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Intel Employees "Very Optimistic"

A

Artificer60

Well-known member
I guess technically that Johnston-Holthouse and Zinsner constitute employees, but folks I've talked to feel like they are in the dark, not optimistic.

By all accounts, Gelsinger, for all his faults, kept employees feeling like they were in the loop. Tan, on the other hand, seems to be playing things very close to the vest. No one I've talked to feel like they know what Tan's final vision for Intel looks like. Makes me wonder what kind of echo chamber Johnston-Holthouse is living in.

www.calcalistech.com

Intel Products CEO: “Employees are very optimistic about the fact that Lip-Bu can help us” | CTech

Michelle Johnston-Holthaus said new leadership under CEO Lip-Bu Tan is driving transparency, urgency, and a strategic turnaround amid Intel’s battle for relevance in the AI era.
www.calcalistech.com www.calcalistech.com
 
"The internal culture appears to be shifting as well. Tan, according to Johnston-Holthaus, “wants to hear the bad news first.” The new leadership’s directness marks a sharp contrast with years of top-down optimism that often papered over operational and financial strain."

Folks that I know are very optimistic, except for the ones that need to be cut, and believe me they know who they are. After the next trimming there will be a huge sigh of relief from inside Intel and things will get done. This time next year Intel will be a new company with a bright future.

I was not a fan of Johnston-Holthouse and Zinsner being CO-CEOs but under lip-Bu I think they are a great team. They still seem to have some of the old Intel inside but that will change under Lip-Bu. Exciting times at Intel, absolutely!
 
Daniel Nenni said:
"The internal culture appears to be shifting as well. Tan, according to Johnston-Holthaus, “wants to hear the bad news first.” The new leadership’s directness marks a sharp contrast with years of top-down optimism that often papered over operational and financial strain."

Folks that I know are very optimistic, except for the ones that need to be cut, and believe me they know who they are. After the next trimming there will be a huge sigh of relief from inside Intel and things will get done. This time next year Intel will be a new company with a bright future.

I was not a fan of Johnston-Holthouse and Zinsner being CO-CEOs but under lip-Bu I think they are a great team. They still seem to have some of the old Intel inside but that will change under Lip-Bu. Exciting times at Intel, absolutely!
Click to expand...
Interesting. I'm curious as to what area the folks you know work in? I'm assuming on the design side of the house?

The people I know are all on the foundry side and they are a lot less optimistic. I wouldn't say it is doom and gloom, but I wouldn't exactly call it optimistic either. The new level of candor has made people aware of just how far they have to go to even come close to providing the customer experience that TSMC provides. And they are aware the clock is ticking. Intel 14A must land in two years and it has to go much better than 18A. Not a long time to completely change the way you run your factories.
 
Artificer60 said:
Interesting. I'm curious as to what area the folks you know work in? I'm assuming on the design side of the house?

The people I know are all on the foundry side and they are a lot less optimistic. I wouldn't say it is doom and gloom, but I wouldn't exactly call it optimistic either. The new level of candor has made people aware of just how far they have to go to even come close to providing the customer experience that TSMC provides. And they are aware the clock is ticking. Intel 14A must land in two years and it has to go much better than 18A. Not a long time to completely change the way you run your factories.
Click to expand...
Given what you know, what are the chances for success for Intel Foundry?
 
Not sure how credible the following post is:

Thread regarding Intel Corp. layoffs​


30% Head Count Reductions in our global org of ~1200.
Notification early July, exit the company end of July. Severance package expected to be similar to previous though HR did not confirm it. No option to volunteer for CPM. No enhanced retirement. Job elimination and skills assessment should direct which heads are reduced.

Spans will be forced to no lower than 5. Lip Bu is zero, so count up from that to see what level you’re at. Managers should have 6 employees minimum but average expected closer to 10-12 direct reports.

Remote work more ambiguous. Directionally, they want everyone in the office four days a week. Some exceptions expected, but no guidance or parameters. If no CPM in July, doesn’t necessarily mean you’re approved for remote work indefinitely when return to office hits in Sept.

Haters and flamers can do your thing, but in a time of stress an uncertainly, hope these facts help others cope with some pending unknowns.

 
Daniel Nenni said:
"The internal culture appears to be shifting as well. Tan, according to Johnston-Holthaus, “wants to hear the bad news first.” The new leadership’s directness marks a sharp contrast with years of top-down optimism that often papered over operational and financial strain."

