This is a very unique situation - after seeing the PR and internal first message - and also seeing Ian talk about it in real time about what he heard on his podcast (
) makes me think that Intel might just commit to fab. Let's see how the board plays out - if Frank Yeary steps down and out of the board, that would tell us all we need to know - that Intel is going in on fabs.
New Intel CEO
- Thread starter Artificer60
- Start date
I guess he is the preferred CEO candidate following Mark Liu and Hock Tan, or possibly the choice for a Broadcom acquisition. Recently, Mark Liu was appointed to Micron's board, and Broadcom say no to acquire Intel, making Lip-Bu Tan the next best option.
It is not really Broadcom said no to acquire Intel products. It is Intel declined selling the design house.
It is not contradictory to JV.
Broadcom Says ‘No’ To Intel Acquisition; Why ‘It’s A Smart Move,’ Says Partner
Broadcom not acquiring Intel’s chip design business, says CEO Hock Tan, with AI and VMware the focus, not Intel semiconductor buy.
www.crn.com
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said the nearly $60 billion tech giant is not currently interested in any mergers and acquisitions amid reports Broadcom was eyeing the purchase of Intel’s chip design business.
When asked during Broadcom’s first fiscal quarter financial earnings report last week if it was looking at any M&A, Tan said the company is “too busy” investing in AI and still working through its blockbuster $69 billion acquisition of VMware that closed about 16 months ago.
“M&A? No, I’m too busy. We’re too busy doing AI and VMware at this point,” said Tan. “We’re not thinking of it at this point.”
Broadcom Says ‘No’ To Intel Acquisition; Why ‘It’s A Smart Move,’ Says Partner
Broadcom not acquiring Intel’s chip design business, says CEO Hock Tan, with AI and VMware the focus, not Intel semiconductor buy.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said the nearly $60 billion tech giant is not currently interested in any mergers and acquisitions amid reports Broadcom was eyeing the purchase of Intel’s chip design business.
When asked during Broadcom’s first fiscal quarter financial earnings report last week if it was looking at any M&A, Tan said the company is “too busy” investing in AI and still working through its blockbuster $69 billion acquisition of VMware that closed about 16 months ago.
“M&A? No, I’m too busy. We’re too busy doing AI and VMware at this point,” said Tan. “We’re not thinking of it at this point.”
One statement is based on "sources said", while the other was publicly stated by Hock Tan. I would trust the latter more. Anyway, even though the outcomes are the same, the reason "Intel refused to sell" sounds better
Obviously he could say something like that because he could not get it and furthermore those discussions were confidential and do not require disclosure.One statement is based on "sources said", while the other was publicly stated by Hock Tan. I would trust the latter more. Anyway, even though the outcomes are the same, the reason "Intel refused to sell" sounds better
Sorry Ian, not a great podcast and yes Lip-Bu is a good choice for Intel CEO.
Lip-Bu can open doors for Intel Foundry, more so than any other CEO candidate mentioned. He did this at Cadence for sure. Just because the door is opened does not mean IFS will get the business but an open door is an open door. I can't imagine it was easy closing foundry business without a CEO but with Lip-Bu at the helm it will be much easier, absolutely.
This does seem to increase the chances of Intel staying together but for how long? The foundry business is a marathon and the race has just begun. I have always been against splitting Intel and I still am. I think it would be a huge mistake. I'm confidant Lip-Bu reset the boards expectations and will be successful in keeping Intel relevant in a fast changing world. By the way, Lip-Bu also has good ties with China and Taiwan.
Broadcom Says ‘No’ To Intel Acquisition; Why ‘It’s A Smart Move,’ Says Partner
Broadcom not acquiring Intel’s chip design business, says CEO Hock Tan, with AI and VMware the focus, not Intel semiconductor buy.
Broadcom CEO Hock Tan said the nearly $60 billion tech giant is not currently interested in any mergers and acquisitions amid reports Broadcom was eyeing the purchase of Intel’s chip design business.
When asked during Broadcom’s first fiscal quarter financial earnings report last week if it was looking at any M&A, Tan said the company is “too busy” investing in AI and still working through its blockbuster $69 billion acquisition of VMware that closed about 16 months ago.
“M&A? No, I’m too busy. We’re too busy doing AI and VMware at this point,” said Tan. “We’re not thinking of it at this point.”
What is Hock supposed to say? I tried and failed?
Last I heard Hock said he would be interested if Intel came to him. Apparently they did not or they did not like what Hock proposed.Keeping the foundry together with the products is exactly the situation with Samsung. It might be worth looking at their situation as reference. https://www.kedglobal.com/korean-chipmakers/newsView/ked202503060008
This seems to be generalizing too much based on just 1-2 data points.
That being said, as a small investor, I am not opposed to IFS eventually becoming a standalone company.
