reason for concern. www.crn.com/news/softwar...