Acer CEO gives insight into 'operational headaches' from NVIDIA and Intel x86 CPU deal

NVIDIA and Intel announced a partnership a couple of weeks ago where the two chipmakers will be developing a custom x86 processor together, but it seems that will cause operational concerns for the supply chain and OEMs, like Acer.

We will see the combination of Intel's x86 architecture with NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets to create what should be quite a powerful x86 processor in the near future, but not everyone is happy about the deal. The supply chain is concerned that it adds another overhead in the supply chain, as companies will now need to build their ecosystems for three different architectures -- AMD, Intel, and Intel-NVIDIA.

Yet, we didn't see any moaning when Qualcomm entered the race with its Arm-based SoC running Windows... interesting, just thought I'd say that aloud (well, write it out).

Acer CEO Jason Chen explains: "Acer chairman and CEO Jason Chen stated that if people focus on how NVIDIA's investment in Intel impacts TSMC, they are missing the point. For PC brands, the more pressing concern is the new variables this move introduces".

• Read more: NVIDIA inks $5B deal with Intel to build new x86 SoCs with NVIDIA RTX GPUs
• Read more: AMD is 'unfazed' by Intel + NVIDIA partnership, executive says AMD is confident in its roadmap

Chen says that the potential impacts to TSMC is only one side of the story, and that there are other sides to this, as collaborating with PC partners does add more headaches to the supply chain. On this subject, Chen added that there are already "multiple generations of x86 processors in coexistence" and that if another vendor joins in that's not AMD or Intel, it's only going to create issues in terms of inventory management, creating dedicated product portfolios, and managing operational overheads.

This isn't all of it, either, as OEMs like Acer need to think about other factors when shifting product offerings to something totally new, as the goal is to have a sustainable portfolio that consumers are buying, and can be easily integrated into by PC partners. The Acer CEO says that brands need to "internalize the shift" in terms of competition, implying that being motivated by factors like market hype isn't the right move and that instead, focusing on elements like roadmap planning, portfolio discipline, and after-sales service is the way to go.