Starting next year, Intel and TSMC will work together to develop $14bln worth of 3nm CPU chips. This entire process will kick off next year, with the first batch of chips that TSMC will deliver being worth a whopping $4bln for a start. Intel will then proceed to bump the demand up in 2025 and pump in $10bln into getting more chips from the chip-maker for use on various devices (Monitors, Laptops, and PCs).
This arrangement from the two firms is quite impressive, as it means that Intel will rely on TSMC for its chips. At this moment, Intel fabs its CPU chips in its foundry, but all of this will change as it aims to outperform the competition. The coming Intel Lunar Lake might be the first processor from the firm to be produced at TSMC foundry using the 3nm fabrication process.
Reports responsible for this claim say that next year this partnership will mean that TSMC supplies 15,000 3nm wafers to Intel every month. This will continue for the entire year, and the total cost of this business transaction will be $4bln. By 2025 the orders will double with Intel relying even more on the chip-maker to produce their chips for them using the 3nm fabrication process.
Stepping up their orders, Intel will demand 30,000 3nm wafers per month from TSMC in about two years. The increase in demand will also bring an increase in cost, as Intel will spend $10bln on this partnership in 2025. One might wonder why Intel is now turning to TSMC for the development of their coming chips.
This might be Intel’s move to save operational costs and also go head-to-head against the competition. The likes of Apple and AMD are already relying on TSMC to develop their CPU chips, and Intel wants a piece of that pie. Well, those familiar with the matter say that Intel’s coming reliance on TSMC is a rabbit hole that will be hard to come out of.
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