Intel Corp (INTC)

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I was hoping that Gen 8 and Broadwell will do what "Maxwell" did and get 2x perf/watt improvements without changing process. For all the hype they had(like at Phoronix articles) about Gen 8, its the least impressive graphics change on a process shrink ever.

Well, no one finds fault in exquisite products better than you do. So which of the following feats of engineering do you think deserves the most ire and criticism? The fact that Core M can score 50k in 3DMark Icestorm, or the fact that it can do it in a 7mm thick fanless tablet? Or that they did it in 1.3B transistors, while it took Apple ~2B to deliver only about half of the performance? Damn those engineers for a very lousy and underwhelming 3x perf/watt improvement!!! DavidA2 wanted more! Whaaa!!!

It seems the optimization the ARM guys do on older processes are enough to catch up to Intel on a supposedly superior process.

It's been that way... up until now. Broadwell is a new architecture on a new process, with an affordable 82 mm2 die size. They can ramp the hell out of that next year, and make plenty of margin on 2-in-1 designs selling for $499 and above.

Also, it always seems to be up to the "Core" guys to bring the company out of trouble.

Seems Intel's criteria for funding something to completion is to have it be as profitable as their Core processor business. And since the Core business is unique in the industry on how much money it makes, it's no surprise that everything else fails to live up to it. Intel will always end up going back to the Core business, as long as it makes more money than anything else - and for a long time in the future - it will continue to do so.