Intel spends $20 billion in modern facilities, processors for others
Intel has a new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, who does not waste time doing significant modifications. At today’s declaration of “Engineering the Future” for the group, Gelsinger revealed plans to outsource further Chip-production from Intel to third party foundries, an expansion of $20 billion into two new fabs in Arizona, and Intel Foundry Services, the new division for which Intel’s foundries are producing chips for other firms.
The announcements are part of a modern Intel concept and production plan called “IDM 2.0,” consisting of three components. Firstly, Intel’s in-house manufacture will continue to play an essential role in Intel’s chip design and development. Second, there is the expanding use for the manufacture of “computer devices at the heart of Intel’s computer offerings,” for both customer and business chips, from 2023 onward, of external foundries such as TSMC, Samsung, and GlobalFoundries.
“Intel’s latest ‘IDM 2.0’ plan”.
Third, the recently announced Intel Foundry Services would open Intel’s gates for other commercial customers to manufacture chips led by Randhir Thakur. Intel Foundry Services is a “standalone company foundry,” developing core chips of x86, arm, and RISC-V for external customers leveraging Intel’s manufacturing technologies. Intel foundries are based in the USA and Europe, which is essential for government function and would support rivals such as TSMC. IBM, Qualcomm, Google, and others are partnering in this.
Intel’s extension of its production effort – including a $20 billion expenditure in expanding Intel’s current Ocotillo campus into modern fabs in Arizona – is a crucial moment: a continuing global scarcity of semiconductors ensures that chip production remains at an all-time high. Adding foundries from Intel (and its current foundry service business) could unlock new ways for companies to supply chips that range from new video game consoles to new pickup trucks. Gelsinger also teased that different foundries were under construction, promising more growth updates in the U.S., Europe, and elsewhere later this year.
Intel has revealed a recent R&D partnership with IBM “to build logic and packaging innovations of the next decade.” Now, though, the details are thin.
Finally, in October, Intel unveiled intentions as part of a recent Intel On series of activities to bring back the spiritual successor of its Intel Developer Forum conference in San Francisco.
Intel is at a crucial juncture right now. Companies including AMD and Apple’s arm-based M1 series of chips face more incredible rivalry. Around the same period, the leadership of rivals like TSMC and the time delays in their development strategies has changed substantially. The developments today mark the first significant steps Gelsinger has taken to try to correct the boat.
