load the chips with 18A

Lip-bu Tan, that for a few months He took Pat Gelsinger’s witness As Executive Director of Intel, he is considering An important strategic turn in its chips manufacturing division. The play goes through betting directly on the 14th technology instead of The 18A processin which his predecessor Pat Gels had invested billions of dollars. It would not be the first time that Intel leaves a manufacturing node in this way.

A crisis that is maintained despite the change of leader. Intel has been losing ground in front of TSMC for years, the Taiwanese giant who dominates the manufacture of chips for colossal clients such as Apple or Nvidia. That the company has shown signs of wanting to focus on the following manufacturing node and abandon the 18A process (in force for its next Panther Lake processors) represents one of the most risky movements to try to recover competitiveness in a sector where Intel has ceased to be a leader after decades of domain.

The strategy of such. Since assumed office in Marchthe new CEO has acted quickly to reduce costs and find new growth paths. Its proposal is to concentrate resources in the 14A process, considered more competitive in the face of TSMC technologies, and slow down the 18A marketing to external clients. This decision could involve throwing hundreds of millions, or even billions, dollars in investments already made.

The risks are huge. Leaving the 18th would mean assuming millionaire losses due to the investments made, but maintaining it could further away to the great clients that Intel needs for their contract manufacturing division. The company already He has committed Small 18A production volumes with Amazon and Microsoft, but these contracts would not change with the new strategy.

The financial context. Intel is going through one of the deepest crises in its history. In 2024 he registered his first year with losses since 1986, with red numbers of 18.8 billion dollars. The company has already fired more than 15,000 employees Since 2024 and planned to cut between 8,000 and 10,900 additional workers from its factories between June and July.

What comes now. The Board of Directors of Intel will analyze the options proposed by so at its meeting this month, although the final decision could be delayed until autumn given the complexity of the matter. Meanwhile, Intel will continue to use the 18th for his own chips and fulfill the commitments already acquired with some clients, but the future of their manufacturing division will depend on whether it manages to convince the market that the 14th can really compete with TSMC.

Cover image | Intel

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