INTEL CORP

Previous wording

The following summarizes the material factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. When any one or more of the following risks materialize from time to time, our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations can be materially and adversely affected, and the trading price of our common stock could decline. These risk factors do not identify all risks that we face; our operations can also be affected by factors that are not presently known to us or that we currently consider to be immaterial to our operations, or by various risks that are generally applicable to most companies. Due to risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, our past financial results may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results or trends in future periods. Refer also to the other information set forth in this Form 10-K, including in the MD&A and Financial Statements and Supplemental Details sections.

Current wording

The following summarizes the material factors that make an investment in our securities speculative or risky. When any one or more of the following risks materialize from time to time, our business, reputation, financial condition, cash flows, and results of operations can be materially and adversely affected, and the trading price of our common stock could decline. These risk factors do not identify all risks that we face; our operations can also be affected by factors that are not presently known to us or that we currently consider to be immaterial to our operations, or by various risks that are generally applicable to most companies. Due to risks and uncertainties, known and unknown, our past financial results may not be a reliable indicator of future performance, and historical trends should not be used to anticipate results or trends in future periods. Some of the factors, events, and contingencies discussed below may have occurred in the past, and the disclosures below are not representations as to whether or not the factors, events, or contingencies have occurred in the past, but are provided because future occurrences of such factors, events, or contingencies could have a material adverse effect on our business. Refer also to the other information set forth in this Form 10-K, including in the MD&A and Financial Statements and Supplemental Details sections.

Previous wording

The industry in which we operate is highly competitive and subject to rapid technological, geopolitical, and market developments; changes in industry standards; changes in customer and end-user needs, expectations, and preferences; and frequent product introductions and improvements. When we do not anticipate or respond to these developments, our competitive position can weaken, and our products or technologies can become uncompetitive or obsolete. Our competitive environment has intensified in recent years, and we expect it to continue to do so in the future. If we are not able to compete effectively, or if our foundry strategy is unsuccessful, our financial results will be adversely affected, including through reduced revenue and gross margin, and we may be required to accelerate the write-down of the value of certain assets.

Current wording

The industry in which we operate is highly competitive and subject to rapid technological, geopolitical, and market developments; changes in industry standards; changes in customer and end-user needs, expectations, and preferences; and frequent product introductions and improvements. When we do not anticipate or respond to these developments, our competitive position can weaken, and our products or technologies can become uncompetitive or obsolete. Our competitive environment has intensified in recent years, and we expect it to continue to do so in the future, including as a result of the proliferation of AI and high demand for AI-related products and services. If we are not able to compete effectively, or if our foundry strategy is unsuccessful, our financial results will be adversely affected, including through reduced revenue and gross margin, and we may be required to accelerate the write-down of the value of certain assets.

Previous wording

We face intense competition across our product portfolio. Our competitors include companies offering platform products, such as AMD and Qualcomm; accelerator products such as GPUs, including those offered by NVIDIA; other accelerator products such as ASICs, application-specific standard products, and FPGAs; memory and storage products; connectivity and networking products; and other semiconductor products. Some of these competitors have developed or utilize competing computing architectures and platforms, such as the ARM architecture*, and these architectures and platforms can produce beneficial network effects for competitors when an ecosystem of customers and application developers for such architectures and platforms grows at scale. For example, ARM-based products are being used in PCs and servers, which could lead to further development and growth of the ARM ecosystem. We also compete with internally developed semiconductors from OEMs, cloud service providers, and others, some of whom are customers. Some of these customers vertically integrate their own semiconductor designs with their software assets and/or customize their designs for specific computing workloads. For example, in 2020, Apple introduced PC products utilizing its own internally developed ARM-based semiconductor designs in place of our client CPUs, and we face increasing competition from Apple's products and ecosystem.

Current wording

We face intense competition across our product portfolio. Our competitors include companies offering platform products, such as AMD and Qualcomm; accelerator products such as GPUs, including those offered by NVIDIA; other accelerator products such as ASICs, application-specific standard products, and FPGAs; memory and storage products; connectivity and networking products; and other semiconductor products. Some of these competitors have developed or utilize competing computing architectures and platforms, such as the ARM architecture, and these architectures and platforms can produce beneficial network effects for competitors when an ecosystem of customers and application developers for such architectures and platforms grows at scale. For example, ARM-based products and the ARM ecosystem have seen increased development and adoption in recent years. We also compete with internally developed semiconductors from OEMs, cloud service providers, and others, some of whom are customers. Some of these customers vertically integrate their own semiconductor designs with their software assets and/or customize their designs for specific computing workloads. For example, in 2020, Apple introduced PC products utilizing its own internally developed ARM-based semiconductor designs in place of our client CPUs, and we face increasing competition from Apple's products and ecosystem.

Previous wording

Most of our competitors rely on third-party foundries, such as TSMC or Samsung, for the manufacture and assembly and test of their semiconductor components and products. Manufacturing process and assembly and test improvements introduced by such foundries have contributed, and may continue to contribute, to increasingly competitive offerings by our competitors. Our process technology roadmap to regain transistor performance and power performance leadership by 2025 is subject to a number of risks, and we could fail to realize our goals, including due to changes in competitor technology roadmaps, changes affecting our projections regarding our technology or competing technology, and the risks described in the risk factor "The development and implementation of new semiconductor products and manufacturing technologies are subject to many risks and uncertainties." As an IDM, we have higher capital expenditures and R&D spending than many of our fabless competitors due to the high ongoing investments required to maintain leading-edge process technology and manufacturing capacity. We also face new sources of competition as a result of changes in industry participants through, for example, acquisitions or business collaborations, as well as new entrants, including in China, which could have a significant impact on our competitive position. For example, we could face increased competition as a result of China's programs to promote a domestic semiconductor industry and supply chains.

Current wording

Most of our competitors rely on third-party foundries, such as TSMC or Samsung, for the manufacture and assembly and test of their semiconductor components and products. Manufacturing process and assembly and test improvements introduced by such foundries have contributed, and may continue to contribute, to increasingly competitive offerings by our competitors. Our process technology roadmap to regain transistor performance and power performance competitiveness is subject to a number of risks, and we could fail to realize our goals, including due to changes in competitor technology roadmaps, changes affecting our projections regarding our technology or competing technology, and the risks described in the risk factor "The development and implementation of new semiconductor products and manufacturing technologies are subject to many risks and uncertainties." As an integrated device manufacturer, we have higher capital expenditures and R&D spending than many of our fabless competitors due to the high ongoing investments required to maintain leading-edge process technology and manufacturing capacity. We also face new sources of competition as a result of changes in industry participants through, for example, acquisitions or business collaborations, as well as new entrants, including in China, which could have a significant impact on our competitive position. For example, we could face increased competition as a result of China's programs to promote a domestic semiconductor industry and supply chains.

Previous wording

Our products compete based on a number of factors, including performance, energy efficiency, ease-of-integration, ease-of-use, innovative design, features, workload optimization, price, quality, reliability, security, software ecosystem and developer support, time-to-market, reliable product roadmap execution, brand recognition, customer support and customization, and availability. The importance of these factors varies by product and market segment. To the extent our products do not meet our customers' requirements across these factors in an increasingly competitive landscape, our business and results of operations can be harmed. Introduction of competitive new products and technologies, aggressive pricing, and other actions taken by competitors can harm demand for our products, exert downward pricing pressure on our products, and adversely affect our business. For example, our competitors have introduced data center and client platform products with performance improvements and additional processor core counts that have contributed to an increasingly competitive environment. Further, our DCAI revenue, platform ASPs and market share were negatively impacted by the competitive environment and the shift of customer spend towards GPUs during the past few years. Additionally, a number of business combinations and strategic partnerships in the semiconductor industry have occurred in recent years, and more could occur in the future. Consolidation could also lead to fewer customers, partners, or suppliers, any of which could negatively affect our financial results.

Current wording

Our products compete based on a number of factors, including performance, energy efficiency, ease-of-integration, ease-of-use, innovative design, features, workload optimization, price, quality, reliability, security, software ecosystem and developer support, time-to-market, reliable product roadmap execution, brand recognition, customer support and customization, and availability. The importance of these factors varies by product and market segment. To the extent our products do not meet our customers' requirements across these factors in an increasingly competitive landscape, our business and results of operations can be harmed. For example, we have lost market share in recent years as competitors have introduced highly competitive data center and client platform products. Our data center business has been further negatively impacted by the shift of customer spend toward GPUs in the past few years. Additionally, to the extent we rely upon third party foundries for our products, our margins may be negatively impacted, as has been the case with the Intel Core Ultra 200V series processors launched in September 2024.

