Intel has confirmed that it will have multiple internal chip tape-outs using the 14A process technology, which will be seen as the Foundry's cleverest move to date.
Intel Wants More Customers To Use 14A, And What Best Way To Make It Possible By Exerting Confidence With Its Own Products Using the Technology.
Intel has gained Tesla as a 14A customer, which is the Foundry's biggest win so far, and they also have multiple external customers lining up as the company finalizes its 0.9 PDK. But while the 14A interest is gaining momentum, Intel just added a multiplier to the equation, and that's leveraging 14A for its own internal products.
During the Q1 2026 earnings call, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan confirmed that constraints in wafer supply have led them to use 14A more for their own future product tape-outs. With this move, Intel will have better control over its supply chain rather than relying on external fabs.
I am particularly pleased that our progress to date has driven us to land more of our own future product tape-outs on Intel 14A as well.
At a time when advanced wafer capacity is in short supply, this enables us to have better control over our supply chain.
Lip-Bu Tan - Intel CEO
Historically, Intel used to have its products made entirely on in-house process technologies. That changed with the chiplet/tile era of products, which started using tiles produced at external fabs such as TSMC. Currently, the majority of Intel products, mainly client, use tiles sourced from TSMC. The reason is to enable a diverse supply without concerns of yields on Intel's own technologies.
But with 14A yielding much better than previous nodes, Intel is now shifting focus to its own process tech. Currently, Intel hasn't announced any products, but multiple 14A designs are being prepped for tape-out.
18A is going to be a pretty decent headwind to our gross margins. If you look at Panther Lake volume increases, it is going to be up six or seven times in the second quarter relative to the first quarter.
David Zinsner - Intel CFO
Talking about 18A, the process technology used for the recent Panther Lake SoCs is now ramping up, and the company expects gross margins to be 6-7x higher in Q2 2026 as the market is flooded by more Core Ultra Series 3 & Core Series 3 options.
This is significant news for Intel as the move will assert internal and external confidence in future nodes moving forward. TSMC's CEO, C.C. Wei, did state that Intel is a formidable competitor and will continue to be a close partner too. Intel's disaggregated design methodology allows it to go internal or external, and that works in its favor, as they don't have to be constrained by wafer capacity or supply issues that have currently gripped the semiconductor industry.
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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