Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s CEO, made a lightning visit to Taiwan to meet TSMC. The purpose of this trip was to ask TSMC for more efforts (and thus wafer volume) for chips using the sub-7nm process. Obviously, we immediately think of the ARC graphics cards that will use the 6nm process. Originally, the Intel CEO’s trip to Asia was supposed to take him to Japan, India and Taiwan to meet customers. But it seems that his new objective was to make sure that TSMC could meet the needs of the blue. So he met with key TSMC executives to try to get more effort from them. Intel would be among TSMC’s top customers on the 7nm and 5nm foundry processes and among the top customers on TSMC’s 3nm process.
Intel wants more effort from TSMC
Another focus of the visit to TSMC was the request for additional 28nm, 40/45nm, 65nm and 90nm capacity from TSMC for Intel’s LAN chips, which are already in short supply, the sources said. Intel’s LAN chip shipments, particularly 10GB Ethernet chips, could slow down server shipment momentum worldwide in 2022, the sources told Digitimes.