Folks that I know are very optimistic, except for the ones that need to be cut, and believe me they know who they are. After the next trimming there will be a huge sigh of relief from inside Intel and things will get done. This time next year Intel will be a new company with a bright future.

I was not a fan of Johnston-Holthouse and Zinsner being CO-CEOs but under lip-Bu I think they are a great team. They still seem to have some of the old Intel inside but that will change under Lip-Bu. Exciting times at Intel, absolutely!
Click to expand...
Will Lip-Bu kick out all those management consultants from BCG, McKinsey, etc?
 
Daniel Nenni said:
"The internal culture appears to be shifting as well. Tan, according to Johnston-Holthaus, “wants to hear the bad news first.” The new leadership’s directness marks a sharp contrast with years of top-down optimism that often papered over operational and financial strain."

Folks that I know are very optimistic, except for the ones that need to be cut, and believe me they know who they are. After the next trimming there will be a huge sigh of relief from inside Intel and things will get done. This time next year Intel will be a new company with a bright future.

I was not a fan of Johnston-Holthouse and Zinsner being CO-CEOs but under lip-Bu I think they are a great team. They still seem to have some of the old Intel inside but that will change under Lip-Bu. Exciting times at Intel, absolutely!
Click to expand...

Here the new margin threshold set by Johnston-Holthaus: .......(potential) 50% gross margin otherwise we'll not offer this product.....
https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/04/intel_gross_margin_boost_plan/

“That's the expectations that our shareholders have; that's what our competitors can do; there's no reason we can't do it,” she said.
In Q1 Intel’s gross margin had slipped to 36.9 percent, a far cry from the 60-plus percent gross margins from a few short years ago. By comparison, AMD’s gross margin during the quarter was 50 percent, while Nvidia’s came in at 60.5 percent.
This requirement is “something that we probably should have had before, but we have it now,” Holthaus said. “You actually don't get engineers assigned to it, if it's not 50 percent or higher gross margins moving forward.”
Achieving this, Holthaus said, won’t be easy and won’t happen overnight.
 
Short follow-up, in 2024 it seems the Intel 2030 target (under CEO PG) for Products was 60% and for Foundry 40%:
https://newsroom.intel.com/corporat...oundry-business-sets-path-to-margin-expansion

So under the new CEO LBT the (potential) gross margin target has been set lower for Products (60% -> 50%).

It will be interesting to know if the gross margin target for Foundry will also be set lower than 40% in 2030? If that is the case, say 30% or so in 2030, how can Intel Foundry keep up the EUV-Foundry capital investment requirements for leading-edge logic? Will (outside) financial engineering be the key for keeping up investing as a EUV-foundry?

A non-EUV Foundry like GF currently operates with around 25% gross margin in 2024:
https://investors.gf.com/news-relea...orts-fourth-quarter-2024-and-fiscal-year-2024
 
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user nl said:
Short follow-up, in 2024 it seems the Intel 2030 target (under CEO PG) for Products was 60% and for Foundry 40%:
https://newsroom.intel.com/corporat...oundry-business-sets-path-to-margin-expansion

So under the new CEO LPT the (potential) gross margin target has been set lower for Products (60% -> 50%).

It will be interesting to know if the gross margin target for Foundry will also be set lower than 40% in 2030? If that is the case, say 30% or so in 2030, how can Intel Foundry keep up the EUV-Foundry capital investment requirements for leading-edge logic? Will (outside) financial engineering be the key for keeping up investing as a EUV-foundry?

A non-EUV Foundry like GF currently operates with around 25% gross margin in 2024:
https://investors.gf.com/news-relea...orts-fourth-quarter-2024-and-fiscal-year-2024
Click to expand...
Imo for Intel target should be higher revenue but lower margin to sustain themselves.
 
Artificer60 said:
Interesting. I'm curious as to what area the folks you know work in? I'm assuming on the design side of the house?

The people I know are all on the foundry side and they are a lot less optimistic. I wouldn't say it is doom and gloom, but I wouldn't exactly call it optimistic either. The new level of candor has made people aware of just how far they have to go to even come close to providing the customer experience that TSMC provides. And they are aware the clock is ticking. Intel 14A must land in two years and it has to go much better than 18A. Not a long time to completely change the way you run your factories.
Click to expand...

According to LinkedIn I am connected to 1,221 current Intel employees. All close personal friends of course. :rolleyes: I am more of a foundry person though by experience.

Intel manufacturing wanted to get away from design and design wanted to get away from manufacturing. Mission accomplished.
 
