Intel gives an unclear update on when to expect Intel Arc GPU availability

Intel are set to fully enter the dedicated GPU game soon with Intel Arc, although we're still in for a bit of a wait. Writing in a fresh blog post, they did their own little Q&A session with Lisa Pearce, Vice President and General Manager for the Visual Compute Group at Intel.

The problem is, they're still not being very clear about the worldwide availability, and this blog post didn't exactly help.

To sum it up:

• Intel Arc for mobile / laptop so far only has Samsung who started in Korea, and they're "expanding globally". Intel Arc 3 for mobile will be due "ASAP", with Intel Arc 5 and Arc 7 graphics for mobile "in early summer".
• For desktops they will start in China for the entry level Intel Arc A-series (A3), this is just for system builders and OEMs in "Q2". Following along "shortly" China will also see retail sales, as Intel say strong demand and how close China is to the supply makes the most sense and then their "next step" is to go global with no date mentioned for the entry level.
• Intel Arc A5 and A7 desktop cards will be "later this summer" for OEMs and system integrators worldwide, with "component sales" worldwide some unnamed time after.

Intel being about as clear as mud here. Overall though, we should eventually see all the main dedicated Intel Arc series models by the end of Summer / start of Autumn 2022 worldwide by the sounds of it.

Part of the problem are their drivers, which just aren't in a ready state, and this was hinted at with Pearce mentioning "some software readiness delays".

So there you have it, that's the latest on Intel Arc release dates.