Intel Corp. may potentially be eyeing a new strategy for its foundry business, writing off its 18A and 18A-P manufacturing processes and focusing more resources on its future edge chipmaking process, 14A.
According to a report from Reuters, the move would be an effort to win over big customers with a process technology that either rivals or exceeds anything from foundry rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) where high volume, leading-edge processors are developed for Apple and Nvidia, among others.
The report said Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Intel, is continuing to look at cost cutting measures while simultaneously finding new ways to generate revenue for the struggling U.S. chipmaker. The 18A process, billed as a competitor to TSMC’s N2 technology, has faced numerous delays. Reuters reported that Tan was frustrated with the manufacturing process and that it was losing appeal with potential customers.
If Intel were to write off the manufacturing process, it could amount to hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars lost, the report said.
In May, a report found that 18A was attracting the attention of major players, specifically Nvidia and Google. Earlier that month, Intel announced a variant of the 18A manufacturing process, called 18A-P, that would support its Foveros Direct 3D with hybrid bonding interconnects. This will allow the company to stack dies vertically on top of its state-of-the-art processing technology.
Also in May, Intel announced its 14 A process node that would be an even more advanced cutting-edge manufacturing process with a purported 15% to 20% performance boost and a 25% to 35% lower power consumption compared to 18 A.