Besides Intel, Samsung is the other company doing business with its own chip products besides its foundry for external customers. Interestingly, Samsung insisted to keep them together instead of splitting them. There is more to navigate in this situation. Samsung Foundry is arguably doing better than Intel Foundry right now.
siliconbruh999
Well-known member
Yes definitely at least they know they have to be together even in this situation
Here's an interesting customer interaction. Samsung Exynos competes with Qualcomm Snapdragon. The Galaxy phones have distributed one or the other by region.
Example: https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s10-9536.php
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This talk happened recently after he stepped down from Intel BoD. At 23:00 he talks about how a foundry should not compete with its customers. I think foundry will be spun off as soon as it becomes financially viable which was already the plan with a stop gap solution of "spin in" near term.
Good article find.
This makes me increasingly skeptical that TSMC is going to see any competition after 14A
. Samsung seems broken on node development at this point.A spun-off Intel Foundry is going to require a lot of customers to justify further node development, and that window seems to be closing rapidly. After Pat, (completely uneducated guess), I think the board is going to set a deadline of "get as many customers as you can by [end of?] 2026, and then start shopping out the Foundry for sale". (I think the board will give him 2025 to get engineering process and company size in order, 2026 to prep hard for the pivot, then 2027 it's sale time).
The only scenario that works I think in continued competition is if TSMC stumbles hard in the next 2-3 years.
His foundry talk starts at 22:15 with his Six Pillars for Foundry Leadership:
Capacity
Technology
Ecosystem
Customer Centric
Trust
Patience
Right out of the TSMC playbook. As I mentioned before Lip-Bu knows the foundry business through his time at Cadence. Lip-Bu also knows the chip business through his time at Cadence and his many investments in chip companies through Walden Ventures and their massive investment in this space.
What's Lip Bu Tan, Intel's next CEO Likely to do?
Jeff Morrison
Financial Cultural Operational and Technical Consultant - Alpha Sense Financial ConsultingMarch 12, 2025
Intel's decision to appoint Lip-Bu Tan as CEO signals a strategic pivot toward strengthening its position in semiconductor design and foundry services. Tan’s leadership at Cadence Design Systems demonstrated his ability to drive innovation, expand product offerings, and build deep relationships with semiconductor clients. His appointment suggests Intel will double down on its Intel Foundry Services (IFS) strategy, aiming to establish itself as a formidable competitor to TSMC and Samsung in advanced node manufacturing. Given the challenges Intel faces in regaining process leadership, Tan's experience with EDA tools and ecosystem partnerships could be critical in refining Intel’s foundry roadmap.
For Intel Foundry Services, Tan will likely focus on increasing external customer adoption, addressing concerns about Intel’s historical execution gaps. His industry connections, especially with AI and hyperscaler firms, could help secure more long-term foundry contracts, reducing reliance on internal chip demand. Expect to see renewed investment in process technology innovation, particularly in sub-3nm nodes, where Intel must prove its High-NA EUV capabilities against established rivals. Additionally, Tan may look at improving IFS’s business model to offer more flexible, customer-centric solutions, mirroring TSMC’s successful approach.
High-Performance Computing (HPC) is another key battleground where Intel must strengthen its position. While it has made strides with Xeon, Gaudi AI accelerators, and Ponte Vecchio GPUs, competition from NVIDIA and AMD remains intense. Tan's expertise in silicon design and AI-driven workloads positions him well to guide Intel’s roadmap toward more specialized compute architectures. Expect a stronger push into AI-optimized chips, leveraging Intel’s strengths in packaging technologies like Foveros and EMIB.
One immediate challenge for Intel in HPC is aligning its product roadmap with evolving AI and supercomputing demands. Given Tan’s background in EDA and silicon IP investment, Intel may place greater emphasis on co-designing AI hardware with major cloud providers and research institutions. This could involve forming strategic alliances with key players like AWS, Google, and Meta to develop more custom silicon for data center and AI inference applications.
Another likely shift under Tan’s leadership will be Intel’s approach to software-hardware integration. Given his experience driving Cadence’s AI-driven design tools, Intel may accelerate investments in open software ecosystems to better support its chips. This could involve optimizing software stacks for AI workloads, improving developer tools for oneAPI, and enhancing support for industry-standard frameworks to drive adoption across AI and HPC markets.
Financially, Tan will need to balance Intel’s heavy capital expenditure with a return to profitability in IFS and its core processor business. Cost discipline, strategic asset partnerships, and possibly even divestitures of non-core assets could be on the table to streamline operations. Intel’s foundry business will likely require aggressive pricing strategies and government incentives to compete effectively against Taiwan and Korea’s incumbents.
Ultimately, Tan’s leadership will be measured by Intel’s ability to execute on its foundry and HPC ambitions. If he can accelerate process innovation, deepen customer relationships, and align Intel’s product roadmap with industry trends, the company has a real chance at regaining its competitive edge. However, execution will be key, as past leadership transitions have struggled with delivery timelines.