A new report says that the Apple A-series disk maker TSMC is already making chips for Intel, after earlier speculation that it was in the cards.
TSMC has a dramatic advantage over Intel when it comes to chip manufacturing, which is shown in the 5nm A14 chips that Apple makes for Apple …
Background
The speculation began last year that Intel might focus more on chip design and outsource its manufacturing.
Intel, which manufactures its own chips, has struggled. It is only now seriously transitioning from an earlier manufacturing technology with 14-nanometer functions to a newer 10nm process after years of delays. Even next year’s Rocket Lake desktop chip will still be built with the 14nm process […]
Intel itself offers new options, including the ability to use other manufacturers such as TSMC to build its chips.
A recent Bloomberg According to the report, Intel was in talks with TSMC.
As Intel catches up in the chip production industry, a new report from Bloomberg today indicates that Intel has talked to TSMC and Samsung about outsourcing production.
TSMC ‘already making chips for Intel’
Bloomberg’s report said that Intel still had to make a decision, but TrendForce says orders have already been placed for non-CPU chips, and plans are being made for future CPUs.
Intel has outsourced production of about 15-20% of its non-CPU chips, with most wafer starts for these products assigned to TSMC and UMC, according to TrendForce’s latest research. While the company plans to begin mass production of Core i3 CPUs at TSMC’s 5nm node in 2H21, Intel’s mid-range and high-end CPUs are expected to begin mass production using TSMC’s 3nm node in 2H22.
The report notes that AMD is also outsourcing to TSMC.
As for CPUs, AMD, which also outsources its CPU production to TSMC, is gradually threatening the market share of Intel’s PC CPUs.
TrendForce believes that Intel will manufacture its own high-margin chips and outsource the production of the rest.
TrendForce believes that increased outsourcing of its product lines will allow Intel not only to continue as a key IDM, but also to maintain its own high-margin chip production lines, while CAPEX is more effective at advanced R&D spending can spend.
The loss of Apple’s Mac business was a big blow to Intel. A billion-dollar investor in the chipmaker can imagine the company could reclaim Apple’s business, a prospect that is clearly not an appetizer now that Apple has shown how far it has come in terms of processor performance and power efficiency. Intel’s latest 12th generation chips, which are expected to be manufactured in laptops in the second half of the year, will still be manufactured using a 10 nm process.
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