Intel Bets on Premium Chips, and the Gamble Pays Off With Server Prices Jumping 48% in Q2 - Wccftech

What the report says

Wccftech reported that Intel’s server CPU average selling prices rose sharply in the second quarter of 2026, citing the company’s recent SEC filing and earnings commentary. According to the report, Intel said server product ASPs increased 48% year over year in Q2 and 38% across the first half of 2026, driven mainly by a larger share of premium products, with demand-based pricing also playing a smaller role as the company sought to offset higher input costs.

The article said Intel’s data center business recorded 59% annual revenue growth in the quarter, reaching $6.3 billion in sales. Wccftech also reported that server volumes increased 9% from a year earlier, even as Intel said demand exceeded available supply because of internal constraints. The figures suggest that Intel benefited not only from higher pricing but also from continued unit growth in a market shaped by artificial intelligence infrastructure spending.

During Intel’s earnings call, CEO Lip-Bu Tan linked demand to agentic AI workloads and rising CPU density in server systems. He identified Intel 3 as the company’s most important server production node because it is used for Granite Rapids, and said demand for that product was especially tight.

The development matters because Intel is trying to strengthen its position in data center processors while competing in an AI hardware market where GPUs and accelerators receive much of the attention. Wccftech’s report indicates that premium server CPUs remain a meaningful source of growth for Intel, though supply limits could affect how much of that demand the company can convert into sales.