One of the least-noticed highlights of Intel’s earnings call this week was that the company’s contract chip manufacturing division of Intel Foundry Services has moved from a leading “cloud, edge, and data center solution provider” to Intel’s three production nodes. It was an announcement that it had won an order to manufacture chips in.This is an important win for the IFS, but problems remain, as China’s antitrust agencies have pause A review of the Intel-Tower deal.
big win
“We are very pleased to add leading cloud, edge and data center solution providers as Intel 3 leading edge customers.” Said Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger. “If you include previous customers such as MediaTek, IFS’ lifetime trading value now exceeds his $4 billion.”
The company has always tuned the Intel 20A and Intel 18A (2nm class and 1.8nm class respectively) for foundry customers. In contrast, the current and upcoming Intel 7 (10nm Enhanced SuperFin), Intel 4 (7nm with EUV), and Intel 3 (7nm+ with EUV) nodes were designed primarily with Intel in mind. So winning a major customer with Intel 3 (which is expected to be production ready in 2024) is clearly an achievement for the processor giant.
Meanwhile, Intel may produce semi-custom versions of its Xeon processors for major clients, as it envisioned when it announced its IDM 2.0 business model just under two years ago.
Intel’s IFS is steadily gaining momentum. The foundry division has already signed Qualcomm and Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its first customers and won a contract from the US Department of Defense. Additionally, Intel says it is actively working with many of the largest fabless chip designers on specific deals.
“We also have a pipeline of active engagements with 7 of the 10 largest foundry customers, with a consistent pipeline including test chips from 43 potential customers and ecosystem partners,” said Gelsinger. Coupled with the growth of the line,” he said. Additionally, Intel 18A development continues and he has already shared his release of engineering PDK 0.5 (Process Design Kit) with his main customers, with a final production release expected in the coming weeks. am. “
big bump
However, it’s not all rosy for Intel Foundry Services. His proposed $5.4 billion acquisition of Tower Semiconductor, a specialty foundry with a huge customer portfolio, didn’t pan out.according to looking for alphaChina’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has paused the clock on trading reviews.
It is believed that Intel will not invest in China operations because US authorities prohibit companies that receive money or other benefits from the CHIPS fund from investing in China. On the other hand, if a transaction is not approved by SAMR, it will not move forward.
Intel needs Tower to acquire an experienced foundry executive team and a large customer portfolio. In fact, the former head of IFS resigned in November as Intel planned to close his deal in the first quarter of 2023. Currently unable to sign contracts, IFS is operating without a responsible person, which is not particularly good for business. However, Intel remains optimistic about the Tower acquisition.
“Additionally, we are working hard to complete the acquisition of Tower, which will further fuel our momentum as the foundry business becomes even more attractive to our customers,” said an Intel executive. says.
