Intel CEO Kilsinger met with TSMC Chairman Liu Deyin on December 14. According to industry rumors, Intel hopes to gain more TSMC's advanced process wafer foundry production capacity in the next 2 to 3 years, and covers processes including 7nm and 6nm, 5nm and 4nm, and 3nm, etc. TSMC hopes that Intel can pay a deposit in the 3nm part in advance. Intel is expected to become one of TSMC's top three customers within 1 to 2 years.
Kilsinger's main purpose in this visit to Taiwan is to discuss wafer foundry cooperation with TSMC, but the two parties strictly keep the itinerary and negotiation content confidential and do not comment on external news. Due to the rapid growth of high-performance computing (HPC) applications, Intel's central processors (CPUs) and graphics processors (GPUs) have strong demand, and their design has been moving towards chiplets or chip blocks. Therefore, even if Intel has announced a large-scale expansion of production, its own production capacity is still not enough to meet future needs. Therefore, we hope to win more advanced process capacity from TSMC.
Semiconductor Industry Analyzes the reasons for prepayment of deposits
Semiconductor Industry News pointed out that Intel hopes to gain more advanced TSMC process capacity in the next 2 to 3 years, covering processes including 7nm and optimized 6nm, 5nm and optimized 4nm, and 3nm. In the 3nm part, Intel hopes that TSMC will set up a dedicated line to produce Intel's CPU and GPU, just like , Apple .
For TSMC, the construction cost of 3nm capacity has been greatly increased, and Intel also has its own production capacity. Considering that if a dedicated line is set up for Intel, if Intel pulls orders back to its own factory for production in the future, it may cause the capacity to be unable to be used most effectively and greatly increase operating costs. Therefore, TSMC hopes that Intel can pay a deposit in advance before it is willing to set up a 3nm wafer foundry dedicated line for Intel.
Intel CEO Kilsinger's attitude towards TSMC and Taiwan has changed dramatically
Previously, Kilsinger said that "Taiwan is not a stable place." At the same time, he also criticized Taiwan and South Korea for their large subsidies to the semiconductor industry. "Intel is not competing with TSMC and , Samsung , but competing with Taiwan and South Korea."
This time, Kilsinger took a private plane to visit Taiwan on the evening of December 13 and entered the country under the "Economic Bubble" project model, which surprised domestic and foreign media.
Kilsinger used video to explain the reason for his visit to Taiwan on December 14, emphasizing that he is a close cooperative partnership with TSMC, the leader in wafer foundry. In the video, Kirsinger said that he was very happy to return to Taiwan and to this place he visited many times, but was affected by the epidemic. After becoming Intel CEO, he had not had the opportunity to return here until now.
Kilsinger said that the COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated all digitalization processes and stimulated rapid innovation and unprecedented working, learning and interaction models. This transformation has brought explosive growth to the demand for semiconductors, and at the center of digital innovation is Taiwan, which has a complete and abundant ecosystem and has become one of the key hubs of the industry.
Kilsinger stressed that Intel has worked closely with customers and partners in Taiwan over the past 36 years, including the long-term and far-reaching relationship between Intel and TSMC. TSMC has assisted Intel and the semiconductor industry in many aspects to unlock the possibilities of chips and created unprecedented products. "The achievements TSMC has achieved are really amazing!"
More opinions from the Taiwanese industry on Intel's 3nm dedicated line orders, please see " Intel CEO praises "Taiwan". Taiwanese experts: 3nm orders may become "poisons" "
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