John Pitzer, Intel's vice president of corporate strategy, discussed the current state of the company's foundry division and expressed optimism about upcoming processes and the current advanced packaging portfolio.
An Intel vice president attended the UBS Global Technology and Artificial Intelligence Conference to discuss the progress of the company's upcoming 18A process technology. Intel is currently ramping up production of its Panther Lake chips, which are expected to be officially released on January 5th. More importantly, the yield rate of the 18A process is a key factor determining whether this technology can bring profits to the foundry division. The Intel executive revealed that the yield rate has not yet reached "optimal" levels, but significant progress has been made since Lip-Bu Tan took over as CEO in March of this year.
“I believe we are beginning to see the effects of these measures, as yields have not yet reached our expected levels. As Dave mentioned on the earnings call, yields will continue to improve over time. However, we have already seen yields steadily increase month by month, which is in line with the industry average.”
In response to rumors of strong interest in the 18A-P process node, Intel executives stated that the process development kit (PDK) is "quite mature," and Intel will re-engage with external customers to assess their interest. The 18A-P and 18A-PT process nodes will be used in both internal and external markets, which is one reason for the strong consumer interest, as early PDK development has progressed very smoothly. However, Pitzer pointed out that Intel's In-House Foundry Service (IFS) will not disclose customer information, but rather waits for customers to proactively reveal their potential node adoption plans.
Given the capacity bottleneck of CoWoS, advanced packaging technology holds great promise for Intel's foundry business. An Intel executive confirmed that some advanced packaging customers have achieved "good results," indicating that EMIB, EMIB-T, and Foveros packaging solutions are being considered as alternatives to TSMC products. The executive stated that customers proactively contacting Intel is a result of a "spillover effect," and the company is currently engaged in "strategic consultations."
"Yes. What I mean is, we are very excited about this technology. Looking back at our development in the field of advanced packaging, about 12 to 18 months ago, we were quite confident in this business, mainly because we saw many customers seeking our capacity support due to CoWoS capacity constraints. Frankly, we may have underestimated the potential of this business."
“I think TSMC has done an excellent job in ramping up CoWoS capacity. We may have fallen slightly short in ramping up Foveros capacity and failed to meet our expectations. But the benefit of this is that it brought us customers and enabled us to move the discussion from the tactical level to the strategic level.”
It would be inaccurate to say that optimism surrounding Intel's foundry division has significantly diminished compared to a few months ago. This is why an Intel vice president mentioned that negotiations regarding the spin-off of the foundry division have not yet begun. Currently, external customers are considering the chip and packaging solutions offered by Intel's Foundry Service (IFS), which is one reason why Intel management is confident that the foundry division can improve its situation.
Post time: Dec-08-2025