Intel vs. the Foundries: where is advanced logic heading?

By _MonolithIC 3D

June 4, 2012

Do real men need to have a fab?
Will Apple and Qualcomm become IDMs?

A lot of turmoil recently arose over the lack of TSMC capacity to support the 28nm logic ramp. Some of the larger TSMC customers such as Qualcomm and Nvidia made public their disenchantment with TSMC’s delivery of 28nm products.

Let’s try to put things in order and analyze the situation thoroughly, especially from the point of view of process capabilities and performances. There are obvious differences between what Intel does and what the foundries do. For this discussion we will use TSMC to represent the foundries. Both companies, Intel and TSMC, are making logic devices so we can compare their respective capabilities in the logic arena. 

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