It should be RISC-V... who is in charge at Intel??
Is this related to the rumors of softbank (ARM) money injection in Intel?
Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
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Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#22It should be RISC-V... who is in charge at Intel?? Is this related to the rumors of softbank (ARM) money injection in Intel?
>It should be RISC-V... who is in charge at Intel??
Why should it be that? What are your arguments?
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#23If we assume that intel gets successful with 18A with their x86 processors, would they even have the money to finance the node after that? And the node after that which gets exponentially more expensive? In the past x86 raked in enough money to burn a lot of it on new fab tech but non-x86 has grown immensely and floods TSMC with money. The problem for intel is that their fab tech was fitted to their processor archite…
Apple, Nvidia and US govt can provide the required funds if they have confidence in its ability to deliver. These companies will benefit from breaking current monopoly of TSMC.
Samsung is already in a much better position for this. They have external customers and experience facilitating them. Unlike Intel's track record which doesn't inspire confidence at all.
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#24Assuming they’re telling the truth, they’ve successfully built one chip from that fab. That’s good, but it doesn’t mean the fab is capable of manufacturing at scale while turning a profit. They need an external customer for the fab so they can iterate and work out the issues. It’s anyone’s guess if someone trusts intel to manufacture on their behalf instead of sticking with an established player. They’re stuck in a c…
> They need an external customer for the fab so they can iterate and work out the issues.
I guess you mean Intel to iterate using its own money to get the customer's chip right, no?
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#25Assuming they’re telling the truth, they’ve successfully built one chip from that fab. That’s good, but it doesn’t mean the fab is capable of manufacturing at scale while turning a profit. They need an external customer for the fab so they can iterate and work out the issues. It’s anyone’s guess if someone trusts intel to manufacture on their behalf instead of sticking with an established player. They’re stuck in a c…
That's too pessimistic. In general, customers don't want to be dealing with a monopolist and foundry customers are no different. It's in everyone's interest to solve the unproven process problem, so if Intel has evidence that the process isn't bust, customers will find a product which can be used as a pipe cleaner for mutual benefit.
Specially companies like Nvidia for which the gross profit margin is so high their risk of losing TSMC is higher than risk of losing money.
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Apple, Nvidia and US govt can provide the required funds if they have confidence in its ability to deliver. Given Apple's history with Intel's ability to deliver, I'm guessing the confidence there isn't high.
Are you referring to 5G radio modems or another chip?
Probably Intel’s fumble when Apple asked them for better performance per watt for the laptop CPUs and whether they wanted the iPhone CPU business back in 2006.
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Apple, Nvidia and US govt can provide the required funds if they have confidence in its ability to deliver. Given Apple's history with Intel's ability to deliver, I'm guessing the confidence there isn't high.
Are you referring to 5G radio modems or another chip?
Probably the Intel CPUs in Macbooks before Apple made the push for the M1 - circa the Intel quad core era where their laptop chips had major heat issues... ~2012 IIRC?
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#28Assuming they’re telling the truth, they’ve successfully built one chip from that fab. That’s good, but it doesn’t mean the fab is capable of manufacturing at scale while turning a profit. They need an external customer for the fab so they can iterate and work out the issues. It’s anyone’s guess if someone trusts intel to manufacture on their behalf instead of sticking with an established player. They’re stuck in a c…
that customer could've been apple. since they used to have a close relationship, till intel shit the bed.
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple, Nvidia and US govt can provide the required funds if they have confidence in its ability to deliver. These companies will benefit from breaking current monopoly of TSMC.
Samsung is already in a much better position for this. They have external customers and experience facilitating them. Unlike Intel's track record which doesn't inspire confidence at all.
Intel has something Samsung doesn't. It's a US company operating mostly on US soil so the US government has a vested interest to keep this strategic asset going for as long as possible.
Re: Intel Foundry demonstrates first Arm-based chip on 18a node
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you referring to 5G radio modems or another chip?
Probably Intel’s fumble when Apple asked them for better performance per watt for the laptop CPUs and whether they wanted the iPhone CPU business back in 2006.
A more recent motivation might be Apple's switch to in-house ARM for MacOS for similar reasons.