Previous wording

We have limited experience in the highly competitive and capital-intensive third-party foundry business. As we pursue our strategy to establish IFS as a major provider of foundry capacity to manufacture semiconductors for others, we will face intense competition from well-established competitors such as TSMC, Samsung, Global Foundries (GF), United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC). To succeed, we will need to compete effectively across factors such as availability and time-to-market of manufacturing technology; advances in manufacturing processes in areas such as performance, performance per watt, and density; multi-chip packaging; system integration; manufacturing capacity; price; margin; ease of use; quality; yields; customer satisfaction; and ecosystem support. Building and maintaining a competitive foundry business requires high ongoing investments to maintain leading-edge process technology and manufacturing capacity, which investments in many instances must be made ahead of customer commitments and may not be recouped. Moreover, many of the largest potential IFS customers are fabless semiconductor companies whose products compete with our own. As a result, our strategy requires us to overcome customer concerns regarding protection of confidentiality information, intellectual property, and foundry capacity, among other competitive concerns, to attract and retain such customers. Our limited third-party foundry experience also means we must continue to hire and retain talented employees with relevant foundry experience with respect to both leading-edge and legacy nodes. Our efforts may be hindered by the higher costs of, regulatory and environmental restrictions imposed upon, and time it takes to build fabrication and assembly and test facilities in the jurisdictions in which we operate and plan to build new or upgrade existing foundry facilities as compared to the jurisdictions in which our competitors predominantly operate their foundry facilities. Our construction projects to expand capacity require available sources of labor, materials, and equipment. Increasing demand for such sources, including from other foundries; supply constraints, labor shortages, and other adverse market conditions; issues with permits or approvals; on-site incidents; and other construction issues arise from time to time and can result in significant delays and increased costs for our projects, as well as legal and reputational harm. These significant hurdles to our foundry strategy make it highly risky and our success highly uncertain.

Current wording

ongoing investments to maintain leading-edge process technology and manufacturing capacity, which investments in many instances must be made ahead of customer commitments and may not be recouped. As we have reassessed demand and our "shell ahead" status and our financial results in the last few years have constrained our ability to make capital investments, we have delayed manufacturing facility construction or expansion projects in Ohio, Germany, Poland, Malaysia, and Israel, and we may have additional project delays or project cancellations in the future. Moreover, many of the largest potential foundry customers are fabless semiconductor companies whose products compete with our own. As a result, our strategy requires us to overcome customer concerns regarding protection of confidentiality information, intellectual property, and foundry capacity, among other competitive concerns, to attract and retain such customers. Our limited third-party foundry experience also means we must continue to hire and retain talented employees with relevant foundry experience with respect to both leading-edge and legacy nodes. Our efforts may be hindered by the higher costs of, regulatory and environmental restrictions imposed upon, and time it takes to build fabrication and assembly and test facilities in the jurisdictions in which we operate and plan to build new or upgrade existing foundry facilities as compared to the jurisdictions in which our competitors predominantly operate their foundry facilities. Our construction projects to expand capacity require available sources of labor, materials, and equipment. Increasing demand for such sources, including from other foundries; supply constraints, labor shortages, and other adverse market conditions; issues with permits or approvals; on-site incidents; and other construction issues arise from time to time and can result in significant delays and increased costs for our projects, as well as legal and reputational harm. These significant hurdles to our foundry strategy make it highly risky and our success highly uncertain.

Previous wording

To compete successfully, we must maintain an effective R&D program, develop new products and manufacturing processes, improve our products and processes, and make significant capital investments in new and existing manufacturing facilities, all ahead of competitors and market demand. The R&D efforts and capital investments we require are intensive as we compete across both product and process technologies. We incurred R&D expenses of $16.0 billion in 2023, $17.5 billion in 2022, and $15.2 billion in 2021. We are focusing our R&D efforts across several key areas, including process and packaging technology, our xPU products and features, AI, and software. These include ambitious initiatives, such as our efforts to introduce five new manufacturing process technologies, or nodes, in four years and our unified oneAPI portfolio of developer tools. Our investments are typically long-term and, even where successful, often do not contribute to our operating results for a number of years. We cannot guarantee that our efforts will deliver the benefits we anticipate, including as a result of our new products or technologies falling short of expectations or the offerings of competitors. For example, we previously experienced significant delays in the implementation of our 10nm process technology, and during 2020, we announced that our then 7nm process technology would be delayed relative to our prior expectations. In such instances where we do not timely introduce new manufacturing process technologies that improve performance, performance per watt, transistor density, die utilization, core counts, and/or new features such as optimizations for AI and other workloads, with sufficient manufacturing yields and operational efficiency, relative to competing foundry processes, we have faced and will face cost, product performance, and time-to-market disadvantages relative to our competitors and adverse impacts to our financial condition as a result of higher operating costs, including as a result of additional costs from unused manufacturing capacity, higher leverage and borrowing costs, and pressure on our credit ratings. Further, we are not always able to timely or successfully develop new products, including as a result of bugs, late changes to features due to customer requests, or other design challenges. For example, in 2022, we announced that the release of Intel's 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor would be delayed from the first half of 2022 to the second half of 2022. To the extent our R&D efforts do not develop new products on schedule with improvements in areas like performance, performance per watt, die utilization, and core counts, and/or with new features such as optimizations for AI and other workloads, our competitive position can be harmed. We have adopted a disaggregated design approach for some of our future products, in which different processors and components can be manufactured on different processes and connected by advanced packaging tec…

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Current wording

To compete successfully, we must maintain an effective R&D program, develop new products and manufacturing processes, improve our products and processes, and make significant capital investments in new and existing manufacturing facilities, all ahead of competitors and market demand. The R&D efforts and capital investments we require are intensive as we compete across both product and process technologies and we may not have the ability to fund such investments at the level needed to be competitive. We incurred R&D expenses of $16.5 billion in 2024, $16.0 billion in 2023 and $17.5 billion in 2022. We are focusing our R&D efforts across several key areas, including process and packaging technology, our xPU products and features, AI, and software. These include ambitious initiatives, such as our efforts to introduce five new manufacturing process technologies, or nodes, in four years and our unified oneAPI portfolio of developer tools. Our investments are typically long-term and, even where successful, often do not contribute to our operating results for a number of years. We cannot guarantee that our efforts will deliver the benefits we anticipate, including as a result of our new products or technologies falling short of expectations or the offerings of competitors. For example, we previously experienced significant delays in the implementation of our 10nm process technology, and during 2020, we announced that our 7nm process technology would be delayed relative to our prior expectations. In such instances where we do not timely introduce new manufacturing process technologies that improve performance, performance per watt, transistor density, die utilization, core counts, and/or new features such as optimizations for AI and other workloads, with sufficient manufacturing yields and operational efficiency, relative to competing foundry processes, we have faced and will face cost, product performance, and time-to-market disadvantages relative to our competitors. This has in the past and may in the future result in higher operating costs, including as a result of additional costs from unused manufacturing capacity, higher leverage and borrowing costs, and pressure on our credit ratings, and adversely affect our business, financial condition and prospects. Further, we are not always able to timely or successfully develop new products, including as a result of bugs, late changes to features due to customer requests, or other design challenges. For example, in 2022, we announced that the release of Intel's 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor would be delayed from the first half of 2022 to the second half of 2022. To the extent our R&D efforts do not develop new products on schedule with improvements in areas like performance, performance per watt, die utilization, and core counts, and/or with new features such as optimizations for AI and other workloads, our competitive position can be harmed. We have adopted a disaggregated design approach for some …

Excerpt shortened here; the source contains the full paragraph.

