Intel is preparing a deeper push into gaming hardware, setting its sights on the fast-growing handheld gaming market with a new chip and platform built specifically for portable devices.

The move, unveiled at CES, signals a strategic attempt to enter a segment where rivals, particularly AMD, have already built a commanding lead and where technical margins for error are thin.

Daniel Rogers, Intel’s vice president and general manager of PC products, said on Monday that the company is developing a handheld gaming platform that will combine hardware and software. The platform will be based on Intel’s Core Series 3 processors, known as Panther Lake, which were announced last year and are now being rolled out across a range of PCs.

According to reporting by IGN, later confirmed by TechCrunch, the platform will include a chip designed specifically for handheld gaming devices. While Intel has yet to disclose specifications, performance targets, or launch timelines, the confirmation alone marks a notable shift. Until now, Intel’s presence in portable gaming has been indirect, limited largely to general-purpose mobile CPUs rather than silicon tailored for handheld consoles.

Panther Lake sits at the center of Intel’s broader turnaround strategy. These processors are the company’s first to be built on its 18A manufacturing process, a next-generation node that entered production in 2025. Intel has positioned 18A as a critical milestone in its effort to reclaim leadership in advanced chipmaking after years of execution setbacks that allowed competitors to pull ahead.

Handheld gaming presents a demanding test case for that process. Devices in this category require high graphics performance within tight power and thermal limits, often operating on batteries for extended periods. Efficiency per watt is as important as peak performance, and sustained workloads can quickly expose weaknesses in chip design or manufacturing.

Intel’s gaming credentials are not new. The company has supplied CPUs for gaming PCs since the 1990s, and gaming has long been a pillar of its high-performance computing business. In 2022, Intel made a more aggressive move with the launch of its Arc discrete GPUs, signaling an ambition to challenge Nvidia and AMD in graphics. While Arc has improved over time, it has struggled to gain significant market share, highlighting how difficult it is to break into established gaming ecosystems.

The handheld gaming space raises similar challenges, but with higher stakes. Over the past few years, the category has expanded rapidly as devices blend PC gaming flexibility with console-style portability. That growth has been driven overwhelmingly by AMD, whose custom processors power most leading handheld systems. AMD’s advantage lies in tightly integrated CPU and GPU designs that deliver strong graphics performance at low power levels, an area where Intel has historically lagged.

AMD reinforced that position at CES. The company used its keynote to unveil the Ryzen 7 9850X3D processor for gaming PCs, alongside new ray tracing and graphics technologies. While not a handheld chip, the announcement underscored AMD’s continued focus on gaming performance across form factors and its willingness to push innovation aggressively.

Intel’s decision to bundle hardware and software into a single platform suggests a recognition that silicon alone may not be enough. Intel could reduce complexity for device makers, streamline optimization, and provide closer ties to the Windows PC ecosystem by offering a more integrated solution. For smaller manufacturers, that could be attractive, particularly if Intel can offer strong developer tools, driver stability, and long-term platform support.

There is also a competitive undercurrent tied to the Windows ecosystem itself. Most handheld gaming devices run Windows, and performance optimization at the OS and driver level plays a significant role in user experience. Intel may see an opportunity to leverage its long-standing relationships with PC OEMs and software partners to carve out space, even in a market where AMD currently dominates on hardware merit.

Timing, however, will matter. Rogers said Intel will share more details about its handheld gaming products later this year, implying that commercial devices are still some distance away. By then, AMD is expected to further refresh its mobile gaming lineup, while ARM-based alternatives continue to advance in efficiency, raising the bar Intel must clear.

Beyond gaming, the implications are broader. A successful Panther Lake-based handheld chip would serve as a high-visibility proof point for Intel’s 18A process, showing it can compete in power-sensitive, performance-critical markets. That would strengthen Intel’s credibility not just with gamers, but with customers evaluating its foundry ambitions and future product roadmaps.

Failure would be harder to dismiss. Struggling in handheld gaming would reinforce doubts about Intel’s ability to challenge AMD in mobile and low-power computing, areas that increasingly define consumer and edge devices.

However, for now, Intel is laying down intent rather than execution. By stepping into handheld gaming, it is signaling that it does not plan to concede emerging PC form factors without a fight.

Samsung Electronics is poised to cap off the year with its strongest quarterly profit in more than six years, riding a severe global shortage of memory chips that has sent prices soaring as customers scramble to secure components needed for artificial intelligence workloads.

