A new report says that TSMC, Apple’s A-series chip maker, is already making chips for Intel, after earlier speculation that this was on the cards.
TSMC has dramatic technological leadership over Intel when it comes to chip making, demonstrated in the 5 nm A14 chips that the company makes for Apple …
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Speculation began last year that Intel could focus more on chip designs by outsourcing their manufacture.
Intel, which makes its own chips, has struggled. Only now is it moving seriously from previous manufacturing technology with 14 nanometer capabilities to a more recent 10 nm process, after years of delays. Even next year’s Rocket Lake chip for desktop computers will still be built with the 14 nm process […]
Intel is giving itself new options, including the ability to use other manufacturers like TSMC to build its chips.
A recent Bloomberg report said that Intel held talks with TSMC.
As Intel tries to catch up with the chip industry, a new report from Bloomberg today it indicates that Intel talked to TSMC and Samsung about outsourcing some production.
TSMC ‘is already making chips for Intel’
Bloomberg’s report said that Intel had not yet made a decision, but TrendForce says orders have already been placed for non-CPU chips and plans have been made for future CPUs.
Intel has outsourced the production of about 15-20% of its non-CPU chips, with most wafer starts for these products attributed to TSMC and UMC, according to the latest TrendForce investigations. While the company is planning to start mass production of Core i3 CPUs on TSMC’s 5 nm node in 2H21, Intel’s medium and high performance CPUs are designed to go into mass production using TSMC’s 3 nm node on 2H22.
The report notes that AMD is also outsourcing to TSMC.
With respect to CPUs, AMD, which is also outsourcing its CPU production to TSMC, is progressively threatening Intel’s CPU to PC market share.
TrendForce believes that Intel will manufacture its own high-margin chips and outsource production of the rest.
TrendForce believes that increasing the outsourcing of its product lines will enable Intel to not only continue its existence as a major IDM, but also to maintain internal production lines for chips with high margins, while spending CAPEX more effectively on advanced R&D.
Losing Apple’s Mac business was a major blow to Intel. A billion-dollar investor in the chipmaker seems to imagine that the company could win back Apple’s business, a prospect that is clearly irrelevant now that Apple has demonstrated how far ahead it is in terms of processor performance and energy efficiency. The latest 12-generation chips from Intel, which are expected to hit laptops in the second half of the year, will still be made using a 10 nm process.
Photo: Laura Ockel at Unsplash
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