Intel is the largest chip manufacturer in the United States, but Intel has abandoned a lot of homework in the chip manufacturing industry. Now with the help of the United States, Intel intends to regain its position as a global chip manufacturing giant. In the specific action, Intel launched the chip factory construction plan for Ohio and officially broke ground.
New factory broke ground
According to Nikkei news report, Intel officially broke ground at a $20 billion chip production base in Ohio on Friday.
reports that Intel's two new chip manufacturers will cover nearly 1,000 acres in Licking County. The company said that the total investment in the factory could reach as much as $100 billion over the next decade, making it one of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers.
Intel's chip manufacturing base will consist of 2 wafer factories, which can accommodate up to 8 factories and supporting ecological support systems, covering an area of nearly 1,000 acres.
These two wafer factories are expected to be mass-produced in 2025. Intel did not specifically mention the factory's process level, but Intel previously stated that it would master 5 generations of CPU technology within 4 years, and will mass-produce 20A and 18A in 2024 Two generations of craftsmanship.
In addition to its $20 billion investment in Ohio, Intel plans to expand $20 billion in Arizona . Because it is striving to win customers of TSMC, the world's largest wafer foundry, and , Samsung , the second largest .
Intel chip development plan
This is one of Intel's plans to return to its position as a chip manufacturing giant. With the factory, Intel can master more production capacity and attract corresponding customers to cooperate. In addition, what kind of chip development plan has Intel set?
First, Intel changes the naming method of chip technology.
According to the line width of the integrated circuit, the industry will name the chips as 7nm, 5nm and 3nm processes. In fact, these nanoprocesses are not unified standards. The lower the process, the corresponding transistor number may not be available.
. Intel is at a disadvantage in terms of chip technology naming methods. Because Intel's 10nm transistor density is as strong as TSMC's 7nm, it is regarded as a huge gap in the industry. In order to avoid losing in naming methods, Intel overturned the chip naming method and rewrites new rules.
starts from 10nm and sets Intel 7, Intel 4, Intel 3, and Intel 20A down. By Intel 4, we can basically compare with TSMC's 3nm, and when we reach the 20A process, we enter the Amy process era.
Secondly, Intel set up a chip foundry department to compete for customer orders.
Intel wants to regain its position in the chip manufacturing industry, it is not enough to rely on sales of its own products. Even if Intel produces more chips, if they are sold through the Intel brand, if the market is in a downturn, wouldn’t it be a waste of production of chips?
So Intel set up a chip foundry department and uses its own technology to produce chips for customers. Not only can it boost business revenue, but it can also increase chip production capacity utilization.
Intel has established a chip foundry department to compete with TSMC and Samsung for customer orders. It is worth mentioning that Intel has obtained some mature process orders for MediaTek . As one of TSMC's major customers, MediaTek's choice to cooperate with Intel means that TSMC is no longer the only choice. Can
surpass TSMC?
Intel is the world's largest CPU chip manufacturer, and its history of developing chip manufacturing is longer than TSMC. It’s just that TSMC took the lead in opening the era of chip foundry, and coupled with the continuous exploration of the field of vertical chip manufacturing over the years, it has gradually surpassed Intel in its technology and market position.
As the United States increasingly attaches importance to chip manufacturing, Intel has also included chip manufacturing as the company's key development goals. Many commercial layout actions are now centered on chip manufacturing, and it is obvious that we must continue on this road.
is just a big mountain like TSMC on this road. Any big company with a little lofty ambition will surpass TSMC TV as its goal. So, can Intel do this? This depends on what advantages and disadvantages Intel has.
The biggest advantage of Intel is its strong financial support. The United States has made it clear that it will set aside $52 billion for chip subsidies to provide them to chip manufacturers who build local factories, and Intel can definitely receive large subsidies.
With these funds, Intel has no problem in purchasing semiconductor equipment, recruiting talents, and building a complete industrial chain. In addition, in terms of technology, Intel has reopened its route and plans to move towards the Emmy era, which shows that Intel has accumulated a lot of technology.
As for the disadvantage, the most important thing is that Intel does not have the same number of EUV lithography machines as TSMC, which determines that Intel's high-end chip production capacity is not as good as TSMC.
and TSMC have been developing chip foundry for a long time, and there are many customer resources. Many things in Intel are just starting out, so it is not easy to surpass them.
Overall, Intel's idea of surpassing TSMC will be very difficult to implement. After all, what Samsung has not been able to do in so many years, Intel cannot reach the top as soon as it comes, and it still depends on time to settle.
