Intel has reportedly placed 2nm orders at TSMC for their Nova Lake CPUs, as Team Blue plans out a massive comeback in the desktop processor segment.
Intel Plans To Stick With Its “Dual-Sourcing” Approach With TSMC For Future Desktop CPUs, Signaling A Strategic Shift
Well, it seems like Team Blue won’t hold back when it comes to the process node it utilizes for future CPUs, as it looks like, under the new leadership, Intel has made it a priority to ensure that it delivers the best to its consumers. According to a report by Taiwan Economic Daily, it is revealed that Intel has outsourced Nova Lake’s compute tile to TSMC, where it will leverage the foundry’s 2nm process. Apparently, Intel plans to go all-out with the Taiwanese giant, which raises doubts about the fate of Intel’s 18A process node, which is “advertised” to be better than TSMC N2.
When it comes to using TSMC for semiconductor needs, Intel’s Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus made it clear that the firm won’t hesitate to opt out of Intel Foundry, stating that Team Blue needs to meet consumer expectations. So, the possibility of acquiring cutting-edge nodes from TSMC was always there, but the one thing that makes this development a bit confusing is the way Team Blue would use IFS for its product lineup, given that Intel would certainly not rely on it for its flagship offerings, so a dual-source approach will likely be adopted.
TSMC’s 2nm process has received much attention from industry giants, given that Apple, AMD, and now Intel are in the race to acquire the node. AMD recently announced that they were the first customer of 2nm, integrating the semiconductor for its 6th-generation EPYC “Venice” processors. Similarly, Apple plans to adopt the process for its A20 chip intended for the iPhone 18 series, and now, Intel will also use it for Nova Lake, so it is safe to say that attention is there, but it is important to note that 2nm integration will turn out to be much more costlier compared to previous-gen processes, especially with the supply chain uncertainty.
As far as Intel Foundry is concerned, well, we are going to see 18A with Panther Lake SoCs and Clearwater Forest Xeon, which means that Intel doesn’t plan on leaving its in-house processes alone. However, the prospect would likely be decided by how PTL-S and other products play out, but for now, it is safe to say that the company would stick with a dual-sourcing approach.
Source: Wccftech / Digpu NewsTex