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The Exiled · 06.09.2024., 17:04

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Pat Gelsinger's grand plan to reinvent Intel is in jeopardy

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TSMC will be eating Intel Foundry's lunch through much of 2025, while Chipzilla focuses on ramping production of its mainstream 18A process tech. In fact, it appears that the Taiwanese foundry giant will be responsible for manufacturing the majority of Intel's 2024 product lineup – including newly launched Lunar Lake mobile chips and upcoming Arrow Lake desktop parts. Can CEO Pat Gelsinger really claim "five nodes in four years" when one of them – 20A – will never see the light of day?

It's a lot to ask anyone to invest in your process tech when you yourself aren't using it. And, given Intel's shoddy track record of meeting deadlines, we'd forgive customers for being a little nervous right about now. Unfortunately for Gelsinger and his compatriots, positive vibes won't change the reality that Intel Foundry is in deep trouble – and investors are losing faith in what, to them, probably looks like a money pit. Since the start of the year, Intel's share price has plunged nearly 60 percent. The precipitous decline has spurred multiple class action suits from investors who feel Gelsinger and CFO David Zinsner misled them about the health of the Foundry division. To make matters worse, the x86 giant now faces the very real possibility of losing its spot on the Dow Industrial Average.

While shareholders might find it appealing to get Foundry's billions in operating losses off Intel's books, it's hard to see how it would survive on its own. What's more, Gelsinger has all but bet Intel's future on his contract manufacturing aspirations panning out. He has committed to building more than $100 billion worth of fab capacity around the globe, with many of these projects backed by private equity groups like Apollo and Brookfield Asset Management.

Spin off of Intel's Foundry business would not only jeopardize Gelsinger's vision, but has the potential to destabilize US national security policy. Short of the US nationalizing Intel Foundry – a decision we have no doubt would be even less popular than whatever Gelsinger is cooking up – walking away from the division is going to be difficult. If it fails, there goes Intel Products' roadmap – you know, the thing actually making money right now. Regardless of what the future holds for Foundry, whether or not Gelsinger himself will be there to see it through is another matter entirely. Lest we forget former CEO Bob Swan was ousted for far less.

Izvor: The Register

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TSMC’s Arizona trials put plant productivity on par with Taiwan

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. achieved production yields at its Arizona facility on par with established plants back home, an early indicator that its marquee US project is on track to achieve its targets. The Taiwanese chipmaker’s yield rate in trial production at its first advanced US plant is similar to comparable facilities in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan. TSMC had said it started engineering wafer production in April with advanced 4-nanometer process technology.

Yield rate, or how many usable chips a company can produce during a single manufacturing process, is a key factor that impacts profitability. While TSMC doesn’t disclose its yield rate, investors are counting on the company’s ability to maintain steady margins. The company has said it can maintain gross margin rates at 53% or higher in the long run, and has kept its net profit steady at above 36% over the past four years. TSMC said in an email that its Arizona project is “proceeding as planned with good progression,” without commenting on the yield.

The go-to chipmaker for Apple Inc. and nVidia Corp. originally planned to have its first Arizona plant start full production in 2024, but pushed back the target to 2025 due to a lack of skilled workers. The delay fueled concerns that the company might not be able to make chips in the US as efficiently as in Taiwan. The US plans to award TSMC $6.6 billion in grants and as much as $5 billion in loans to support the chipmaker’s $65 billion in investments at three plants in Arizona.

Izvor: Bloomberg

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Qualcomm explores acquiring pieces of Intel chip-design business

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Qualcomm has explored the possibility of acquiring portions of Intel's design business to boost the company's product portfolio. The mobile chipmaker has examined acquiring different pieces of Intel, which is struggling to generate cash and looking to shed business units and sell off other assets. Intel’s client PC design business is of significant interest to Qualcomm executives, but they are looking at all of the company’s design units. Other pieces of Intel such as the server segment would make less sense for Qualcomm to acquire.

Izvor: Reuters