Previous wording

The investments required for our process technology roadmap and our worldwide manufacturing and assembly and test require capital expenditures above our historical levels. In recent years, the semiconductor manufacturing industry has seen very significant increases in the capital investments required for manufacturing facilities utilizing leading process technologies, including as a result of the use of EUV photolithography tools. Our ownership and operation of such high-tech fabrication facilities, and our need to build new and expand existing facilities in anticipation of future demand, has resulted and will continue to result in our incurring large capital outlays and high costs that are fixed or difficult to reduce in the short term. Such capital outlays and costs include those related to utilization of existing facilities, facility construction and equipment, R&D, and the employment and training of a highly skilled workforce. To the extent customers are unwilling to pay prices to access the features that our process and product investments are expected to deliver or demand for our products, foundry capacity and assembly and test capacity decreases or we fail to forecast demand accurately, our gross margin and operating income can be disproportionately affected due to our high fixed cost structure, which is difficult to reduce quickly in response to lower demand and other unfavorable market factors. We could also be required to write off inventory or record excess manufacturing capacity charges, which would also lower our gross margin and operating income. To the extent the demand decrease is prolonged, our manufacturing or assembly and test capacity could be underutilized, and we may be required to write down our long-lived assets, which would increase our expenses. We may also be required to shorten the useful lives of under-used facilities and equipment and accelerate depreciation. As we continue to make substantial investments in increasing our manufacturing capacity as part of our IDM 2.0 strategy, these underutilization risks may be heightened. Conversely, at times, demand may increase or we may fail to forecast accurately or produce the mix of products demanded. To the extent we are unable to add capacity or increase production fast enough, we are at times required to make production decisions and/or are unable to fully meet market demand, which can result in a loss of revenue opportunities or market share, legal claims, and/or damage to customer relationships.

Current wording

The investments required for our process technology roadmap and our worldwide manufacturing and assembly and test require capital expenditures above our historical levels. In recent years, the semiconductor manufacturing industry has seen very significant increases in the capital investments required for manufacturing facilities utilizing leading process technologies, including as a result of the use of EUV and high-NA EUV lithography tools. Our ownership and operation of such high-tech fabrication facilities, and our need to build new and expand existing facilities in anticipation of future demand, has resulted and will continue to result in us incurring large capital outlays and high costs that are fixed or difficult to reduce in the short term. Such capital outlays and costs include those related to utilization of existing facilities, facility construction and equipment, R&D, and the employment and training of a highly skilled workforce. To the extent customers are unwilling to pay prices to access the features that our process and product investments are expected to deliver, or if demand for our products, foundry capacity and assembly and test capacity decreases or we fail to forecast demand accurately, our gross margin and operating income can be disproportionately affected due to our high fixed cost structure, which is difficult to reduce quickly in response to lower demand and other unfavorable market factors. As we have reassessed demand and our "shell ahead" status and our financial results in the last few years have constrained our ability to make capital investments, we have delayed manufacturing facility construction or expansion projects in Ohio, Germany, Poland, Malaysia, and Israel. We could also be required to write off inventory or record excess manufacturing capacity charges, which would also lower our gross margin and operating income. To the extent the demand decrease is prolonged, our manufacturing or assembly and test capacity could be underutilized, and we may be required to write down our long-lived assets, which would increase our expenses. We may also be required to shorten the useful lives of under-used facilities and equipment and accelerate depreciation. For example, in the third quarter of 2024 we recorded $3.1 billion of charges related to non-cash impairments and the accelerated depreciation for certain manufacturing assets, a substantial majority of which related to the Intel 7 process node.

Previous wording

We are not always successful or efficient in developing or implementing new process nodes and manufacturing processes. We experienced significant delays in implementing our 10nm process technology, and in 2020, we encountered a defect mode in the development of our then 7nm process technology that resulted in delays relative to our prior expectations. In 2022, Intel's 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor was delayed to allow for more platform and product validation time. These delays have allowed competitors using third-party foundries, such as TSMC, to benefit from advancements in manufacturing processes introduced ahead of us, including improvements in performance, energy efficiency, and other features, which have helped increase the competitiveness of their products. Because of these prior delays in our process technologies, we may experience greater adverse competitive impacts in the event of delays in the development of future manufacturing process technologies and products.

Current wording

We are not always successful or efficient in developing or implementing new process nodes and manufacturing processes. We experienced significant delays in implementing our 10nm process technology, and in 2020, we encountered a defect mode in the development of our 7nm process technology that resulted in delays relative to our prior expectations. In 2022, Intel's 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processor was delayed to allow for more platform and product validation time. These delays have allowed competitors using third-party foundries, such as TSMC, to benefit from advancements in manufacturing processes introduced ahead of us, including improvements in performance, energy efficiency, and other features, which have helped increase the competitiveness of their products. On the product side, we have had limited market success with our accelerator offerings, and in 2024 we recognized $922 million in Gaudi AI accelerator inventory-related charges. We may experience greater adverse competitive impacts in the event of further delays in the development of future manufacturing process technologies and products or lack of market success with our offerings.

Previous wording

Our efforts to innovate involve significant expense and carry inherent risks, including difficulties in designing and developing next-generation process and packaging technologies, and investments in manufacturing assets and facilities that are made years in advance. We cannot guarantee that we will realize the expected benefits of next-generation process technologies, including the expected cost, performance, power, and density advantages, or that we will achieve an adequate return on our capital and R&D investments, particularly as the development of new nodes has grown increasingly expensive. In such circumstances, we may be required to write down the value of some of our manufacturing assets and facilities, increasing our expenses.

Current wording

Our efforts to innovate involve significant expense and carry inherent risks, including difficulties in designing and developing next-generation process and packaging technologies, and investments in manufacturing assets and facilities that are made years in advance. We cannot guarantee that we will realize the expected benefits of next-generation process technologies, including the expected cost, performance, power, and density advantages, or that we will achieve an adequate return on our capital and R&D investments, particularly as the development of new nodes has grown increasingly expensive. In such circumstances, we may be required to write down the value of some of our manufacturing assets and facilities, increasing our expenses, as we were required to do in the third quarter of 2024 with respect to the Intel 7 process node.

Previous wording

Risks inherent in the development of next-generation process technologies include production timing delays, lower-than-anticipated manufacturing yields, longer manufacturing throughput times, failure to achieve expected performance, power, and area improvements, and product defects and errata (deviations from published specifications). Production timing delays have at times caused us to miss customer product design windows, which can result in lost revenue opportunities and damage to our customer relationships. Furthermore, when the introduction of next-generation process nodes is delayed, adding cores or other competitive features to our products can result in larger die size products, manufacturing supply constraints, and increased product costs. Lower manufacturing yields and longer manufacturing throughput times, compared to previous process nodes, can increase our product costs, adversely affect our gross margins, and contribute to manufacturing supply constraints. A new process node typically has higher costs compared to a mature node due to factors that include higher depreciation costs and lower yields, and costs and yields at times do not improve at the same rate as on prior nodes. As the die size of our products has increased and our manufacturing process nodes have shrunk, our products and manufacturing processes have grown increasingly complex and more susceptible to product defects and errata, which at times also contribute to production timing delays and lower yields that may also increase our costs to manufacture and warranty our products.

Current wording

Risks inherent in the development of next-generation process technologies include production timing delays, lower-than-anticipated manufacturing yields, longer manufacturing throughput times, failure to achieve expected performance, power, and area improvements, and product defects and errata (deviations from published specifications). Production timing delays have at times caused us to miss customer product design windows, which can result in lost revenue opportunities and damage to our customer relationships. Furthermore, when the introduction of next-generation process nodes is delayed, adding cores or other competitive features to our products can result in larger die size products, manufacturing supply constraints, and increased product costs. Lower manufacturing yields and longer manufacturing throughput times, compared to previous process nodes, can increase our product costs, adversely affect our gross margins, and contribute to manufacturing supply constraints. A new process node typically has higher costs compared to a mature node due to factors that include higher depreciation costs and lower yields, and costs and yields at times do not improve at the same rate as on prior nodes. In addition, the cost of new leading-edge process nodes continues to increase at a higher rate relative to legacy process nodes due to a number of factors, including the cost of procuring and operating advanced manufacturing equipment. As the die size of our products has increased and our manufacturing process nodes have increased the number of transistors per die, our products and manufacturing processes have grown increasingly complex and more susceptible to product defects and errata, which at times also contribute to production timing delays and lower yields that may also increase our costs to manufacture and warranty our products.

