Intel announced its Core Ultra Series 3, codenamed Panther Lake, at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 5, 2026. The processors are the first commercial products built on Intel’s 18A process, a 2 nm‑class node that incorporates RibbonFET (GAA) and PowerVia technologies and is designed to rival TSMC’s leading‑edge N2 process.
Panther Lake delivers a suite of performance gains that Intel claims are driven by the 18A process. Single‑thread performance is up about 10 % over the previous Lunar Lake chips at the same power envelope, while multithread performance jumps more than 50 % versus Lunar Lake and 60 % versus Meteor Lake. Gaming benchmarks show a 77 % speed‑up, and the integrated GPU is rated to deliver 27 hours of battery life in a 15‑inch laptop configuration.
The launch is a critical milestone for Intel’s foundry ambitions. The 18A node has historically suffered from lower yield rates for external customers, with recent reports indicating yields below 70 %. By shipping Panther Lake to OEMs, Intel demonstrates that the process can produce high‑volume, high‑performance products, a prerequisite for attracting contract customers and moving the foundry segment toward profitability.
Intel’s AI‑PC strategy is now backed by a tangible product. Over 200 PC designs are slated to use Panther Lake, with leading partners such as Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, and ASUS already announcing laptops that will ship globally on January 27, 2026. Pre‑orders opened on January 6, and edge‑system variants are expected in the second quarter of 2026.
Management emphasized the significance of the launch. Jim Johnson, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Intel’s Client Computing Group, said the series “is laser‑focused on improving power efficiency, adding more CPU performance, a bigger GPU in a class of its own, and more AI compute.” CEO Lip‑Bu Tan noted that the 18A launch “marks a big moment for Intel” and signals readiness to ramp mass production ahead of schedule.
The product’s introduction could help close Intel’s long‑standing operating‑loss gap in the foundry business. While the company has not yet posted a profit on the segment, the successful deployment of a 2 nm‑class node is expected to attract new customers and increase utilization, thereby improving margins and moving the foundry toward a break‑even or profitable position in the coming years.
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