Intel Will Rely on TSMC for its Rebound

By Alan Patterson, EETimes (February 18, 2022)

Intel is increasing its reliance on erstwhile rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) in its attempt to boost sales and eventually regain dominance as the world leader in manufacturing scale and chip process technology.

California-based Intel will join Apple to order the world’s first 3-nm chips from TSMC as the Taiwan chip foundry ramps up its newest process this year, according to three analysts surveyed. Intel and Apple are likely to be the only two TSMC customers at that most-advanced node during the ramp-up, according to the analysts.

At Intel’s investor meeting yesterday, CEO Pat Gelsinger reiterated a promise to “regain leadership” in the chip business. Gelsinger, who has been at the helm at Intel for a year, said the company will advance “five nodes in four years”, after which chip nomenclature will shift to angstroms from nanometers.

Intel’s leap depends on TSMC’s help at the 5- and 3-nm nodes. One of the challenges will be combining chiplets from TSMC with other chiplets made internally by Intel into one device like the Ponte Vecchio; that will involve matching chiplets made in TSMC’s 5nm process with Intel’s own silicon, using Intel’s new packaging technologies, which include embedded multi-die interconnect bridge (EMIB) and Foveros.