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TL;DR: Intel’s new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, made it clear he is not backing away from the corporate’s push to grow to be a top-tier foundry. Now, Intel has shared new particulars about how – and when – it expects chip manufacturing to grow to be a worthwhile a part of the enterprise.
At a latest investor convention, Intel Chief Monetary Officer David Zinsner acknowledged that he expects the corporate’s foundry enterprise to interrupt even by 2027. Inside a number of years, Chipzilla ought to flip a revenue and start constructing the belief wanted to draw new prospects.
Intel’s chip enterprise is not within the best shape proper now. The corporate has embraced a multi-foundry strategy, outsourcing a part of its wafer manufacturing to Taiwanese foundry TSMC whereas growing new superior manufacturing nodes internally. Intel has scheduled mass manufacturing of the just lately unveiled 18A and 14A nodes for 2027.
Tom’s {Hardware} notes that Intel will first use the 18A node (1.8nm) to manufacture Panther Lake shopper PC processors, with new shopper CPUs launching later this yr. Intel can even apply the identical expertise to “Clearwater Forest” Xeon processors and a few undisclosed third-party merchandise. However, the corporate sees the 18A node as a promising proof of idea to draw exterior prospects.
Zinsner expects bigger third-party volumes to come back from the 14A manufacturing node. Intel is at present partnering with potential prospects, however the course of stays difficult. Some purchasers go away after a number of check chips, whereas others stick round with out committing to vital manufacturing volumes. Intel nonetheless must show it may function as a dependable foundry enterprise.
Intel will use Excessive-NA EUV lithography for the 14A node, initially rising prices. The corporate hopes its superior capabilities will ultimately outweigh the expense. The foundry unit also needs to profit from elevated inner manufacturing, with each Panther Lake and Nova Lake processors set to be constructed solely in-house.
Intel believes its foundry enterprise wants only some billion {dollars} in further exterior income to interrupt even. The 14A node might see broader adoption amongst third-party prospects, whereas extra mature nodes like Intel 16 and partnerships with firms similar to Tower and UMC will assist diversify income sources.
