Intel passed on the opportunity to make chips for the first iPhone, and in May discontinued Atom smartphone chips after wasting billions trying to get them in handsets. The chip company instead started building a new mobile identity around its modems and wireless connectivity assets.
AMD now is looking to rally its dwindling fan base with a series of Zen-based chips this year for desktops, servers, and laptops. The hyped-up Zen chips are expected to be good, and even Intel readily acknowledges the stiff competition coming its way.
AMD's Zen chip is just around the corner; it'll first come to gaming systems any day now. There's a lot of excitement about Zen, which AMD believes is its most important chip this decade.
CPU performance increases were ignored for years, but AMD put them back on the map with its upcoming Zen chip. This has rubbed off on Intel in a good way.
Intel's has reached Kaby Lake with its PC chips but isn't done with the previous generation Skylake architecture quite yet.