Intel and NVIDIA turn to collaboration to solidify PC industry dominance

 

• The strategic partnership between Intel and NVIDIA is set to revolutionize the PC market by integrating top-of-the-line CPUs and GPUs, leading to potential advancements in gaming and AI capabilities.

• NVIDIA’s investment in Intel common stock signifies a significant boost to the PC market penetration for both companies, leveraging their respective strengths to reach a broader user base and improve R&D efficiency.

• While the collaboration between Intel and NVIDIA promises exciting possibilities in terms of product development, the success of this partnership will ultimately rely on how effectively they can integrate their technologies into the upcoming products.

• The announcement of the Intel-NVIDIA collaboration poses challenges for competitors in the AI-capable PC market, as the dominant market positions of the two companies could create high barriers for others looking to establish alternative ecosystems.The impact of this collaboration extends beyond the PC market. It could potentially affect the plans of players like MediaTek in the Arm-based PC segment and raise questions about the future dynamics of the Windows-on-Arm market.

       

On September 18, 2025, Intel and NVIDIA jointly announced that NVIDIA will invest US$5 billion to purchase Intel common stock and collaborate on CPUs, GPUs, and NVLink. Regarding PCs, they stated, “Intel will build and offer to the market x86 system-on-chips (SOCs) that integrate NVIDIA RTX GPU chiplets. These new x86 RTX SOCs will power a wide range of PCs that demand integration of world-class CPUs and GPUs.”  Although an updated view of both companies’ upcoming product roadmaps will be needed to fully evaluate this partnership, an initial assessment helps understand their respective benefits, risks, and potential market impact.

NVIDIA will receive a boost to its PC market penetration

Although NVIDIA holds an absolute advantage in discrete graphics cards, more than half of PCs still do not rely on discrete graphics cards as of 2Q25, according to Omdia data. Meanwhile, 73% of the PC (excluding tablets) shipped use Intel processors. Although new products from this collaboration are unlikely to penetrate all market segments in the short term, this joint move is likely to open NVIDIA up to a massive PC user base. 

Under a separate plan, NVIDIA intended to introduce Arm-based N1 series products, in partnership with Mediatek, to the PC market. These products were initially scheduled for launch in the later half of 2025 but have now been postponed to early 2026. The announced collaboration with Intel, however, casts some uncertainty and constraints on these originally planned products.

For NVIDIA, a partnership with Intel can significantly reduce the barriers of starting from scratch in an unfamiliar field, allowing it to gain access to a large and mature PC user base rapidly. As of now, NVIDIA has not canceled its plans for the N1 series products. However, for PC vendors already planning N1 series, serious consideration arises as to whether or not to continue advancing their product development, and how broadly to extend adoption across their product lines.

Intel’s processors stand to gain from gaming and AI improvements 

Although Intel’s updated product roadmap is still awaited to gauge the impact of this collaboration fully, the strategic implications are clear. By leveraging the NVIDIA CUDA ecosystem, which commands a leading position in both gaming and AI, Intel stands to deliver meaningful performance gains to thin-and-light and commercial PCs. At the same time, the partnership offers both Intel and NVIDIA an opportunity to improve their efficiency in R&D spending.

For the AI-capable PC market, this collaboration could become a powerful catalyst. The dominant positions of Intel and NVIDIA make it a straightforward choice for ISVs to prioritize software development and optimization around their standards, raising the barrier for competitors attempting to build alternative ecosystems. Omdia forecasts that over 70% of PC shipped in 2028 will be AI-capable, representing a sizable opportunity for collaboration to help secure market positioning.

That said, the outcome will hinge on how effectively the two companies can integrate their technologies once products are launched. With roughly two years to go before the first collaborative designs are expected to hit the market, any unforeseen developments that could disrupt the partnership will need to be closely watched.

Windows-on-Arm and the NVIDIA-MediaTek partnership may face new challenges   

Over the past year, Qualcomm has aggressively pushed its Snapdragon X series PC SoCs in partnership with Microsoft, generating strong expectations for the Windows-on-Arm market. However, Omdia data shows that as of 2Q25, quarterly shipments of Windows-on-Arm devices have yet to reach 1 million units, accounting for only about 1% of total Windows shipments. While shipments have been rising quarter on quarter, the pace of growth remains relatively slow.

The market had initially anticipated that once NVIDIA entered the PC market in 2026 and broke Qualcomm’s exclusivity, Windows-on-Arm would scale significantly. However, the new partnership with Intel may reduce PC vendors’ willingness to adopt Arm-based NVIDIA PC SoCs and even weaken NVIDIA’s own level of investment. Beyond this, the partnership also raises concerns about NVIDIA’s long-term relationship with MediaTek. To achieve its original goal of securing a broader user base, MediaTek may be forced to consider independently bringing its own products into the PC market.