Intel has recently undergone significant changes, especially after the new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, took over the office, and while this has created uncertainty in the markets, it seems like the decisions have shown us a projection of where Team Blue is heading moving into the future.
Before we discuss Intel's new CEO's work with the firm, it's essential to understand how Team Blue operated under former CEO Pat Gelsinger. If I summarize it in a few words, Gelsinger wanted Intel to operate under a "hybrid" structure, which meant that the firm handled design and manufacturing entirely through internal resources. The former CEO's "IDM 2.0" strategy was what started the growing momentum of the foundry division, and with that, we saw an "expansionist" policy with Intel Foundry, with Gelsinger announcing his intentions to compete with the likes of TSMC through aggressive strategies.
Now, while Intel did manage to create the public perception about its foundry division working towards something "monumental", IFS didn't deliver on expectations at all in the long run. One of the clearest examples of this is how the 18A node, which was initially set to enter the markets in 2024, still hasn't made any impact, and now, Intel has a revised HVM timeline of early 2026. This comes after "billions of dollars" being invested into the foundry business, and with the division already under operating losses, sustaining the momentum didn't seem like the right step for Intel.
Apart from the foundry division, one of Intel's major blunders was not taking the AI hype at a level of "seriousness" similar to that of competitors like NVIDIA and AMD. Intel's former CEO wasn't certain about how the company would move with AI, and despite years of demand, Team Blue still doesn't have a rack-scale solution for the industry. It's important to note that AI has brought in billions for Intel's competitors, whereas Team Blue failed to manage to even scale up to a billion dollars in revenue, which indicates that Intel left out a massive opportunity under Gelsinger.
Intel's New CEO Lip-Bu Tan Has Made It Clear, "We Need to Change"
Many of the readers here might be unaware that Intel's CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, was part of the company's board in 2022, but he left in 2024 due to excessive bureaucracy and a bloated workforce . Back when he took over the office as CEO in March 2025, Tan acknowledged the areas where Intel had been severely behind and decided to work from the ground up. Instead of targeting business segments at the start, Tan focused on administrative changes, reducing the overheads involved in approaching executives in the company.
It had been a tough period for quite a long time for Intel. We fell behind on innovation. As a result, we have been too slow to adapt and to meet your needs. You deserve better, and we need to improve, and we will.
In his first internal memo, CEO Tan advised Intel's business units, the Data Center and AI Group, and the Client Computing Group to report directly to him and created a separate division under Products CEO Michelle Johnston, which would handle all segments of Intel's customers. Intel's CEO took more ownership on his side, and this has allowed him to make decisions that directly influence the future of divisions.
Now, more interestingly, Tan has declared Intel to be an "engineering-focused" company, which is why, under him, Team Blue has seen the spinning off of non-essential units to concentrate resources on its primary computing operations. One example of this is how Intel has now outsourced its marketing to Accenture, which will leverage AI to improve the company's brand image. This will result in aggressive layoffs, allowing the firm to save on operating costs and divert resources into areas that are seen as optimistic by the company.
The engineering-focused approach will certainly give Intel the options to cut-down resources to divisions like the IFS, and this does make us question about where the foundry division would be heading under CEO Tan.
Where Is Intel Foundry Heading Under The New CEO? Here's What to Expect
As mentioned above, the IFS won't have an easy time under CEO Tan, since things are expected to change drastically. What's more important to realize is that in terms of external volume, Intel Foundry hasn't managed to do much, and with future chips like the 18A and 14A, the company has its expectations lowered for now. One of the more common misconceptions that I would like to clear here is that under CEO Tan, Intel is expected to adopt a complete internal-use policy with its foundry division, with a much more lower reliance on external customers for revenue.
This isn't my claim; it is what Intel's CFO told us back in May, when Zinsner revealed that external customer volumes aren't significant enough for a more profound commitment. Now, if you had expected Intel Foundry to compete with TSMC in the chip market, well, it won't happen with at least 18A, since Intel mainly expects to employ the process for internal use. The markets were particularly confused about a recent report, which stated that 18A won't be available to customers, or with a confined scope, thinking that the statement calls for abandonment, but in reality, this was already told to us months ago.
Intel's CEO did look optimistic with the IFS's latest commitments, which included new 18A derivatives and updates on the 14A process, but when it comes to scaling up to the likes of TSMC, well, there's nothing much to talk about for now. However, as an analyst myself, I did see the IFS stepping up the scene when President Trump announced a focus towards creating chips in the US, but despite months of efforts, Intel hasn't presented any credible plans to back the US semiconductor supply chain, with their primary Oregon facility still under uncertainty.
While Intel Foundry certainly has a future under CEO Tan, it won't be as bright as where it was with Gelsinger, since the core focus here is to drive up revenue and reduce operating losses, even if it requires strict measures. This is happening with the foundry division right now, and it is way behind in competing with TSMC in the market, since it isn't a goal with Intel at all for now.
What's Next With Intel? Expect Wide Layoffs & Restructuring
On a consumer level, a company's share pricing doesn't reflect its commitment to the markets, but it matters to the shareholders and board of directors, one that Intel's CEO has to keep satisfied. This has already started with widespread layoffs across multiple departments and regional HQs, where the primary focus is to reduce operating losses to pave the way for sustainability. In a recent report, it was revealed that Intel's Israel operations are expected to be affected next, and this shows that the company wants to achieve its financial objectives, even if it means taking harsh decisions.
Similarly, on a product level, we expect Intel to shuffle teams and adjust roadmaps more aggressively, and one such example is the cancellation of Falcon Shores, an optimistic AI accelerator lineup. However, the engineering-focused Team Blue has adopted would undoubtedly benefit the consumers by providing more capable hardware, particularly in the CPU segment, as since Raptor Lake, we haven't seen much of a successful release from the firm in the desktop CPU market. We have heard optimistic developments on Nova Lake and Panther Lake, so things are expected to improve on the consumer side.
Another interesting move that we expect is Intel's decision to ramp up the outsourcing of its operations, including its foundry demands. The partnership with TSMC will play a key role in how Intel moves into the future, especially since Intel has shown an inclination towards sourcing more chips from the Taiwan giant to put out capable products in the market. Under Gelsinger, there was a "perceived" bias towards getting chips from the IFS, and it didn't turn out into a positive development, so the role of Intel-TSMC collaboration is going to get much deeper with Intel's CEO.
Apart from this, Intel's Tan has focused on creating a "startup-like" environment at the firm, and this mainly involves reducing administrative overheads, flattening management layers, and cutting bureaucracy to ensure that Intel is more agile and responsive to feedback. With a more "customer-centric" approach, Intel also aims to make products that are directed towards the end-user and the company's partners. So overall, there are going to be a lot of changes at the company, which we'll see with time.
The TL;DR? Intel is expected to evolve its business strategies continuously, and this will come with differentiated consumer sentiments, but CEO Tan has realized that "difficult steps" need to be taken to put the company back on the course of glory.
About the author: Muhammad Zuhair is a hardware and technology reporter for Wccftech, specializing in the semiconductor industry and the complex interplay between technology, manufacturing, and geopolitics. His coverage focuses on the corporate strategies and technological roadmaps of industry giants like TSMC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and Intel. Zuhair's expertise lies in deconstructing complex topics such as fabrication nodes (e.g., 2nm process), the economic impact of policies like the CHIPS Act, and the strategic development of AI infrastructure from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel.
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