Intel’s foundry division is buzzing with optimism as CFO David Zinsner shares insights on the promising future of their advanced packaging and upcoming processes. At a recent conference, he detailed the company’s progress, particularly focusing on the 18A process and the potential for foundry division growth.
Intel’s Steady Progress with 18A Process
David Zinsner, Intel’s CFO, addressed the audience at the UBS Global Technology and AI Conference, revealing the ongoing developments with Intel’s 18A process. The company is currently mass-producing Panther Lake chips, which are scheduled for a retail debut on January 5. A critical aspect of this process is yield rates, which influence the economic viability of the foundry division. While yields are yet to reach optimal levels, Zinsner highlighted the significant improvements since CEO Lip-Bu Tan took charge in March. Month-on-month, Intel is witnessing predictable yield improvements that align with industry standards.
And I see — I think we’re starting to see the benefits of that because at the very least, yields are still not at the levels we want them to be and they will continue to get better over time, as Dave talked about on the earnings call. But we are now in a position where we’re seeing predictable improvement month-on-month, that’s in line with what you would expect as an industry average.
Regarding external interest in the 18A-P node, Intel’s CFO noted the “good maturity on the PDK” and plans to reconnect with external customers. The 18A-P and 18A-PT are designed for both internal and external applications, drawing significant attention from potential clients. However, the Intel Foundry Services (IFS) will let clients announce any node adoption.
Advanced Packaging Prospects
Intel’s advanced packaging solutions, including EMIB, EMIB-T, and Foveros, are proving to be attractive alternatives to TSMC’s offerings. The tight CoWoS output has resulted in a “spillover effect,” drawing interest from various clients. Intel is engaged in “strategic conversations” with customers, exploring the potential of these advanced packaging solutions.
Yes. I mean we’re pretty excited about the technology. I mean if you go back and think about the journey we’ve been on in advanced packaging, we were pretty excited about the business about 12, 18 months ago, in large part because we saw a lot of customers coming to us to be spillover capacity because CoWoS was so tight. And for full transparency, we probably under hit the potential for that business.
I think TSMC did a very good job increasing CoWoS capacity. We probably underperformed a little bit and getting Foveros where it needed to be. But the advantage of having that happen is it brought customers in the door and it allowed us to start moving from tactical conversations to strategic conversations.
Future Outlook for Intel Foundry
Despite challenges, the outlook at Intel Foundry remains positive. The interest from external clients in both chip and packaging solutions is a testament to the division’s potential, and as of now, there are no plans to spin off the foundry division. The Intel administration remains hopeful that these developments can bolster the division’s standing and drive further growth.