News Intel to Outsource Some Key CPU Production for 2023 Chips

Mar 23, 2021
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Continuing to report that Intel has “twice” the production of TSMC based on revenue numbers is nothing short of misleading. It’s disingenuous and bad journalism.

The relevant metric is not revenue but Wafer Starts per Month. At last check, Intel pumps out 1/3 the number of wafers that TSMC does.

Yes, there isn’t enough fab capacity on earth for Intel to abandon its fabs. It’s a slow-moving industry with huge capital expenditures, advanced favs simply don’t sit idle. At the right price, TSMC could produce Intel’s entire output 3 times over however.

Intel is no longer the dominant fab. That’s been true for years. Making misleading comparisons that put Intel in the lead won’t stop Intel from going the way of IBM(alive but no longer dominant). How about you write an article on production output so you don’t need to keep referencing your “twice the revenue” article?
 

Geef

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TSMC only has so much space for making wafers and that means if they are now doing Intel's chips you will be getting that many less video cards produced around the world because of it.

Get ready to run your gaming PC on built in Intel chip video! 720p Ultimate graphics here I come! :p
 
Continuing to report that Intel has “twice” the production of TSMC based on revenue numbers is nothing short of misleading. It’s disingenuous and bad journalism.

The relevant metric is not revenue but Wafer Starts per Month. At last check, Intel pumps out 1/3 the number of wafers that TSMC does.
But that's even more depressing for TSMC, what is going on there?! Is their 7nmp such a small part of their production? How can they be making so little money from so many waffers otherwise? Usually businesses pay top dollar for top product.
 

ginthegit

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But that's even more depressing for TSMC, what is going on there?! Is their 7nmp such a small part of their production? How can they be making so little money from so many waffers otherwise? Usually businesses pay top dollar for top product.

TSMC is preparing its 5nm process, so part of its usual production line is out of commission while it is in the process of recalibration for the new node.
Once its 5nm is properly prepared on all new lines, TSMC will be back up to full production and Apple will be its first customer with the new line of Custom Chips.

Not only will Intel be now changing to 7nm, we can assume that it will go to conventional 2D design meaning now Intel will be 2-5 years behind the competition.
 

ginthegit

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Continuing to report that Intel has “twice” the production of TSMC based on revenue numbers is nothing short of misleading. It’s disingenuous and bad journalism.

The relevant metric is not revenue but Wafer Starts per Month. At last check, Intel pumps out 1/3 the number of wafers that TSMC does.

Yes, there isn’t enough fab capacity on earth for Intel to abandon its fabs. It’s a slow-moving industry with huge capital expenditures, advanced favs simply don’t sit idle. At the right price, TSMC could produce Intel’s entire output 3 times over however.

Intel is no longer the dominant fab. That’s been true for years. Making misleading comparisons that put Intel in the lead won’t stop Intel from going the way of IBM(alive but no longer dominant). How about you write an article on production output so you don’t need to keep referencing your “twice the revenue” article?

Intel Fans Love to live in the Good old days. They don't want news like yours.
 
TSMC is preparing its 5nm process, so part of its usual production line is out of commission while it is in the process of recalibration for the new node.
Once its 5nm is properly prepared on all new lines, TSMC will be back up to full production and Apple will be its first customer with the new line of Custom Chips.
How is that changing anything?!
Why did they have to stop 7nm production to increase 5nm production when they are making 3 times as many waffers as intel?!
The only explanation would be if almost all their production is on very old nodes and they only have a very small amount of fab space that can do any sort of high tech node forcing them to exchange one for the other.
 
Intel says that the majority of its products in 2023 will come manufactured with its own process technology. Still, it's important to note that Intel hasn't specified that the majority of the newly-released 2023 products will come with its own 7nm process. Naturally, Intel will still have plenty of chip production volume centered on its 14nm and 10nm process tech in that timeframe, and even older nodes that still ship in large volumes.

So they will still be on 14nm in 2023?
Does that mean they may will on 14nm for 10 years?
As Intel started making 14nm cpu in September 2014...
 

JayNor

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Intel's 10SF has been cranking out a bunch of designs, and the CEO projected 400 will be shipping this year. I believe the number reported in q1 was 150.

The CEO reported Alder Lake desktop will launch before Alder Lake mobile, so we will see 10ESF launch this year in desktop, and perhaps 10ESF mobile Alder Lake chips replacing Tiger Lake mobile chips in early 2022.
 

ginthegit

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How is that changing anything?!
Why did they have to stop 7nm production to increase 5nm production when they are making 3 times as many waffers as intel?!
The only explanation would be if almost all their production is on very old nodes and they only have a very small amount of fab space that can do any sort of high tech node forcing them to exchange one for the other.

It takes about 6 months for a Fab line to change to a new node. Note that only the first two processes need to change on the line, the tracing element with the wafer stacking and the Transistor materials, usually made of nano wires made of 3-4 different metals. After this the process is the same regardless of the method used.

It is easy to recalibrate the UV process to match, it just takes time to make sure the new nano tech to calibrate with Visual inspection and to get the Servo mechanisms to move in exact measurements at each movement. Once this is perfected the new fab size is moved to. And once it is done on one line, the other lines replicate the upgrade and you end up with an entire plant changed in 1 year.
 

waltc3

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Intel's Gelsinger said to expect 7nm from Intel FABs in 2023. That's two years off. He's also called shenanigans on outsourcing chip production--he said that he's tired of answering those questions--Intel is going whole hog on its own FABs, earmarking $20B for two additional FABs. I seriously doubt that TSMC is overly worried about its future with respect to Intel. TSMC is supposed to build a FAB in the US, in AZ, and we shall see what happens where that is concerned. TSMC is doing today what Intel hopes to be doing in two years. Question is only whether in two years TSMC will be at 5nm, or 3nm? We can pretty much bet that's a question that won't apply to Intel in two years, however.
 

spongiemaster

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Question is only whether in two years TSMC will be at 5nm, or 3nm? We can pretty much bet that's a question that won't apply to Intel in two years, however.
Intel could be on 1nm or less if they wanted to at that point. The names have been made up for years and have no correlation to actual features in the transistors.
 
But that's even more depressing for TSMC, what is going on there?! Is their 7nmp such a small part of their production? How can they be making so little money from so many waffers otherwise? Usually businesses pay top dollar for top product.

It's simple really. TSMC has many many active node sizes. The much larger nodes aren't nearly as profitable as there are competitors like GloFo and Samsung.

Intel is revamping everything to 14nm/10nm. And their margins are insane on server chips where they still have a stranglehold. Remember intel controls IP and MFG to derive revenue. TSMC only controls MFG.