Previous wording

Our IDM 2.0 strategy requires implementation of new business strategies, as well as many internal structural, systems and process changes. We have entered new businesses and introduced new products and services as we seek to capitalize on the opportunities presented by growth in semiconductor demand, ubiquitous compute, pervasive connectivity, cloud to edge infrastructure, AI, and sensing. In recent years, we have expanded our product offerings in areas such as discrete GPUs, mobility solutions, AI accelerators, IPU products, and silicon photonics. As part of our IDM 2.0 strategy, we announced plans to establish IFS as a major provider of foundry capacity to manufacture semiconductors for others and to implement an internal foundry operating model through updates to our processes, systems, and guardrails between our manufacturing and our individual product-based business units. The implementation of our internal foundry operating model requires many internal structural, system, and process changes to support the separation of the product and manufacturing sides of our business and our external foundry business, including a new ERP system. In parallel, we are undertaking significant efforts to separate out portions of our business, such as PSG and IMS, to raise capital and unlock value as we focus on our core product and manufacturing capabilities. Significant business changes are inherently risky and are not always successful. For example, in 2022, we wound down Intel Optane; in 2020, we agreed to sell our NAND memory business to SK hynix; and in 2019, we exited the 5G smartphone modem business based on our determination that there was no clear path to profitability for those businesses.

Current wording

Our implementation of new business strategies, including our foundry strategy and our cost reduction measures, as well as our many internal structural, systems, and process changes, may subject us to a number of risks. We have entered new businesses and introduced new products and services as we seek to capitalize on the opportunities presented by growth in semiconductor demand, ubiquitous compute, pervasive connectivity, cloud-to-edge infrastructure, AI, and sensing. As part of our strategy, we announced plans to establish Intel Foundry as a major provider of foundry capacity to manufacture semiconductors for others and to implement an internal foundry operating model through updates to our processes, systems, and guardrails between our manufacturing and our individual product-based business units. The implementation of our internal foundry operating model requires many internal structural, system, and process changes to support the separation of the product and manufacturing sides of our business and our external foundry business, including a new enterprise resource planning system. In parallel, we are undertaking significant efforts to separate out portions of our business, such as operating Intel Foundry, Altera and IMS, as autonomous subsidiaries that we majority own and consolidate in order to potentially raise capital and unlock value as we focus on our core product and manufacturing capabilities. Significant business changes are inherently risky and are not always successful. For example, in 2022, we wound down Intel Optane; in 2020, we agreed to sell our NAND memory business to SK hynix; and in 2019, we exited the 5G smartphone modem business based on our determination that there was no clear path to profitability for those businesses.

Previous wording

These new and developing areas and products represent a significant portion of our revenue growth opportunity, and they also introduce new sources of competition, including, in some cases, incumbent competitors with established technologies, ecosystems, and customer bases, lower prices, margins, or costs, and greater brand recognition. These developing products and market segments require significant investment, do not always grow as projected or at all, or sometimes adopt competing technologies, and we may not realize an adequate return on our investments. For example, AI and machine learning are increasingly driving innovations in technology, but if we fail to develop leading products for these workloads, or if our customers use competing technologies, we may not realize a return on our investments in these areas. Similarly, we expect intense competition related to the significant opportunity we see in networking infrastructure and the distribution of computing to the network edge and may not succeed in our efforts. To be successful, we need to cultivate relationships with customers and partners in these market segments and continue to improve our offerings. Despite our ongoing efforts, there is no guarantee that we will achieve or maintain market demand or acceptance for our products and services in these various market segments or realize an adequate return on our investments, which could lead to impairment of assets and restructuring charges, as well as opportunity costs.

Current wording

These new and developing areas and products represent a significant portion of our revenue growth opportunity, and they also introduce new sources of competition in not just new and evolving markets but also in our existing markets. These new sources of competition can include established competitors with well-developed and highly competitive technologies, ecosystems, and customer bases, lower prices, margins, or costs, and greater brand recognition. These developing products and market segments require significant investment, do not always grow as projected or at all, or sometimes adopt competing technologies, and we may not realize an adequate return on our investments. For example, AI and machine learning are increasingly driving innovations in technology, but if we fail to develop leading products for these workloads, or if our customers use competing technologies, we may not realize a return on our investments in these areas. We may also not be successful in developing a competitive foundry business for external customers with respect to either leading-edge or mature process nodes, which would make it difficult for us to realize a favorable return on our investments in process technology and manufacturing capacity investments. To be successful, we need to cultivate relationships with customers and partners in these market segments and continue to improve our offerings. Despite our ongoing efforts, there is no guarantee that we will achieve or maintain market demand or acceptance for our products and services in these various market segments or realize an adequate return on our investments, which could lead to impairment of assets and restructuring charges, as well as opportunity costs.

Previous wording

As we pursue our IDM 2.0 strategy, we have utilized our Smart Capital approach to capital spending in an effort to appropriately time and scale our capital investments. To support our capital investments, we have pursued alternative financing arrangements, such as our 2022 joint investment with Brookfield in the manufacturing expansion of our Arizona campus, and expect to enter into similar arrangements in the future. These transactions may fail to advance our business strategy, may include unfavorable pricing or other terms, and may fail to achieve their anticipated benefits. Our partners may also fail to satisfy financial or other obligations on which we rely and we may fail to resolve any potential disputes. Any of these risks, including our ability to effectuate any additional transactions at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows, which may limit our ability to raise sufficient capital for our required investments.

Current wording

As we pursue our strategy, we have utilized our Smart Capital approach to capital spending in an effort to appropriately time and scale our capital investments. To support our capital investments, we have pursued alternative financing arrangements, such as our 2022 joint investment with Brookfield in the manufacturing expansion of our Arizona campus, and our 2024 joint investment with Apollo related to Fab 34 in Ireland, and may enter into similar arrangements in the future. These transactions may fail to advance our business strategy, may include unfavorable pricing or other terms such as penalties should key metrics not be attained as prescribed by our agreements, and may fail to achieve their anticipated benefits. Both arrangements include commitments we may not be able to satisfy, including commitments relating to construction and/or wafer demand or purchase, in which case we may be required to make additional payments to our partners. For example, in the fourth quarter of 2024, we recognized a $755 million charge related to penalties we expect to pay in connection with Ireland SCIP for construction delays we decided to make as we reduced our near-term capacity requirements. Further, both arrangements are expected to significantly and increasingly impact ournet income (loss) attributable to Intel andearnings (loss) per share attributable to Intel in future periods as wafer production volumes increase at our expanded Arizona campus and at Fab 34 in Ireland. Our partners may also fail to satisfy financial or other obligations on which we rely and we may fail to resolve any potential disputes. Any of these risks, including our ability to effectuate any additional transactions at all, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows, which may limit our ability to raise sufficient capital for our required investments.

Previous wording

In addition, as part of our Smart Capital approach, we have applied for, received, and expect to receive additional grants and incentives from domestic and foreign local, regional and national governments. Legislation in the US and EU has been adopted to provide government funding for semiconductor manufacturing expansions in those regions, but there is uncertainty as to the amounts and timing of funding we may receive and as to the conditions and restrictions that may apply to us as a recipient of such funding. For example, we expect to receive substantial grants from the US government under the CHIPS Act to support significant planned new fabrication facilities in the US and the German government under the EU Chips Act to support significant planned new fabrication facilities in Germany. However, governments may choose not to award grants and incentives in sufficient amounts or in a timely manner to support our capital investment plans and to offset the higher costs of operations in many of the locations of our facilities as compared to those of many of our competitors, or we may be unable to comply with the requirements and limitations of such grants and incentives. To the extent such funding is below our expectations, we elect not to accept any grants or incentives due to burdensome compliance requirements, or we are required to return any amounts received from any grants or incentives due to an inability to comply with any requirements or limitations contained therein, our anticipated cash requirements would increase.

Current wording

In addition, as part of our Smart Capital approach, we have applied for, received, and expect to receive additional grants and incentives from domestic and foreign local, regional, and national governments. Legislation in the US and EU has been adopted to provide government funding for semiconductor manufacturing expansions in those regions. However, any amounts, if any, we may receive under any agreements enabled by such legislation may not be sufficient in amount or timeliness to support our capital investment plans and offset the higher costs of operations in many of the locations of our facilities as compared to those of many of our competitors, we may be unable to comply with the requirements and limitations of any such grants and incentives, or such agreements may contain restrictions that limit our flexibility to pursue changes in business strategy or transactions that may enhance stockholder value. For example, in November 2024 we entered into a direct funding agreement with the US Department of Commerce under the CHIPS Act that contains detailed milestones we must achieve for us to receive the funds, including with respect to achievement of various milestones with respect to capital expenditures, facility completion, process technology development, wafer production, Intel products insourcing, and external foundry customer acquisitions. It also contains restrictions on certain “change of control” transactions we are permitted to engage in, a requirement that we share with the US government project returns above specified thresholds, and various termination rights and remedies if we were to breach the agreement, including potential repayment of some or all of the awards. To the extent funding is below our expectations, we elect not to accept any grants or incentives due to burdensome compliance requirements, we are required to return any amounts received from any grants or incentives due to an inability to comply with any requirements or limitations contained therein, we are subject to restrictions as a result of any awards we have accepted, or the US government delays or does not provide any awards

Previous wording

Changes in product demand can adversely affect our financial results.

