Apple has decided to ditch Intel, its longtime partner, in order to make their own in-house chipsets. However, Intel wants to go back and make chipsets for Apple again, with 5G infrastructure included.
This time, instead of supplying Apple with Intel Core chipsets, they are aiming to go back to Apple via the new IFS (Industry Foundry Services). The IFS will be ran by Senior VP Randir Thakur and will compete with many tech giants like Apple, Google and Qualcomm. As OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer) they design their own chipsets but let other companies make them under a contract, like the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for example.
In short, Intel does not want to rely on third-party companies to produce chipsets, but rather produce them on their own, and the Industry Foundry Services is the way to do it.
Intel is willing to spend more than $20 billion to open new factories in the USA. This was announced when there was a massive shortage of chipsets being produced due to limited productivity from the pandemic.
This new foundry business, according to Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, would be worth $25 billion in market evaluation by 2025.
Companies like Apple have been relying on TSMC to manufacture their chipsets, which means, it would take some time before Intel convinces Apple to use its manufacturing services instead.
Currently, Intel is stuck with 14nm process for its chipsets, while Samsung and TSMC have been reported to already planning on manufacturing 3nm chipsets next year. However, according to Gelsinger, the company is “on-track” to making 7nm reach a milestone by Q2.
Although Intel designs and manufactures their own chipsets, they do have plans to contracting third parties like TSMC to manufacture their chipsets.
Source: PhoneArena, GizmoChina
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