The semiconductor bottleneck driving the artificial intelligence rally is shifting from graphics processing units (GPUs) and memory to central processing units (CPUs). CPUs, which had been treated as a neglected segment with shrinking supply, are now facing shortages as AI applications evolve. On global markets, Intel and AMD — the two CPU giants — have posted successive sharp gains that outpace Nvidia's rise, while related KOSDAQ-listed stocks in Korea have surged.
According to the financial investment industry on the 3rd, Nasdaq-listed Intel rose 5.43% on the 1st to close at $99.61. Its gain of 114% for the month of April marks the highest level on record for both its share price and monthly increase since the company's founding.
AMD, Intel's rival in the CPU market, also jumped 65.77% over the past month. During the same period, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, a key indicator of the global chip industry, climbed 35.55%. Micron, a leading U.S. memory chipmaker, rose 48.05%, while Nvidia — the AI bellwether symbolizing GPUs — gained only 11.87%. The driver of the semiconductor rally appears to be shifting from GPUs to memory, and now to CPUs.
In Korea, funds are flowing into stocks tied to Intel's value chain and next-generation CPU interfaces. Intekplus, considered an Intel packaging partner, surged 83.22% in April. Over the same period, Openedges Technology, which holds design IP essential for next-generation data connection standards, rose 41.42%, while Qualitas Semiconductor jumped 85.83%.
The shift in market leadership reflects a change in the AI paradigm. The axis of AI computing is expanding from massive cloud servers to "agentic AI" capable of autonomous decision-making and "edge AI" running on end devices such as smartphones and PCs. End devices, which serve as nodes in AI networks, can still perform AI computations without GPUs — albeit at slower speeds — but cannot operate at all without CPUs, which control the functioning of electronic devices.
While demand is exploding, supply remains severely inadequate. Market attention has focused on GPUs in recent years, and Intel — the CPU market leader — significantly scaled back foundry capital investments amid management difficulties, widening the CPU supply gap. Intel, which was even the subject of bankruptcy rumors until last year, is now regaining its dominant position by raising supply prices.
Bank of America (BofA) projected that the global CPU market will more than double in size by 2030. Shinhan Investment & Securities selected Intel as one of its top 10 overseas stocks for May, saying, "As AI shifts from training to inference and agentic applications, CPUs are re-emerging as the orchestration layer of AI infrastructure." The brokerage added, "We are at the beginning of a phase where CPU prices, shipments, and product mix are all improving simultaneously."
