The chip foundry market has always been an important area of the semiconductor industry and the focus of global technology competition. At present, this market is dominated by several giants such as TSMC and Samsung, while Intel has been lagging behind.
But recently, Intel announced a series of major strategic adjustments and technological breakthroughs, showing its strong ambitions for the chip foundry market. Foreign media said that Intel's "core" transformation has begun, and competitors such as TSMC and Samsung will face great pressure.
As one of the world's largest semiconductor companies, Intel once had an absolute advantage in the field of chip manufacturing. But in recent years, Intel has gradually been surpassed by TSMC, Samsung and other companies due to repeated postponements of the mass production schedule of advanced processes and the loss of market share in areas such as mobile devices and cloud computing.
In order to reverse the decline, Intel announced the IDM 2.0 strategy in February this year, that is, to develop three legs of independent design and manufacturing, outsourcing foundry and providing foundry services at the same time.
One of the most notable is the section that provides foundry services. Intel said it will invest $20 billion to build two new chip foundries in Arizona, and plans to expand production capacity in Europe and elsewhere. In addition, Intel has established the Intel Foundry Services (IFS) division, which is dedicated to communicating and receiving orders with customers and opening up its four core technologies.
By opening up these technologies, Intel hopes to attract more customers of all types and sizes and provide more personalized and efficient solutions.
Intel makes a breakthrough
In addition to announcing strategic changes, Intel has made significant operational progress. According to Intel, its company's chip foundry has received orders from the American giant Qualcomm and is producing related chips for Qualcomm. In addition, Intel confidently announced:
It will strive to catch up with TSMC and Samsung by 2025 and occupy more market share. Seven of the world's top ten semiconductor designers have been signed for orders. It will regain its chip manufacturing lead in 2025.
These news have undoubtedly injected a booster into Intel's chip foundry business, and also showed its confidence and determination for the future. Reuters said that Intel is fully accelerating its investment in the chip foundry business, with the goal of catching up with rivals TSMC and Samsung in 2025.
TSMC and Samsung's response
In the face of Intel's strong attack, TSMC, Samsung and other original chip foundry giants will not sit still. In the field of chip foundry, TSMC is still in the undisputed dominant position, the company not only has advanced chip manufacturing technology, a wide range of products, but also has a huge production capacity, and plans to invest $100 billion in three years to continue to expand production capacity.
TSMC has achieved mass production of 5nm processes and plans to launch 4nm and 3nm processes next year. It is reported that TSMC has provided 3nm trial production samples for Apple, Qualcomm, AMD and other customers, and is expected to start mass production in the second half of this year.
Samsung is one of TSMC's most direct competitors, comparable to TSMC in terms of 5nm process. Samsung also announced that it will invest $116 billion to become the world's largest logic chip manufacturer in the next decade, and plans to launch 4nm and 3nm GAA (gate full loop) technology next year. In addition, Samsung also has its own memory and display business, which has a strong comprehensive strength in the entire semiconductor industry chain.
What is the outlook for the chip foundry market?
From the current situation, although Intel has shown a strong sense of initiative and combat effectiveness, it is not easy to truly challenge old chip foundries such as TSMC and Samsung.
On the one hand, Intel needs to solve its own technical problems and production delays as soon as possible, and improve its product quality and cost performance; On the other hand, Intel also needs to build a stable and extensive customer relationship network and adjust its product strategy and service model according to market demand. These require time, money and talent investment, and they cannot be achieved overnight.
But at the same time, it cannot be denied that Intel, as a semiconductor giant with a long history and strong strength, still has great potential and opportunities in the chip foundry market.
With the acceleration of global digital transformation and the continuous development of emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, and autonomous driving, the demand for various types of chips such as high performance, low power consumption, and multi-function is also increasing, which brings huge business opportunities and challenges to the chip foundry market.
In summary, the chip foundry market is an area full of opportunities and challenges. With the advancement of science and technology and social change, the demand for high-end, low-end and characteristic chips is constantly growing.
Intel, as a latecomer, has its own advantages and disadvantages in the chip foundry market. It needs to continuously innovate and expand its product line and customer base while maintaining its core competitiveness. TSMC, Samsung and other original chip foundries should not be taken lightly, while maintaining their leading position, they must pay attention to the impact of emerging competitors such as Intel and other external factors. Only through healthy competition and cooperation can we promote the development of the entire chip foundry industry.