https://wccftech.com/intel-secures-decisive-contract-with-microsoft-for-its-18a-process/
16 replies (most recent on top)
Mission Accomplished
Dave has confirmed this with his strident denial.
very decisive... sell MSFT wafers below cost and try to make it up on volume.
Lol ... MS wants to put their unproven chip design on Intel improven process? This will be f-c ked up big time. Thanks for the entertainment news OP.
Microsoft is testing on 18A since early 2024. It has been over a year. This is not news. I would say it seems to be a delay. After a year, still no product, no anything visible, but all just news.
Intel releases news every a few weeks to bump up stock.
IFS will never disclose customer wins. They've stated this repeatedly.
To publicize customer activity puts the customer at risk and so foundries never talk about customers.
Occasionally a customer will choose to disclose, for various PR purposes.
Get used to all customer activity being a rumor, true or not.
By the time the wafers are being produced, it will be in the share price and earnings statement. You will always have proof after the fact.
How is this different from the Feb 21, 2024 announcement? Are we just recycling old news and pretend it's new news?
https://www.intc.com/news-events/press-releases/detail/1675/intel-launches-worlds-first-systems-foundry-designed-for
Intel Foundry announces design win: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella shares that Microsoft has chosen a chip design it plans to produce on the Intel 18A process.
Love the qualifier "manufactured in the US." Isn't anything Intel do the most advanced in the US since there are no other advanced fabs? In any case, I think the story is credible because these companies will want an alternate source to drive cost down and to hedge against Asian supply chain disruptions. It's in fabless companies' best interest to keep IFS alive as a #2 option. For Intel, as long as IFS can break even, it'll be a huge win.
As usual, Fudzilla says it best:
Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft sniff around Intel’s foundry comeback
Troubled Chipzilla might finally be catching a break. After years of being flattened by TSMC’s relentless march and its own comically late roadmap slips, Intel’s foundry arm may have stumbled onto its redemption arc with the 18A process.
According to Korea’s ChosunBiz, Intel is now in talks with Microsoft, Google, and Nvidia to fab chips on the upcoming 18A node, a potential rival to TSMC’s 2nm N2 process. The news comes as Chipzilla tries to elbow its way back into relevance, especially in the US market, where the Taiwanese juggernaut has gained traction thanks to sweet deals and political cuddling with Trump.
Intel’s 18A node, billed as the “most advanced process manufactured in the US,” was shown off at Direct Connect 2025 and is supposed to deliver SRAM density and performance on par with, or better than, TSMC’s most cutting-edge gear. Compared to Intel 3, it’s apparently lightyears ahead, which is just as well considering how little traction that process managed.
The sudden uptick in interest isn’t just about specs. The appointment of Lip-Bu Tan as CEO seems to have focused Intel’s attention where it should’ve been all along: EDA tools, packaging, and serious foundry services. Whispers suggest Tan might even shelve the company’s flailing IDM 2.0 strategy in favour of something that doesn’t involve trying to do everything badly at once.
There’s also a bit of opportunism going on. TSMC’s fabs are currently bursting at the seams, forcing major customers to look elsewhere. While Samsung Foundry is still trying to shake off its also-ran status, Intel’s got a rare opening—one it might actually be able to exploit this time.
If 18A lands as promised, it could put Chipzilla back on the map for high-end silicon. That would be no small feat for a company that’s spent the last decade mostly tripping over its own shoelaces.
Perhaps 1% of the available capacity
If it is true, why Intel does not say it in Intel news?
Fake news ... Just read the article ... How can someone ve so illiterate to post this?
Until Intel ships 1M units, without a problem, and get paid for it... it's all hot air. Intel has had many many many false starts in foundry over the decades. Call Cisco... Call Ericsson... Call MediaTek... Call Achronix... Call Tabula... Call Transmeta (oh, wait, they went bankrupt waiting for Intel to make their silicon)...
If this is such big news why is it only being covered by some obscure web site? There isn't even a hint of this in Bloomberg, WSJ, ... or any other major business news source. What exactly is Microsoft going to be producing that needs 5K wafer starts per week? With the uncertainty in the economy and the potential for a major downturn Microsoft, and other tech companies, has been dialing data center growth. This sounds like it came from the same people who started the Intel-TSMC joint venture deal breaking news. We will have to wait and see.
Whale customer secured. 5K WSPW i am told. IFS now out of saddle
Riiiiggghhhtt...
Believe it when I see it.