Daniel Nenni said:
According to LinkedIn I am connected to 1,221 current Intel employees. All close personal friends of course. :rolleyes: I am more of a foundry person though by experience.

Intel manufacturing wanted to get away from design and design wanted to get away from manufacturing. Mission accomplished.
Click to expand...
Yeah i can see that also i think both sides are to blame for their current situation and both need to improve as well.
 
Artificer60 said:
I guess technically that Johnston-Holthouse and Zinsner constitute employees, but folks I've talked to feel like they are in the dark, not optimistic.

By all accounts, Gelsinger, for all his faults, kept employees feeling like they were in the loop. Tan, on the other hand, seems to be playing things very close to the vest. No one I've talked to feel like they know what Tan's final vision for Intel looks like. Makes me wonder what kind of echo chamber Johnston-Holthouse is living in.

www.calcalistech.com

Intel Products CEO: “Employees are very optimistic about the fact that Lip-Bu can help us” | CTech

Michelle Johnston-Holthaus said new leadership under CEO Lip-Bu Tan is driving transparency, urgency, and a strategic turnaround amid Intel’s battle for relevance in the AI era.
www.calcalistech.com www.calcalistech.com
Click to expand...

"Johnston-Holthaus acknowledged that Intel is making hard choices on pricing and product prioritization, especially in 2025. After years of pursuing market share, the company is now “trying to be a bit more pragmatic,” she said, noting that Intel’s customer deal pipeline in Q1 was “significantly lower” than in previous quarters."

It seems she's describing a serious situation in a polite way. Judging by Intel’s shrinking revenue, it’s not simply a matter of pursuing market share or choosing to sell higher-margin products.

The core issue is that Intel lacks competitive products - in terms of cost, performance, and features - that align with the market demands. While the global semiconductor market continues to grow, the traditional PC market does not. Unfortunately, as of Q1 2025, $7.6 billion or 59.84% of Intel’s revenue remains tied to PC/client-related products, where it faces strong competition from Apple, AMD, Qualcomm, and Nvidia/MediaTek.

Intel’s server and AI division generated only $4.1 billion, just 32.28% of its $12.7 billion total revenue in Q1 2025. In this segment, Intel is also up against formidable competitors, including AMD, Nvidia, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta (Facebook), Broadcom, Qualcomm, and MediaTek.

The situation is, frankly, dire.
 
osnium said:
Given what you know, what are the chances for success for Intel Foundry?
Click to expand...

Given that Lip-Bu is CEO, the failing of Samsung Foundry, and the big push for an alternative to TSMC I would say very good.

Lip-Bu is out meeting customers and it is a compelling story. Do you want an alternative to TSMC? Do you want competitive wafer pricing? Do you want more semiconductor manufacturing jobs in the US? Then let's get some tape-outs at 18AP and partner with us on 14A. Simple as that.
 
Daniel Nenni said:
Given that Lip-Bu is CEO, the failing of Samsung Foundry, and the big push for an alternative to TSMC I would say very good.

Lip-Bu is out meeting customers and it is a compelling story. Do you want an alternative to TSMC? Do you want competitive wafer pricing? Do you want more semiconductor manufacturing jobs in the US? Then let's get some tape-outs at 18AP and partner with us on 14A. Simple as that.
Click to expand...


While those are strong talking points, Mr. Li-Bu Tan must still be prepared to address a fundamental concern from potential Intel Foundry customers: “Isn’t Intel a competitor?”
 
hist78 said:
While those are strong talking points, Mr. Lip-Bu Tan must still be prepared to address a fundamental concern from potential Intel Foundry customers: “Isn’t Intel a competitor?”
Click to expand...

True, I do not see AMD or Nvidia using Intel Foundry but there are plenty of whales out there where competition should not be a problem. The cloud companies for example. They do not sell their chips. Broadcom should be first in line. Lip-Bu and Hock Tan (both Malaysian) know each other quite well and that would be a strategic partnership for Intel Foundry, absolutely.

If Intel Foundry can close 6 top customers for 18AP next year that should do it. That is what my marching orders would be.
 
siliconbruh999 said:
isn't Samsung is a competitor to everyone than(Display/Memory/Camera/Exynos(this is lacking due to Samsung foundry) and other misc stuff)?
Click to expand...

You pointed out one of the reasons why Samsung foundry is struggling. TSMC doesn't need to address such conflicts of interest issues because it doesn't exist.
 
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