Current wording

Changes in product demand and margins can adversely affect our financial results.

Previous wording

Our products are used in different market segments, and demand for our products varies within or among them. It is difficult to forecast these changes and their impact. For example, we expect the PC TAM to grow over time driven by factors such as a larger installed base, demand for AI capabilities, new platforms, shorter replacement cycles, and adoption in new markets; however, the PC industry has been highly cyclical in the past, and these growth expectations may not materialize, or we may fail to capitalize on them. Changes in the demand for our products, particularly our CCG, DCAI, and NEX platform products, have in the past and may in the future reduce our revenue, lower our gross margin, or require us to write down the value of our assets.

Current wording

Our products are used in different market segments, and demand for our products varies within or among them. It is difficult to forecast these changes and their impact. For example, we expect the PC TAM to grow over time, driven by factors such as a larger installed base, demand for AI capabilities, new platforms, shorter replacement cycles, and adoption in new markets; however, the PC industry has been highly cyclical in the past, and these growth expectations may not materialize, or we may fail to capitalize on them. Changes in the demand for our products have in the past and may in the future reduce our revenue, lower our gross margin, or require us to write down the value of our assets.

Previous wording

▪customer product needs and emerging technology trends, including changes in the levels and nature of customer and end-user computing workloads, such as work- and learn-from-home trends.

Current wording

▪customer product needs and emerging technology trends, including changes in the levels and nature of customer and end-user computing workloads, such as the shift in data center spend to GPUs to support AI workloads;

Previous wording

▪geopolitical conditions, including trade policies and geopolitical tensions and conflicts;

Current wording

▪geopolitical conditions, including trade policies, potential tariffs or other trade restrictions, and geopolitical tensions and conflicts;

Previous wording

▪customer order patterns and order cancellations, including as a result of maturing product cycles for our products, customers' products, and related products such as operating system upgrade cycles; and disruptions affecting customers, such as the delays in obtaining tools, components, and other supplies as a result of COVID-19-related port shutdowns in China that negatively impacted demand for our business in 2022, as well as the industry substrate and component shortages that negatively impacted demand across several of our businesses in 2021;

Current wording

▪disruptions affecting customers, such as the delays in obtaining tools, components, and other supplies as a result of COVID-19-related port shutdowns in China that negatively impacted demand for our business in 2022, as well as the industry substrate and component shortages that negatively impacted demand across several of our businesses in 2021.

Previous wording

Our pricing and margins vary across our products and market segments due in part to marketability of our products and differences in their features or manufacturing costs. For example, our core product offerings range from lower-priced and entry-level platforms, such as those based on Intel Atom processors, to higher-end platforms based on Intel Xeon processors. Our ancillary product offerings that extend beyond our core product lines typically have significantly lower margins than our higher-priced products, and at times are not profitable. To the extent demand shifts from our higher-priced to lower-priced core products in any of our market segments, or our ancillary products represent a greater share of our mix of products sold, our gross margin percentage has decreased and may decrease again.

Current wording

Our pricing and margins vary across our products and market segments due in part to marketability of our products and differences in their features or manufacturing costs. For example, our core product offerings range from lower-priced and entry-level platforms to higher-end platforms. Our ancillary product offerings that extend beyond our core product lines typically have significantly lower margins than our higher-priced products, and at times are not profitable. Some of our higher-priced products, however, such as the Intel Core Ultra 200V processors launched in September 2024, have lower margins as they are produced at external foundries rather than in our manufacturing facilities. To the extent demand shifts from our higher-margin to lower-margin products in any of our market segments, as has been the case with the Intel Core Ultra 200V processors, our gross margin percentage has decreased and may decrease again.

Previous wording

We have manufacturing, assembly and test, R&D, sales, and other operations in many countries, and some of our business activities are concentrated in one or more geographic areas. Our operations rely upon a supply chain that is also highly distributed, and with reliance in some instances on supplies or materials available in only one or more geographic areas. Moreover, sales outside the US accounted for 74% of our revenue for the fiscal year ended December 30, 2023, with revenue from billings to China contributing 27% of our total revenue. As a result, our operations and our financial results, including our ability to execute our business strategy, manufacture, assemble and test, design, develop, or sell products, and the demand for our products, are at times adversely affected by a number of global and regional factors outside of our control.

Current wording

We have manufacturing, assembly and test, R&D, sales, and other operations in many countries, and some of our business activities are concentrated in one or more geographic areas. Our operations rely upon a supply chain that is also highly distributed, and with reliance in some instances on supplies or materials available in only one or more geographic areas. Moreover, sales outside the US accounted for 76% of our revenue for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2024, with revenue from billings to China contributing 29% of our total revenue. As a result, our operations and our financial results, including our ability to execute our business strategy, manufacture, assemble and test, design, develop, or sell products, and the demand for our products, are at times adversely affected by a number of global and regional factors outside of our control.

Previous wording

Adverse changes in global or regional economic conditions periodically occur, including recession or slowing growth; changes or uncertainty in fiscal, monetary, or trade policy; higher interest rates; tighter credit; inflation; lower capital expenditures by businesses, including on IT infrastructure; increases in unemployment; and lower consumer confidence and spending. Adverse changes in macroeconomic conditions can significantly harm demand for our products and make it more challenging to forecast our operating results and make business decisions, including regarding prioritization of investments in our business. An economic downturn or increased uncertainty may also lead to increased credit and collectability risks, higher borrowing costs or reduced availability of capital and credit markets, reduced liquidity, adverse impacts on our suppliers, failures of counterparties, including financial institutions and insurers, asset impairments, and declines in the value of our financial instruments.

Current wording

Adverse changes in global or regional economic conditions periodically occur, including recession or slowing growth; changes or uncertainty in fiscal, monetary, or trade policy; high interest rates; tighter credit; inflation; lower capital expenditures by businesses, including on IT infrastructure; increases in unemployment; and lower consumer confidence and spending. Adverse changes in macroeconomic conditions can significantly harm demand for our products and make it more challenging to forecast our operating results and make business decisions, including regarding prioritization of investments in our business. An economic downturn or increased uncertainty may also lead to: increased credit and collectability risks; higher borrowing costs or reduced availability of capital and credit markets; reduced liquidity; adverse impacts on our suppliers; failures of counterparties, including financial institutions and insurers; asset impairments; and declines in the value of our financial instruments.

Previous wording

Trade policies and disputes at times result in increased tariffs, trade barriers, and other protectionist measures, which can increase our manufacturing costs, make our products less competitive, reduce demand for our products, limit our ability to sell to certain customers, limit our ability to procure components or raw materials, or impede or slow the movement of our goods across borders. Increasing protectionism and economic nationalism may lead to further changes in trade policies and regulations, domestic sourcing initiatives, or other formal and informal measures that could make it more difficult to sell our products in, or restrict our access to, some markets. They can also result in declining consumer confidence and slowing economic growth or recession, and could cause our customers to reduce, cancel, or alter the timing of their purchases with us. Sustained geopolitical tensions could lead to long-term changes in global trade and technology supply chains, domestic sourcing initiatives, and decoupling of global trade networks, which could make it more difficult to sell our products in, or restrict our access to, some markets and have a material adverse effect on our business and growth prospects.

