Intel: pricing is holding because the substitute does not exist

Structurally this is a substitution question. Where a qualified alternative exists, price converges to the commodity tier within two cycles; where it does not, the premium persists until a new entrant qualifies, which takes years rather than quarters. Pricing disclosure carries it. Long-term agreements signed this quarter were struck above the prior cohort's realised price, which does not happen in a market where a substitute is available. The position: long on Intel, entry locked at publication and the exit dated rather than open-ended. The target is stated in the call block above and the horizon with it. Sized to the catalyst rather than to conviction, with the invalidation written into the kill-switch card instead of left implicit. The obvious risk is that the channel clears without a guide-down, which happens when a genuine demand upturn lands on top of elevated inventory. That is the bull case and it is not impossible, only unsupported by the sell-through data.