The world’s largest memory chipmaker is expected to report a 160% jump in fourth-quarter operating profit, according to LSEG SmartEstimate, which aggregates forecasts from 31 analysts weighted toward those with a stronger track record. Samsung is likely to post an operating profit of 16.9 trillion won ($11.7 billion) for the October–December period, compared with 6.49 trillion won a year earlier.

If confirmed, the result would mark Samsung’s highest quarterly operating profit since the third quarter of 2018, when earnings hit a record 17.6 trillion won. Some analysts have gone further in recent weeks, lifting their estimates to above 20 trillion won as memory prices rose faster than expected late in the quarter.

Samsung is scheduled to release preliminary estimates for revenue and operating profit on Thursday, according to Reuters.

At the heart of the surge is a sharp rebound in the memory market, driven by the rapid expansion of AI computing. As chipmakers redirect capacity toward advanced AI-related products, the supply of conventional memory has tightened just as demand has jumped across data centers, servers, PCs, and smartphones.

Prices for DDR5 DRAM, a mainstream memory chip used widely in servers and personal devices, jumped 314% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to market researcher TrendForce. The firm expects conventional DRAM contract prices to rise another 55% to 60% in the current quarter, extending the rally that has transformed Samsung’s earnings outlook.

“As conventional DRAM prices continue to surge, Samsung — whose production capacity is largely concentrated in this segment — stands to gain relatively more from the current price upcycle,” TrendForce analyst Avril Wu said.

DDR5 DRAM is faster and more energy-efficient than its predecessor and has become increasingly important as AI workloads place heavier demands on memory performance. The strength of that segment has allowed Samsung to benefit even as competition intensifies in the most advanced AI chips.

The tightness in memory supply is not unique to Samsung. In December, Micron Technology forecast second-quarter adjusted profit at nearly double Wall Street estimates. Micron chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra said he expects memory markets to remain constrained beyond 2026, adding that in the medium term, the company expects to meet only half to two-thirds of demand from several key customers.

The profit boom represents a sharp reversal of fortunes for Samsung. Just over a year ago, chief executive Jun Young-hyun publicly apologized for disappointing earnings and operational performance after the company fell behind its cross-town rival SK Hynix in supplying high-end memory chips to Nvidia, the dominant player in AI processors.

Since then, investor sentiment has swung dramatically. Samsung shares surged 125% last year, their biggest annual percentage gain in 26 years. The stock eased 2.1% on Tuesday morning, underperforming a broader South Korean market that was down 0.2%, as investors paused after the recent rally.

Momentum picked up again last week after Jun said customers had praised the competitiveness of Samsung’s next-generation high-bandwidth memory chips, known as HBM4. Quoting customers, he said they had remarked that “Samsung is back,” comments that helped propel the stock to record highs in recent sessions.

While Jun did not name those customers, analysts said Samsung is making progress in supplying chips to Nvidia, potentially clawing back market share from SK Hynix and Micron. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang said on Monday that the company’s next generation of chips is now in full production, adding that its Vera Rubin platform — which will incorporate HBM4 — is on track to arrive later this year.

Looking ahead, analysts expect Samsung’s operating profit to more than double in the current year to above 100 trillion won, as elevated chip prices are forecast to outweigh weaker performance in its mobile business. Memory remains Samsung’s core profit engine, but its sprawling electronics empire means the effects of the chip cycle are not uniformly positive.

Rising chip prices are squeezing margins in Samsung’s smartphone division, its second-largest source of revenue. Lee Min-hee, an analyst at BNK Investment & Securities, said he remains cautious on Samsung’s valuation, warning that higher component costs could dampen demand for PCs and smartphones. He also pointed to risks of a slowdown in AI data center spending, noting that many operators are relying increasingly on debt to finance expansion.

Samsung itself has acknowledged the strain. “As this situation is unprecedented, no company is immune to its impact,” co-CEO TM Roh, who oversees the group’s mobile, TV, and home appliance businesses, told Reuters. He said the company is working to minimize the damage, but added that the impact looks “inevitable.”

Currently, the balance of forces strongly favors Samsung’s semiconductor arm. A rare combination of tight supply, explosive AI-driven demand, and surging prices has pushed memory chips back to the center of the global tech cycle, delivering the strongest earnings rebound the company has seen since its last peak more than half a decade ago.