Stagnation...
Let's face it everyone is in trouble, intel or not, unless 'the next big thing' is realized. Some are hoping VR or AR is just that but I don't think it'll happen overnight. That tech, especially the former, has been the dream of many a Sci-fi/wonk/nerd for 30+ years now. I'd be very surprised if anyone is satisfied with the first product out the gate.
Intel seems to be banking on Hybrid CPU/FPGA tech for the hyperscale and perhaps they're hoping it will filter down into the mass market in VR products? I speculate machine learning would be helpful in some of the problems faced by emerging tech. I.e. Adapting character animation to more closely match the normal movements of the user. It's important for the immersion factor. Not everyone has the same cadence (ahem) and people have quirks all their own. You could do this with a GPU? Sure, but it's just one example and efficiency could become important in mobile versions.
AMD is of course banking on their GPU and APU to tackle some of the same problems. The problem is that their facing more than one front here. Intel and Nvidia. AMD has, until this point, been slow to bring their ARM based products to market but it seems the OS/toolchains have almost caught up. Except that helps Nvidia as much as it does AMD. If 64-bit ARM takes hold Nvidia stands to be a major player as well. Still early days. Zen will hopefully be a way for AMD to get back to profitability in the near term, but going forward they need to be adaptable and offer solutions others can't or won't provide. Intel is very protective of their distinct product lines and do their utmost to keep one from consuming the other. If AMD can provide competitive solutions that give customers options rather than be forced to color within Intel's lines I think they have a fair shot of surviving.
I think it's true Intel is going to have some trouble maintaining the status quo going forward. MS is at a turning point with their OS, which leaves x86 dominance in question, and Intel is trying to diversify a bit before the storm hits. I.e. New memory/storage tech, FPGA's, and even software stacks for open source that favors their products. Well the later isn't really anything new.
At any rate things might actually start to get interesting for once. More competition and some cool tech from all camps. At least one can hope.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
