Intel has a plan to stand up to TSMC in 2027. First it has to survive 2026

During his almost four years at the helm of Intel, Pat Gelsinger stated on several occasions how important the semiconductor manufacturing business was for this company. In fact, many of the decisions he made pursued strengthen your competitiveness in a sector strongly dominated by Taiwanese integrated circuit manufacturer TSMC. However, the continuous delays in the manufacturing processes, the million-dollar losses and the drop in the stock market value of this company they ended up hastening his departure.

Lip-Bu Tan, the current CEO of Intel, assumed leadership of the company in March 2025. At that time, a very uncertain future loomed over this company, and it was not at all clear what role Intel’s chip factories would play in the company’s global strategy. In fact, the leaks that predicted the possible segregation of semiconductor production plants into an independent company suggested that Lip-Bu Tan was willing to do without its chip factories.

Fourteen months after his arrival to the general management, the panorama is very different. Integrated circuit manufacturing plants once again occupy a central position in Intel’s strategy. has confirmed it recently Lip-Bu Tan without the slightest ambiguity on CNBC’s Mad Money. From his statements it is clear that he aspires to consolidate Intel as the Western alternative to TSMC. And its cutting-edge nodes and Apple play a fundamental role in this ambitious plan.

Node 18A is Intel’s best hope

The most advanced integration technology Intel currently has in large-scale production is 18A lithography. In theory it is comparable or slightly superior to 2nm nodes from TSMC and Samsung. When Tan took the reins of the company, the performance of the 18A node it was not good. In fact, the outlook looked so bad that was forced to ask for help to some of its partners in the integrated circuit manufacturing ecosystem to analyze the data it had and find a way to optimize production and increase its competitiveness.

An important note: in this context “performance” evaluates what percentage of the chips produced work correctly. Low performance triggers million-dollar losses. Tan has explained that the industry standard requires improving that performance by 7 to 8% each month, and has confirmed that now Intel is reaching that figure. There is no doubt that it is an unmistakable sign that the situation is changing.

So much, in fact, that customers are starting to knock on the door. Intel has already closed agreements chip manufacturing with Tesla and Google. AND, as we told you at the beginning of this monthApple is exploring the possibility of Intel and Samsung manufacturing the advanced chips for their devices in the US. In all likelihood, the loss of influence and priority in the TSMC production chain that it has maintained for more than a decade has led to this decision. Now Nvidia has these privileges.

There are several compelling reasons why Apple may be interested in Intel manufacturing its integrated circuits in the US. Or Samsung in its state-of-the-art plant in Texas. Or you could even work with both companies simultaneously and not completely break its business relationship with TSMC. Either way, this diversification strategy would allow Apple to effectively protect itself from supply chain disruptions triggered by geopolitical instability. And also the shortage of some components caused by the massive construction of data centers to artificial intelligence (AI).

The next step will be node 14Athe integration technology with which Intel hopes to be able to compete head-to-head with TSMC in 2027 and 2028. Tesla has already confirmed which will order chips with this photolithography from Intel for its electric vehicles and robotics projects.

Image | Intel

More information | DigiTimes Asia

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