The situation at Intel is still confusing. In the field of foundry activity, the 18A, despite being repeatedly heralded as promising, seems to be having trouble attracting customers. But we can also guess that the 18A’s first customer will be Intel itself, for many of its future products. The 14A is now in the spotlight because, on paper, it too looks very promising. This advanced semiconductor manufacturing technology uses second-generation RibbonFET and PowerDirect, building on the PowerVia of the 18A process. Many analysts remain sceptical, believing that TSMC’s lead cannot be regained… But analysts are often weather vanes, and it’s important to take a step back, because trends among these people can change abruptly.
14A: Apple for M SoCs and Nvidia for some Geforce?
According to Jeff Pu, an analyst at GF Securities known for his information on Apple, the Cupertino-based company could adopt a dual-sourcing strategy for future advanced processes, involving both TSMC and Intel. The analyst goes even further, claiming to have precise information on the subject: Intel has already supplied preliminary versions of PDK 14A to its main customers, several of whom have expressed interest in producing test chips. We expect NVIDIA’s entry-level gaming GPUs and Apple’s M series to adopt Intel 14A.
Although this is not the first time Nvidia has shown interest in the Intel foundry. But recently, Jensen HUANG gave analysts pause when he declared that TSMC’s technological mastery was unrivalled. Nevertheless, for both Apple and Nvidia, having a second chip-manufacturing partner, particularly with US-based factories, is far from an ineptitude in a context of growing geopolitical and commercial tensions. On this subject, Samsung seems virtually out of the game… Only Intel could be that alternative. So we’ll be keeping a cautious eye on these new rumours, which continue to fuel speculation around Intel.
Do you think Apple will return to Intel after a thunderous departure several years ago? We look forward to read your comments.
