Intel May Hinder AMD's Recovery
Intel is reserving the lion's share of TSMC's production capacity in 3nm lithography. In doing so, it may make life a bit more difficult for AMD and Apple, which rely on third-party chip manufacturing.
- TSMC will produce processors and GPUs in 3nm technology for Intel;
- The production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2022.
Chinese news service reveals TSMC's production plans, with Intel taking the lion's share of 3nm technology capacity. The US processor giant thus intends to outsource production of two new processors and a graphics chip. Apple and AMD, which largely rely on external production, will have to reckon with possible limits on the number of chips produced for them.
3nm processor production is expected to start in the second quarter of 2022. Intel expects an initial silicon wafer fabrication capacity of 4,000 pieces per month, rising to a maximum of 10,000 in the longer term. Intel, which has its own factories (including silicon wafer lines), also intends to make its production capacity available to other companies. To make this possible, it has been decided to build a new mega-factory.
Intel processors are still leading in popularity among users of desktops and notebooks, but they are gradually losing ground to AMD. Perhaps the company sees a chance to win and maintain the largest possible fragment of the market in maximal increase of component supply. To this end, it intends to boost its own production capacity, using TSMC factories. Not without significance is the fact that in this way it can also thwart AMD's plans, which expected recovery in the market for components in 2022, but may not even feel it.