Current wording

Trade policies and disputes at times result in increased tariffs, trade barriers, and other trade restrictions and protectionist measures, which can increase our manufacturing costs, make our products less competitive, reduce demand for our products, limit our ability to sell to certain customers, limit our ability to procure components or raw materials, or impede or slow the movement of our goods across borders. Increasing protectionism and economic nationalism may lead to further changes in trade policies and regulations, domestic sourcing initiatives, or other formal and informal measures that could make it more difficult to sell our products in, or restrict our access to, some markets. They can also result in declining consumer confidence and slowing economic growth or recession, and could cause our customers to reduce, cancel, or alter the timing of their purchases with us. Sustained geopolitical tensions could lead to long-term

Previous wording

In particular, geopolitical and trade tensions between the US and China, one of our largest markets, have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions, including tariffs applicable to some of our products, and have affected customer ordering patterns. Further, the US has imposed restrictions on the export of US-regulated products and technology to certain Chinese technology companies, including certain of our customers. Specifically, in 2022 the US significantly increased US export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and on artificial intelligence and advanced computing products. In 2023, the US added to the restrictions in all three areas and also worked with Japan and the Netherlands to align on additional restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. During this time, the US has increasingly added Chinese companies to prohibited lists. In response, China has restricted US access to certain minerals and has blocked certain companies that provide products to Taiwan's military from selling products in China. These restrictions have in some instances reduced our sales and in a number of instances required specific governmental authorizations or exceptions - $3.2 billion, or 6%, of our 2023 revenue was dependent upon US government export control authorizations, an amount that we expect may increase in future years. These and potential future restrictions could adversely affect our financial performance and result in reputational harm to us. In addition, a number of semiconductor companies in China, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), are making significant investments, in many instances with the support of the Chinese government, in advanced semiconductor technologies to enable such companies to develop products and technologies that compete with ours. It is difficult to predict what further trade-related actions governments may take, the extent to which we may be able to mitigate the effects of any such actions, and the longer-term implications of such actions on the market opportunities for us and the competition we may face.

Current wording

In particular, geopolitical and trade tensions between the US and China, one of our largest markets, have led to increased tariffs and trade restrictions, including tariffs applicable to some of our products, and have affected customer ordering patterns. Further, the US has imposed restrictions on the export of US-regulated products and technology to certain Chinese technology companies, including certain of our customers. Specifically, in 2022 the US significantly increased US export controls on semiconductor manufacturing equipment and on AI and advanced computing products. In 2023, the US added to the restrictions in all three areas and also worked with Japan and the Netherlands to align on additional restrictions on semiconductor manufacturing equipment. In 2024, the US Commerce Department further expanded export controls to limit the global distribution of high-performance integrated circuits by restricting sales through customer allocations and imposing per-country caps. During this time, the US has increasingly added Chinese companies to prohibited lists. In response, China has restricted US access to certain minerals and has blocked certain companies that provide products to Taiwan's military from selling products in China. These restrictions have in some instances reduced our sales and in a number of instances required specific governmental authorizations or exceptions. These and potential future restrictions, including also through application of antitrust laws and restrictions based on cybersecurity and other national security concerns, could adversely affect our financial performance and result in reputational harm to us. In addition, a number of semiconductor companies in China, including SMIC, are making significant investments, in many instances with the support of the Chinese government, in advanced semiconductor technologies to enable such companies to develop products and technologies that compete with ours. It is difficult to predict what further trade-related actions governments may take, whether the 2025 change in US administration may heighten tensions, the extent to which we may be able to mitigate the effects of any trade-related actions, and the longer-term implications of trade-related actions on the market opportunities for us and the competition we may face.

Previous wording

▪geopolitical and security issues, such as armed conflict and civil or military unrest, political instability, human rights concerns, and terrorist activity, including, for example:

Current wording

Geopolitical and security issues, such as armed conflict and civil or military unrest, political instability, human rights concerns, and terrorist activity, present significant risks to our global operations. For example:

Previous wording

▪Russia’s war with Ukraine, initiated in 2022, which resulted: in the imposition of financial and other sanctions and export controls against Russia and Belarus that caused us and other companies to limit or suspend Russian operations (we had no exports to Russia in 2023); Russia-imposed currency restrictions and regulations and other retaliatory trade and other actions; increased supply, commodity, and other costs; and increased risk of cyberattacks;

Current wording

▪Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine has resulted in the imposition of financial and other sanctions and export controls against Russia and Belarus that has caused us and other companies to limit or suspend Russian operations (we had no exports to Russia in 2023 and 2024). The conflict has also resulted in Russia-imposed currency restrictions and regulations and other retaliatory trade and other actions, increased supply, commodity, and other costs, and an increased risk of cyberattacks.

Previous wording

▪natural disasters, public health issues (including pandemics), and other catastrophic events;

Current wording

▪severe weather events and natural disasters, public health issues (including pandemics), and other catastrophic events;

Previous wording

The markets and use cases for products with AI capabilities have been rapidly evolving, are difficult to predict and may impact demand for our products. For example, in the last few years the demand for high-end GPUs for model training increased dramatically and has resulted and may continue to result in a significant shift in DCAI customer spend. The significant investments we have made to develop products and software to address what we believe will be increasing demand for AI capabilities may be insufficient, and we face significant hurdles, including whether demand will materialize, whether third-party developers will develop the software to utilize the AI capabilities of our products, and whether we will be successful in developing products that can compete with offerings by established competitors.

Current wording

expect to continue to make to develop products and software to address what we believe will be increasing demand for AI capabilities, most notably in AI PCs but also in the data center and in GPUs, may be insufficient, and we face significant hurdles, including whether demand will materialize, whether third-party developers will develop the software to utilize the AI capabilities of our products, and whether we will be successful in developing products that can compete with offerings by established competitors.

Previous wording

Our use of AI technology may subject us to reputational, financial, legal, or regulatory risks. As we incorporate AI technology into our products and services, any failure to address concerns relating to the responsible use of the evolving AI technology in our products and services may cause harm to our reputation or financial liability and, as such, may increase our costs to address or mitigate such risks and issues. AI technology may create ethical issues, generate defective algorithms, and present other risks that create challenges with respect to its adoption. In addition, evolving rules, regulations, and industry standards governing AI may require us to expend significant resources to modify, maintain, or align our business practices or products to comply with US and non-US rules and regulations, the nature of which cannot be determined at this time. Several jurisdictions around the globe, including the EU and certain US states, have already proposed or enacted laws governing AI. US federal agencies are likely to release AI regulations in the near future in light of the Biden administration’s October 30, 2023 Executive Order on AI. The regulatory environment surrounding the impact of the implementation of AI on our products and services may adversely affect our ability to produce and export products and as a result may cause harm to our reputation and financial liability.

Current wording

Our use of AI technology may subject us to reputational, financial, legal, or regulatory risks. As we incorporate AI technology into our products and services, any failure to address concerns relating to the responsible use of the evolving AI technology in our products and services may cause harm to our reputation or financial liability and, as such, may increase our costs to address or mitigate such risks and issues. AI technology may create ethical issues, generate defective algorithms, and present other risks that create challenges with respect to its adoption. In addition, evolving laws, rules, regulations, and industry standards governing AI may require us to expend significant resources to modify, maintain, or align our business practices or products.

Previous wording

These and other supply chain issues can increase our costs, disrupt or reduce our production, delay our product shipments, prevent us from meeting customer demand, damage our customer relationships, or negatively affect our reputation. They may keep us from successfully implementing our business strategy and can materially harm our business, competitive position, results of operation, and financial condition. From time to time, our customers experience disruptions or shortages in their own supply chains that constrain their demand for our products. During the past several years, macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions, as well as outbreaks of COVID-19, caused supply chain disruptions and delays in obtaining tools and other components, and the semiconductor industry experienced widespread shortages of substrates and other components and available foundry manufacturing capacity. These shortages have previously limited our ability to supply customer demand in certain of our businesses, and have adversely affected customer demand for our products, as some customers have been unable to procure sufficient quantities of third-party components used together with our products to produce finished systems. It is difficult to predict the future impact of these shortages when they occur.

Current wording

These and other supply chain issues can increase our costs, disrupt or reduce our production, delay our product shipments, prevent us from meeting customer demand, damage our customer relationships, or negatively affect our reputation. They may keep us from successfully implementing our business strategy and can materially harm our business, competitive position, results of operations, and financial condition. From time to time, our customers experience disruptions or shortages in their own supply chains that constrain their demand for our products. During the past several years, macroeconomic and geopolitical conditions, as well as outbreaks of COVID-19, caused supply chain disruptions and delays in obtaining tools and other components, and the semiconductor industry experienced widespread shortages of substrates and other components and available foundry manufacturing capacity. These shortages have previously limited our ability to supply customer demand in certain of our businesses, and have adversely affected customer demand for our products, as some customers have been unable to procure sufficient quantities of third-party components used together with our products to produce finished systems. It is difficult to predict the future impact of these shortages when they occur.

