Design-Technology Co-Optimization (DTCO) has been a foundational concept in semiconductor engineering for years. So, when Synopsys referenced DTCO in their April 2025 press release about enabling Angstrom-scale chip designs on Intel’s 18A and 18A-P process technologies, it may have sounded familiar—almost expected. … Read More
Intel Foundry is a Low Risk Aternative to TSMC
As I have said before, there is a foundry market segment that I call the “NOT TSMC” market, companies who want an alternative to TSMC. My guess, this would be a $5B+ market which is what Samsung Foundry has tried to leverage for the past 20 years. Unfortunately, working with Samsung proved to be a much higher risk than expected… Read More
Intel’s Foundry Transformation: Technology, Culture, and Collaboration
Intel’s historical dominance in semiconductor process technology began to erode around 2018, as competitors started delivering higher performance at smaller nodes. In response, Intel is now doubling down on innovation across two fronts: advanced process nodes such as Intel 18A and 14A, and cutting-edge packaging technologies.… Read More
Intel’s Path to Technological Leadership: Transforming Foundry Services and Embracing AI
Intel, long a leader in semiconductor manufacturing, is on a determined journey to reclaim its technological leadership in the industry. After facing significant challenges in recent years, the company is making a concerted effort to adapt and innovate, with a clear focus on AI-driven technologies, advanced packaging solutions,… Read More
Intel Foundry Delivers!
Now that the dust has settled, I will give you my take on the Intel Foundry event. Some might call me a semiconductor event critic as I have attended hundreds of them over the last 40 years starting with the Design Automation Conference in 1984. Foundry events are my favorite because they really are the pulse of the semiconductor industry,… Read More
Podcast EP284: Current Capabilities and Future Focus at Intel Foundry Services with Kevin O’Buckley
Dan is joined by Kevin O’Buckley, senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services at Intel Corporation. In this role, he is responsible for driving continued growth for Intel Foundry and its differentiated systems foundry offerings, which go beyond traditional wafer fabrication to include packaging, chiplet… Read More
Intel has a new Billionaire CEO!
Great news last week as Intel fills the CEO slot for the 9th time in 56 years with industry legend Lip-Bu Tan. From what I hear, Intel employees, and the entire industry for that matter, are overjoyed. I’m sure there are one or two competing companies that are concerned but overall it is an absolute love fest.
If you look at education… Read More
The Intel Common Platform Foundry Alliance
When I do a root cause analysis of Intel’s problem it is very simple. If Intel wants to continue to be a leading-edge semiconductor manufacturer, they need to fill their fabs, all of their fabs. Clearly several things need to happen in order to do that but the one that most interests me is on the foundry side.
I think we can all agree that… Read More
What would you do if you were the CEO of Intel?
One of the most enduring threads in the SemiWiki forum is What would you do if you are the Intel CEO? There are currently 128 responses and more than 45,000 views. It was originally posted March 13th, 2015, after Brain Krzanich was given the CEO position. A different time for sure but an interesting read and the responses keep on coming.… Read More
Intel Presents the Final Frontier of Transistor Architecture at IEDM
IEDM was buzzing with many presentations about the newest gate-all-around transistor. Both Intel and TSMC announced processes based on nanosheet technology. This significant process innovation allows the fabrication of silicon RibbonFET CMOS devices, which promise to open a new era of transistor scaling, keeping Moore’s… Read More