Trade frictions between Washington and Beijing revive the sales of older personal-computer and Intel server as customers are looking for cheaper parts before threats that tariffs are raising costs.
According to the Reuters report, Intel, whose largest market is China, warned investors that the June Quarter is weak. However, it defeated Wall Street's first-quarter forecasts because consumers became stockpiling processors leading the possible levies.
“In the client, we see strong demand in older parts and also in the data center,” Michelle Johnston Holthaus, head of Intel's product unit, said in analysts after results. “Macroeconomic concerns and tariffs have all the rehearsal of their bets.”
US tariffs announced by President Trump's administration to this day are spare semiconductors, but China's planned revenge is not. A notice from China supported by the China Semiconductor Industry Association earlier this month said chips made in the United States could face duties of 85% or more.
Financial chief David Zinsner warned that the broader image of the economy becomes cloudier as the tariff deepens. “The very interested trade policies in the US and beyond, as well as regulatory risks, have increased the chance of a slowdown in the economy, with the potential to grow a backwardness,” he said. “We will definitely see the increase in costs.”
Consumers hope in older chips will limit Intel's AI PC plans
Analyst Say Tariff steepers can stall a recovery on the PC market in the rest of 2025. Intel relies on new windows machines with built-in artificial-intelligence features to reignite demand, but lower-price legacy chips are now taking on stage.
“The demand for older generation chips is a glittering Macro signal,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment official in the running point capital. “In a trembling economic climate, the 'good enough' beats bleeding edge.”
Industry observers have warned that relying on yesterday's processors could also blur the perspective for upcoming intel chips designed for AI-enabled PCs. Cheaper parts “affect the bottom line of Intel and are likely to slow down more advanced chips for AI PCs,” said Bob O'Donnell, chief analyst in technalysis research.
Recently, China raised 125% revenge tariffs on some semiconductor imports from the United States, according to a Report Through the Chinese business magazine Caijing on Friday, citing industry resources. The report states that at least eight tariff codes related to Integrated Circuits (ICS) have been exposed from levies introduced earlier this month in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods. Tariffs on memory memories, however, remain in place.
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