Intel CFO David Zinsner to every one worried about rising laptop and smartphone prices: Make no mistake, we are not …

Intel CFO David Zinsner has shared a warning on memory prices and shortage of key components saying that the company does not expect memory supply to improve in 2027. “Make no mistake, we are not optimistic about next year in terms of memory,” he said during Intel’s latest earnings call adding “we’ll, you know, have to see in ‘28 whether things improve, but our expectation is that it does not improve in ‘27.” His comments suggest that consumers may have to wait longer for relief from rising device prices.Intel says budget laptop chips are already sold outDuring the earnings call, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said demand for the company’s budget-focused Wildcat Lake chips “is outstripping supply.”David Zinsner confirmed that the chips are now sold out. “We've seen significant growth in Wildcat Lake. It’s coming exactly at the right time because it’s cost-optimized and we’re seeing a lot of focus in that regard,” he said.Wildcat Lake chips are appearing in lower-cost Windows laptops, including the new Dell XPS 13 and HP OmniBook 5 14. These devices are positioned as more affordable options in a market where rising memory costs have put pressure on PC prices.However, some of these laptops start with just 8GB of RAM. That could be a limitation for users who need to run several applications or handle demanding tasks, particularly as Windows laptops can struggle with lower memory configurations.Intel CEO acknowledges pressure on the PC industryDuring the earnings call, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan also acknowledged the pressure on the PC market, pointing to the scale of the ongoing component shortage. “The industry continues to navigate one of the most significant supply shortages in the [sic] history, driven by the unprecedented demand for super intelligence,” Tan said, referring to artificial intelligence.Despite these challenges, Intel CFO Zinsner believes the PC market could still see renewed growth.“We do think the PC is going to go through a renaissance despite this,” he said.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.