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Intel CEO charts fresh course, with a foundry business that competitors can use

There is a shake up coming to Intel, but don’t expect blazing fast CPUs just yet because the shake up is more to do with how Intel does business.

The newly appointed chief executive officer at Intel, Pat Gelsinger, has detailed how exactly Intel plans to not only create great products but also provide long term value stakeholders. This will be accomplished through an evolution of the firm’s integrated device manufacturing model dubbed IDM 2.0.

“We are setting a course for a new era of innovation and product leadership at Intel,” said Gelsinger in a statement. “IDM 2.0 is an elegant strategy that only Intel can deliver – and it’s a winning formula. We will use it to design the best products and manufacture them in the best way possible for every category we compete in.”

But designing the best products is only part of this strategy as Gelsinger says the firm will be expanding use of third-party foundry capacity.

Gelsinger said he expects Intel’s engagement with third-party foundries to grow and to include manufacturing for a range of modular tiles on advanced process technologies, including products at the core of Intel’s computing offerings for both client and data centre segments beginning in 2023.

In addition to this Intel will be creating a new foundry business.

Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is a new side of the company that will provide foundry capacity to US and Europe based companies.

“IFS will be differentiated from other foundry offerings with a combination of leading-edge process technology and packaging, committed capacity in the U.S. and Europe, and a world-class IP portfolio for customers, including x86 cores as well as ARM and RISC-V ecosystem IPs,” explained Intel.

The division will be lead by Dr Randhir Thakur who will report directly to Gelsinger.

Could Intel be looking to win back Apple’s favour? Potentially but we don’t want to call that too soon.

What this might do however is provide foundry capacity for companies in the US and UK who may not be able to make use of Chinese foundries due to trade restrictions.

Intel will build two new fabs in Arizona at its Ocotillo campus on the back of a $20 billion investment. These two fabs will support current products and customers as well as provide “committed capacity for foundry customers”.

This is an interesting move from Intel and while it has taken a stab at a foundry business before, Gelsinger acknowledged that it was a half-hearted stab and that this time it will be different.

What we are curious to see is whether Intel can compete with the likes of TSMC when it comes to manufacturing semi-conductors and chiplets. More importantly, whether competitors will make use of Intel’s foundry is a big question mark.

All of this having been said, with a global shortage of semi-conductors hampering the motor industry, the PC component industry and others, another player in the field will be welcome, even if they are only entering the market at an unknown date.

[Source – Intel]

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