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Nvidia halts testing of 18A process

Happy holidays, everyone!

It's been a while but wanted to contribute something small to this forum I read practically everyday! 😅

It appears Nvidia will not move forward with Intel's 18A process node.

Related articles below:
Well Intel themselves said 18A will be internal only node
 
Well Intel themselves said 18A will be internal only node
the revisionist history is quite stunning here.

2021: 18A was the external version of the Internal node. 50 products being testing. Everyone is looking at it. Whales and prepayments coming in. 5B in external foundry revenue in 2026. Fabs planned everywhere

2024: Internal version (20A) is cancelled and product moved to TSMC. This is because 18A was doing so well, there was no need for 20A.

1H2025: No one (except USG with 2030 volume) external has signed up. LBT says maybe the external foundry fanstasy needs to stop

2H2025: Apple, Google, Nvidia Looking at it. 18A will win.. ... Risk production started in April. Panther lake Launch in 2025 Yay!

18A is "internal only" because no one external wants to use it as of today. Its pretty simple.

Everyone looks at options, then they make decisions and have backup plans based on reality.

Perhaps we should track external tapeouts for products and external revenue instead of these "news articles"

We know there is no significant (defined as greater than half a fab) external foundry volume until at least 2028.
 
2024: Internal version (20A) is cancelled and product moved to TSMC. This is because 18A was doing so well, there was no need for 20A.

We know there is no significant (defined as greater than half a fab) external foundry volume until at least 2028.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. There was a need for 20A. It was a necessary step in the development of 18A. Even in Gelsinger's Pollyanna world there were only going to be a few SKU's run on 20A. In fact, what you are calling revisionist history is really only a replacement of Gelsinger's reality with the one the rest of us live in.

One of the biggest issues with 18A is that it was still designed as an Intel first node. It is my understanding that there are still many issues with the transistor library that make it less desirable for others to use it.

As to the 2028 claim, I'm assuming you are basing that on potential 14A adoption?
 
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