Intel says it won't greenlight any new product unless it can double its money

Intel has had a turbulent few years, with the company actively trying to course correct through new measures, cutting staff, and cancelling any new product launch that won't double its money. For Intel, any new product that can't guarantee at least a 50% gross margin will not be assigned any engineers or development time.

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Intel Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus recently said this during Bank of America's global technology conference. It's a risk-averse policy for a company that has struggled to succeed in recent years, with Michelle Johnston Holthaus saying it's "something that we probably should have had before, but we have it now."

"A product doesn't move forward, (and) you actually don't get engineers assigned to it if it's not 50% or higher gross margins," she adds. According to reports, the move is being spearheaded by Intel's new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, who replaced former CEO Pat Gelsinger in March 2025.

Gross margins of over 50% are not unheard of, with AMD and NVIDIA's recent financial earnings showcasing 50+ percent gross margins. Intel, on the other hand, enjoyed gross margins of 60+ percent only a few years ago, and unfortunately, that number has now dropped below 40%. On the plus side, the company's upcoming Panther Lake and Nova Lake products are expected to hit the 50% gross profit figure.

Intel's troubled days are far from over, as Michelle Johnston Holthaus predicts that the shift to a new "we've got to double our money" outlook for all new products will cause a rift or "tug-of-war" between the company's executives and engineers. Also, as CEO Lip-Bu Tan hinted, the company is planning a second major round of layoffs in Q2 2025 that could affect up to 20% of its remaining workforce.