From some of the interviews i saw at B580’s launch, it seems like Intel know the shortcomings of the Alchemist and Battlemage architectures, but weren’t able to change them before launch.
Of course these are parts that have been in the works for several years now. They’ve had time to see what Nvidia and AMD are doing with their competitive products
If a C770 or C970 card can prove to be a contender like B580 is at the respective price point then people will buy them.