Intel's Foundry business will soon house some big names by the end of this year as its 14A technology gains huge momentum.
Intel 14A Technology Will Be A Game Changer For Chipzilla As It Hopes To Get Some Big Names Onboard By The End of This Year
Intel's Foundry success relies a lot of it's upcoming 14A process technology. The 14A node is designed to attract external customers more so than it is designed for internal use. That's something that 18A is built for.
So far, Intel hasn't publicly named any big customers for its 14A technology, but it makes sense why the company is staying tight-lipped. Despite the secrecy, various insiders and research analysts are betting that Intel has already managed to get some big customers on board.
As per UBS Group, Intel's 14A node has seen positive indicators from various chipmakers. The names you are about to hear are industry giants such as NVIDIA, Apple, Google, and AMD. These are the four main entities that are likely to utilize the 14A technology to make future chips. Furthermore, Intel is expected to formally sign foundry commitments later this fall.
UBS noted that Intel's foundry business is seeing improving prospects, particularly in the 14nm process. At the same time, it expects customers such as Google, Apple, AMD, and NVIDIA to sign foundry commitments this fall once the PDK 1.0 is available and in customer's hands.
- UBS Group
The only reason why Intel is said to be waiting to announce these commitments is because of the 14A PDK 1.0. With the release of PDK 1.0, Intel will provide potential customers with a baseline set of files, models, and design rules, allowing them to create and verify their chips. Intel has already released an early version in the form of PDK 0.5. Intel had stated a few months back that at the same stage, 14A in its definition stage looks better than 18A because they are also engaging with external customers, leading to a mature PDK.
In addition, the potential scenario of merging the Ohio wafer fab project with Musk's TeraFab also boosts confidence in the long-term outlook for the foundry business.
- UBS Group
The UBS also highlights another potential scenario related to Elon Musk's Terafab. We know that Intel has partnered with Musk for the completion of Terafab, which is all set for test production by 2029. It is said that a potential scenario exists that Intel would merge its Ohio wafer fab with Terafab, which will further boost Intel's Foundry reputation.
As of right now, Intel has been trying to appeal to customers, especially those involved in AI infrastructure, with another key product besides 14A. That's EMIB, a crucial packaging technology that competes with TSMC's 2.5D packaging. With EMIB, Intel demonstrates that it could make affordable, complex, and scale-up designs, bypassing the constraints of TSMC's solution.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
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