TSMC to Kick off Mass Production of Intel CPUs in 2H21
Intel has outsourced the production of about 15-20% of its non-CPU chips, with most of the wafer starts for these products assigned to TSMC and UMC, according to investigations.
While the company is planning to kick off mass production of Core i3 CPUs at TSMC’s 5nm node in 2H21, Intel’s mid-range and high-end CPUs are projected to enter mass production using TSMC’s 3nm node in 2H22.
In recent years, Intel has experienced some setbacks in the development of 10nm and 7nm processes, which in turn greatly hindered its competitiveness in the market. With regards to smartphone processors, most of which are based on the ARM architecture, Apple and HiSilicon have been able to announce the most advanced mobile AP-SoC ahead of their competitors, thanks to TSMC’s technical breakthroughs in process technology. With regards to CPUs, AMD, which is also outsourcing its CPU production to TSMC, is progressively threatening Intel’s PC CPU market share. Furthermore, Intel lost CPU orders for the MacBook and Mac Mini, since both of these products are now equipped with Apple Silicon M1 processors, which were announced by Apple last year and manufactured by TSMC. The aforementioned shifts in the smartphone and PC CPU markets led Intel to announce its intention to outsource CPU manufacturing in 2H20. TrendForce believes that increased outsourcing of its product lines will allow Intel to not only continue its existence as a major IDM, but also maintain in-house production lines for chips with high margins, while more effectively spending CAPEX on advanced R&D. In addition, TSMC offers a diverse range of solutions that Intel can use during product development (e.g., chiplets, CoWoS, InFO, and SoIC). All in all, Intel will be more flexible in its planning and have access to various value-added opportunities by employing TSMC’s production lines. At the same time, Intel now has a chance to be on the same level as AMD with respect to manufacturing CPUs with advanced process technologies.
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Member
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So INTEL I5 and above will be on 3nm TSMC as soon as 2022?
Surprising and interesting to read.
If true, that will defenitely shuffle the cards.
Wondering if TSMC will be able to feed all its clients though.
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Nothing against TSMC, but will they be able to keep up?
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This is quite funny considering for years Intel was a couple of steps ahead of everybody else. It's even more ironic when you remember that although Intel neglected to develop its CPU architecture in a significant manner for nearly a decade, they did develop the process node technology all the time. Something just went wrong. I dare say all the flaws were in the Intel leadership, and they still haven't fully recovered, despite having kicked out most of the guilty ones. If the leadership is rotten, not even brilliant engineers will be able to turn their whole intelligence into good products.
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tsmc would be on 3nm before intel could have a functional 7nm
they'd never catch up
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no 14nm+++ jokes ? what do you mean ?