Intel’s latest Arrow Lake-based Core Ultra 200S processors have been off to a rocky debut, receiving middling reviews from hardware testers, including from our own testing. But according to recent sales data from Mindfactory, Germany’s leading online PC hardware retailer, not a single Core Ultra 200-series CPU has been sold so far. Meanwhile, AMD continues to dominate with 95% of Mindfactory’s CPU market share. This weak showing underscores significant challenges for Intel in a market that is traditionally open to new hardware innovations but has recently leaned heavily toward AMD’s Ryzen lineup due to competitive pricing and robust performance.
The Arrow Lake lineup includes desktop SKUs like the Core Ultra 9 285K and Core Ultra 7 265K. Despite Intel’s latest AI and performance enhancements, these processors haven’t captured the interest of Germany’s PC enthusiasts. In fact, Mindfactory’s recent CPU sales charts reveal that Intel’s highest-ranking product, the Core i5-13400, languishes in 21st place, far behind AMD’s Ryzen chips, with sales volume primarily concentrated in AMD’s Ryzen 7 7800X3D and Ryzen 7 5700X3D. Intel’s processors accounted for just about 40 units sold, representing only 5% of total CPU sales — a stark contrast to AMD’s top-selling chips, which saw 190 and 80 units sold, respectively.
This lackluster performance in Germany starkly contrasts Arrow Lake’s U.S. market presence where some SKUs, as per Tom’s Hardware, have sold out on platforms like Newegg and Amazon. However, the Core Ultra 200S series has not been universally well-received, with mixed reviews pointing to a regression in gaming performance compared to prior generations. In addition, Intel’s recent financial difficulties, including a reported $1.6 billion quarterly loss and layoffs affecting 15% of its workforce, may have impacted the company’s ability to aggressively push the Arrow Lake lineup in competitive markets.
Another possible factor affecting Intel’s German sales could be regional discontent following the halted construction of Intel’s $30 billion chip fabrication plant in Magdeburg. Planned as part of a broader strategy to establish local manufacturing and strengthen ties with the European market, this delay — or potential abandonment — may have dampened enthusiasm for Intel’s products within Germany, further fueling AMD’s dominance.
In sum, Intel faces an uphill battle to regain footing in a European market where AMD has established a significant presence, and Arrow Lake’s lackluster debut only adds to its recent setbacks. Addressing these challenges will require more than incremental hardware updates. Intel may need to rethink its strategy to convince discerning buyers that the Core Ultra series is worth the investment in a fiercely competitive landscape.
With CES 2025 right around the corner, most of us expect the big announcements to arrive in a week — but some companies are already teasing new products. In Intel’s case, the manufacturer plans to add more CPUs that might compete against some of the best processors. To that end, Intel has now announced preorders for new Arrow Lake CPUs, but most of us can’t get our hands on them yet. As spotted by VideoCardz, Intel China announced that preorders for the Core Ultra 200 non-K CPUs are opening today, with availability planned for January 13. These CPUs will presumably just be non-overclockable versions of existing Arrow Lake chips, such as the Core Ultra 9 285K. In its announcement, Intel teases “new architecture” and “better power consumption.”
Intel’s Arrow Lake CPUs didn’t make it on our list of the best processors when they released earlier this year. As you can read in our Core Ultra 9 285K review, Intel’s latest desktop offering struggled to keep pace with last-gen options, particularly in games, and showed strange behavior in apps like Premiere Pro. Now, Intel says it has fixed the issues with its Arrow Lake range, which accounted for up to a 30% loss in real-world performance compared to Intel’s in-house testing. The company identified five issues with the performance of Arrow Lake, four of which are resolved now. The latest BIOS and Windows Updates (more details on those later in this story) will restore Arrow Lake processors to their expected level of performance, according to Intel, while a new firmware will offer additional performance improvements. That firmware is expected to release in January, pushing beyond the baseline level of performance Intel expected out of Arrow Lake.
This was a turbulent year in the world of Windows laptops. The introduction of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X chips completely changed the game — and I don’t say that lightly. They entered the market in such a forceful way that both AMD and Intel were forced to respond quickly with their own more power-efficient chips that could compete. Intel’s Core Ultra Series 2, otherwise known as Lunar Lake, attempted to beat Qualcomm at its own game, boasting a dramatic improvement in battery life.