Previous wording

We utilize third-party foundries and component suppliers to manufacture or supply certain components and products for areas such as networking, communications, graphics, programmable semiconductor solutions, and memory. As part of our IDM 2.0 strategy, we expect to increase our use of third-party foundries. Delays in the development of foundries’ future manufacturing processes could delay the introduction of products or components we design for such processes, and insufficient foundry capacity could prevent us from meeting customer demand. We typically have less control over delivery schedules, design and manufacturing co-optimization, yields, quality, product quantities, and costs for components and products that are manufactured by third parties.

Current wording

We utilize third-party foundries and component suppliers to manufacture or supply a number of our products and components necessary for our products that we manufacture. As part of our strategy, we expect to continue to rely upon third-party foundries. Delays in the development of foundries' future manufacturing processes could delay the introduction of products or components we design for such processes, and insufficient foundry capacity could prevent us from meeting customer demand. We typically have less control over delivery schedules, design and manufacturing co-optimization, yields, quality, product quantities, and costs for components and products that are manufactured by third parties.

Previous wording

Where possible, we seek to have several sources of supply. However, for certain components, services, materials, and equipment, we rely on a single or a limited number of suppliers, or upon suppliers in a single location, which can impact the nature, quality, availability, and pricing of the products and services available to us. For example, ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) is currently the sole supplier of EUV photolithography tools that we are deploying in our Intel 4 and subsequent manufacturing process nodes. These tools are highly complex to develop and produce, and increasingly costly, and from time to time there are increases in lead times or delays in their development and availability, which could delay the development or ramp of our future process nodes. As a further example, a limited number of third-party foundries offer leading-edge manufacturing processes, and these providers are geographically concentrated in Asia. Supplier consolidation or business failures can also reduce the pool of qualified suppliers.

Current wording

Where possible, we seek to have several sources of supply. However, for certain products, components, services, materials, and equipment, we rely on a single or a limited number of suppliers, or upon suppliers in a single location, which can impact the nature, quality, availability, and pricing of the products and services available to us. For example, ASML Holding N.V. (ASML) is currently the sole supplier of EUV lithography tools that we are deploying in our Intel 4 and subsequent leading-edge manufacturing process nodes. These tools are highly complex to develop and produce, and increasingly costly, and from time to time there are increases in lead times or delays in their development and availability, which could delay the development or ramp of our future process nodes. As a further example, a limited number of third-party foundries offer leading-edge manufacturing processes, and these providers are geographically concentrated in Asia. Some of our most advanced current and future products are or will be either exclusively manufactured by TSMC or reliant upon critical components, including various compute die, manufactured by TSMC.

Previous wording

From time to time, we identify product defects, errata, and other product issues, which can result from problems in our product design or our manufacturing and assembly and test processes. Components and products we purchase or license from third-party suppliers, or gain through acquisitions, can also contain defects. Product issues also sometimes result from the interaction between our products and third-party products and software. We face risks if products that we design, manufacture, or sell, or that include our technology, cause personal injury or property damage, even where the cause is unrelated to product defects or errata. These risks may increase as our products are introduced into new devices, market segments, technologies, or applications, including transportation, autonomous driving, healthcare, communications, financial services, and other industrial, critical infrastructure, and consumer uses.

Current wording

through acquisitions, can also contain defects. Product issues also sometimes result from the interaction between our products and third-party products and software. We face risks if products that we design, manufacture, or sell, or that include our technology, cause personal injury or property damage, even where the cause is unrelated to product defects or errata. These risks may increase as our products are introduced into new devices, market segments, technologies, or applications, including transportation, autonomous driving, healthcare, communications, financial services, and other industrial, critical infrastructure, and consumer uses.

Previous wording

These costs could be large and may increase expenses and lower gross margin, and/or result in delay or loss of revenue. Mitigation techniques designed to address product issues, including software and firmware updates, are not always available on a timely basis—or at all—and do not always operate as intended or effectively resolve such issues for all applications. We and third parties, such as hardware and software vendors, make prioritization decisions about which product issues to address, which can delay, limit, or prevent development or deployment of a mitigation and harm our reputation and result in costs. Product defects, errata, or other product issues and/or mitigation techniques can result in product failures, adverse performance and power effects, reboots, system instability or unavailability, loss of functionality, data loss or corruption, unpredictable system behavior, decisions by customers and end users to limit or change the applications in which they use our products or product features, and other issues. Product issues can damage our reputation, negatively affect product demand, delay product releases or deployment, result in legal liability, or make our products less competitive, which could harm our business and financial results. Subsequent events or new information can develop that change our assessment of the impact of a product issue. In addition, our liability insurance coverage has certain exclusions or may not adequately cover liabilities incurred. Our insurance providers may be unable or unwilling to pay a claim, and losses not covered by insurance could be large, which could harm our financial condition.

Current wording

These costs could be large and may increase expenses and lower gross margin, and/or result in delay or loss of revenue. Mitigation techniques designed to address product issues, including software and firmware updates, are not always available on a timely basis—or at all—and do not always operate as intended or effectively resolve such issues for all applications. We and third parties, such as hardware and software vendors, make prioritization decisions about which product issues to address, which can delay, limit, or prevent development or deployment of a mitigation and harm our reputation and result in costs. Product defects, errata, or other product issues and/or mitigation techniques can result in product failures, adverse performance and power effects, reboots, system instability or unavailability, loss of functionality, data loss or corruption, unpredictable system behavior, decisions by customers and end users to limit or change the applications in which they use our products or product features, and other issues. For example, during 2024, some of our customers experienced instability issues when using Intel Core 13 th and 14 th Gen desktop processors, which required us to undertake an investigation and deploy corrective actions. This adversely impacted sales volume during 2024 and may result in higher warranty costs in the future.

Previous wording

We or third parties regularly identify security vulnerabilities with respect to our processors and other products, as well as the operating systems and workloads that run on them and the components that interact with them. Components and IP we purchase or license from third parties for use in our products, as well as industry-standard specifications we implement in our products, are also regularly subject to security vulnerabilities. Our processors and other products are being used in application areas that create new or increased cybersecurity and privacy risks, including applications that gather and process large amounts of data, such as the cloud or Internet of Things, and critical infrastructure and automotive applications. The security vulnerabilities identified in our processors include a category known as side-channel vulnerabilities, such as the variants referred to as "Spectre" and "Meltdown." Additional categories and variants have been identified and are expected to continue to be identified. Publicity about these and other security vulnerabilities has resulted in, and is expected to continue to result in, increased attempts by third parties to identify additional vulnerabilities. Security and manageability features in our products cannot make our products absolutely secure, and these features themselves are subject to vulnerabilities and attempts by third parties to identify additional vulnerabilities. Vulnerabilities are not always mitigated before they become known. We, our customers, and the users of our products do not always promptly learn of or have the ability to fully assess the magnitude or effects of a vulnerability, including the extent, if any, to which a vulnerability has been exploited. Subsequent events or new information can develop that changes our assessment of the impact of a security vulnerability, including additional information learned as we develop and deploy mitigations or updates, become aware of additional variants, evaluate the competitiveness of existing and new products, and address future warranty or other claims or customer satisfaction considerations, as well as developments in the course of any litigation or regulatory inquiries or actions over these matters.

Current wording

We or third parties regularly identify security vulnerabilities with respect to our processors and other products, as well as the operating systems and workloads that run on them and the components that interact with them. Components and IP we purchase or license from third parties for use in our products, as well as industry-standard specifications we implement in our products, are also regularly subject to security vulnerabilities. Our processors and other products are being used in application areas that create new or increased cybersecurity and privacy risks, including applications that gather and process large amounts of data, such as the cloud or Internet of Things, and critical infrastructure and automotive applications. The security vulnerabilities identified in our processors include a category known as side-channel vulnerabilities, such as the variants referred to as "Spectre" and "Meltdown." Additional categories and variants have been identified and are expected to continue to be identified. Security and manageability features in our products cannot make our products absolutely secure, and these features themselves are subject to vulnerabilities and attempts by third parties to identify additional vulnerabilities. We, our customers, and the users of our products do not always promptly learn of or have the ability to fully assess the magnitude or effects of a vulnerability, including the extent, if any, to which a vulnerability has been exploited. Subsequent events or new information can develop that changes our assessment of the impact of a security vulnerability, including additional information learned as we develop and deploy mitigations or updates, become aware of additional variants, evaluate the competitiveness of existing and new products, and address future warranty or other claims or customer satisfaction considerations, as well as developments in the course of any litigation or regulatory inquiries or actions over these matters.

