Intel confirms TSMC will make some processors for it

Intel has confirmed that it will begin placing orders for advanced chips from third-party manufacturers such as TSMC in the future. Intel now manufactures 80% of its products in-house, outsourcing only low-cost and secondary products. Over the next two to three years, this will change  –  TSMC will be entrusted not only with the future graphics of Intel but also the central processors.

At last night’s Intel Unleashed: Engineering the Future event, CEO Pat Gelsinger revealed some future processor plans and promised that Meteor Lake client modular processors, built using Intel’s own 7nm process technology, will be available on the market in 2023. … But, apparently, this  –  not a single Intel processor for the PC, which will be released during this period. According to Meteor Lake, Gelsinger also mentioned some unnamed high-performance client processors manufactured at TSMC’s factories according to advanced technological standards.

As it was said at the event, Intel is going to expand cooperation with third-party manufacturers, whose factories today already produce certain types of Intel products  –  from communication and network controllers to graphics and system logic sets. Gelsinger noted that starting in 2023, Intel will begin to partner with external contractors to manufacture some of the modular chips used in client and server processors based on the most advanced technologies. This approach should help Intel stay on track and optimize the cost and performance of promising products.

“ As part of the 2023 roadmap, we will leverage our relationship with TSMC to provide customers […] with additional advanced processor products. This is the strength of our new IDM 2.0 model, combined with a modular design approach and Intel’s industry-leading packaging technology,  ”  said Gelsinger.

It is worth noting that it was previously known about Intel’s intention to entrust TSMC with the production of some graphics products, for example, the expected gaming graphics accelerator X ^e HPG, which will be produced using a 7-nm process technology. However, now it becomes clear that the matter will not be limited to graphics alone  – the  Taiwanese semiconductor forge will also make some high-performance processors for Intel.

At the moment, it is not known what specific processors are we talking about. But in 2023, when Intel will have its own 7nm process technology ready for mass production of chips, TSMC will offer customers 3nm standards. As follows from the Taiwanese company’s promises, it will launch mass production of 3-nm chips in the second half of 2022.