Previous wording

We face significant and persistent cybersecurity risks due to: the breadth of geographies, networks, and systems we must defend against cybersecurity attacks; the complexity, technical sophistication, value, and widespread use of our systems, products and processes; the attractiveness of our systems, products and processes to threat actors (including state-sponsored organizations) seeking to inflict harm on us or our customers; the substantial level of harm that could occur to us and our customers were we to suffer impacts of a material cybersecurity incident; and our use of third-party products, services and components. Such an incident, whether or not successful, could result in our incurring significant costs related to, for example, rebuilding our internal systems, writing down inventory value, implementing additional threat protection measures, providing modifications to our products and services, defending against litigation or enforcement proceedings, paying damages, providing customers with incentives to maintain a business relationship with us, or taking other remedial steps with respect to third parties, as well as incurring significant reputational harm. We regularly face attempts by malicious attackers who attempt to gain access to our network or data centers or those of our suppliers, customers, partners, end users, or other third parties; steal proprietary, personal, or confidential information related to our business, products, employees, suppliers, or customers; introduce malicious software to our systems or those of our suppliers, customers, partners, end users, or other third parties; interrupt our systems and services or those of our suppliers, customers, or others; or demand ransom to return control of such systems and services. As we grow certain emerging business lines, such as our foundry business and our cloud computing and software-as-a-service offerings, we expect to collect or host significant amounts of highly sensitive customer data, which may increasingly make us a target of attempts to steal or corrupt that data. Individuals and organizations, including malicious hackers, state-sponsored organizations, insider threats including employees and third-party service providers, and intruders into our physical facilities, at times attempt to gain unauthorized access to and/or corrupt the processes used to design and manufacture our hardware products and our associated software and services. We are also a frequent target of attackers that intend to sabotage, compromise, take control of, or otherwise corrupt our manufacturing or other processes, products, and services. In some instances, we, our suppliers, our customers, and the users of our products and services may be unaware of a threat or incident or its magnitude and effects, or we may be unable to timely mitigate the impacts of an incident.

Current wording

We face significant and persistent cybersecurity risks due to: the breadth of geographies, networks, and systems we must defend against cybersecurity attacks; the complexity, technical sophistication, value, and widespread use of our systems, products, and processes; the attractiveness of our systems, products, and processes to threat actors (including state-sponsored organizations) seeking to inflict harm on us or our customers; the substantial level of harm that could occur to us and our customers were we to suffer impacts of a material cybersecurity incident; and our use of third-party products, services, and components. Such an incident, whether or not successful, could result in our incurring significant costs related to, for example, rebuilding our internal systems, writing down inventory value, implementing additional threat protection measures, providing modifications to our products and services, defending against litigation or enforcement proceedings, paying damages, providing customers with incentives to maintain a business relationship with us, or taking other remedial steps with respect to third parties, as well as incurring significant reputational harm. We regularly face attempts by malicious attackers who attempt to gain access to our network or data centers or those of our suppliers, customers, partners, end users, or other third parties; steal proprietary, personal, or confidential information related to our business, products, employees, suppliers, or customers; sabotage our systems or those of our suppliers, customers, partners, end users, or other third parties; interrupt our systems and services or those of our suppliers, customers, or others; or demand ransom to return control of such systems and services. As we operate and expect to grow certain emerging business lines, such as our third-party foundry business and our cloud computing and SaaS offerings, we expect to collect or host significant amounts of highly sensitive customer data, which may increasingly make us a target of attempts to steal or corrupt that data. Individuals and organizations, including malicious hackers, state-sponsored organizations, insider threats including employees and third-party service providers, and intruders into our physical facilities, at times attempt to gain unauthorized access to and/or corrupt the processes used to design and manufacture our hardware products and our associated software and services. We are also a frequent target of attackers that intend to sabotage, compromise, take control of, or otherwise corrupt our manufacturing or other processes, products, and services. In some instances, we, our suppliers, our customers, and the users of our products and services may be unaware of a threat or incident or its magnitude and effects, or we may be unable to timely mitigate the impacts of an incident.

Previous wording

Cyber attack attempts are increasing in number, magnitude, and technical sophistication, and if successful may expose us and the affected parties to loss or misuse of proprietary or confidential information or disruptions to our business operations, including our manufacturing operations, and could impact our financial results. We expect emerging technologies to contribute to the increasing sophistication of attacks and to lead to new threats. For example, threat actors may leverage emerging AI technologies to develop new hacking tools and attack vectors, exploit vulnerabilities, obscure their activities, and increase the difficulty of threat attribution.

Current wording

Cyber attack attempts are increasing in number, magnitude, and technical sophistication, and if successful, may expose us and the affected parties to loss or misuse of proprietary or confidential information or disruptions to our business operations, including our manufacturing operations, and could impact our financial results. We expect emerging technologies to contribute to the increasing sophistication of attacks and to lead to new threats. For example, threat actors are leveraging emerging AI technologies to develop new hacking tools and attack vectors, exploit vulnerabilities, obscure their activities, and increase the difficulty of threat attribution. The proliferation of generative AI increases the risk of these technologies being used by threat actors to impersonate authorized individuals, which may make attacks even more difficult to detect and prevent. Moreover, the increased adoption of generative AI models within our internal systems, processes, and tools may create new attack methods for threat actors.

Previous wording

As a developer of leading-node processes and widely utilized products, we have been, and expect to continue to be, the subject of intense efforts by sophisticated cyber adversaries, including state-sponsored organizations, who seek to compromise our systems, disrupt our operations or those of users of our products, or steal trade secrets. As geopolitical or armed global conflicts escalate, attacks against us, our customers, or our strategic allies may similarly intensify. For example, from 2019 to 2021, we, along with other companies with meaningful operations in Israel, were targets of concerted cyberattacks. In the fourth quarter of 2020, our Habana Labs subsidiary’s network was breached in connection with a suspected unsuccessful ransomware attack, resulting in unauthorized third-party access of certain confidential information.

Current wording

As a developer of leading-edge manufacturing process nodes and widely utilized semiconductor processors and other products, we have been, and expect to continue to be, the subject of intense efforts by sophisticated cyber adversaries, including state-sponsored organizations, who seek to compromise our systems, disrupt our operations or those of users of our products, or steal trade secrets. As geopolitical or armed global conflicts escalate, attacks against us, our customers, or our strategic allies may similarly intensify. For example, from 2019 to 2021, we, along with other companies with meaningful operations in Israel, were targets of concerted cyberattacks. In the fourth quarter of 2020, our Habana Labs subsidiary's network was breached in connection with a suspected unsuccessful ransomware attack, resulting in unauthorized third-party access of certain confidential information.

Previous wording

We are also subject to risks associated with attacks on products, services and components in our supply chain, such as the 2020 compromise of IT infrastructure management software provided by SolarWinds Corporation. These providers can experience breaches of their systems and products, or provide inadequate updates or support, which can impact the security of our systems and our proprietary or confidential information. Since 2021, we have observed an increase in ransomware attacks in our supply chain. In December 2021, a vulnerability named “Log4Shell” was reported for the widely used Java logging library, Apache Log4j* 2, and similar vulnerabilities affecting commonly used programs and tools were reported in 2022 and 2023.

Current wording

We are also subject to risks associated with attacks on products, services, and components in our supply chain, such as the 2020 compromise of IT infrastructure management software provided by SolarWinds Corporation, and risks from vulnerabilities in using industry-wide software solutions and third-party components, such as the 2021 Log4Shell vulnerability and similar vulnerabilities that followed. The CrowdStrike outage that occurred in 2024 is another example of the risks we face from utilizing products and components that are widely adopted in supply chains. These providers can experience breaches of their systems and products, or provide inadequate updates or support, which can impact the security of our systems and our proprietary or confidential information. Since 2021, we have observed an increase in ransomware attacks in our supply chain.