With New Chip Packaging Technology, Intel Chip is Stepping Up Its Battle Against TSMC.
May 18, 2023
Intel is ramping up its competition with Taiwan Semiconductor fabrication in order to win additional chip fabrication business for its Intel chip production.
Intel (NTC) revealed its current technology pipeline and sales plan to take market share from industry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM), commonly known as TSMC, during a video conference call with the media on Wednesday.
Executive Mark Gardner stated that the company’s Foundry Services provides a compelling value proposition to its clients, noting Intel’s more geographically secure supply chain.
Gardner observed that Intel’s chip manufacturing plants and chip assembly/testing/packaging locations are located all over the world, including the United States. In comparison, the majority of TSMC’s chip manufacturing facilities are in Taiwan. However, the business also has facilities and offices in the United States, Europe, and other parts of Asia. Intel stated that it plans to expand its innovative assembly and advanced packaging services in innovative Mexico.
“Our first key solution as an Intel Foundry Services group is the open system foundry letting customers pick and choose services,” he said. “Where the foundation of it is really about secure supply — both from a geodiversity and Western R&D [basis].”
Sending part of their semiconductor business to facilities outside of Asia may be a smart strategy for large technology corporations. China considers Taiwan a renegade province that aspires to unite with the rest of the country. Meanwhile, the United States regards Taiwan’s chip manufacturing as critical to sustaining military capabilities and economic stability, creating a tense geopolitical backdrop.
Intel officials are also enthusiastic about the company’s future Intel chip packaging methods, which will allow future processors to boost performance while decreasing costs. They discussed Intel’s ambitions to migrate to glass substrate materials, which are stronger than existing technology and may allow for improved chip characteristics. Another interesting packaging technique is co-packaged optics, which is set to enter production at the end of next year and will provide better bandwidth connections to semiconductors.
Gardner stated that Intel Foundry Services is prepared to allow clients to employ a portion of their services, even if it means using other foundries for chip manufacturing and Intel for testing or assembly.
Intel faces a difficult climb. According to TrendForce, TSMC controls around 59% of the third-party chip production market, with Samsung accounting for 16%. Intel’s stake is small as it expands its foundry services to external clients with its new Intel chip method.
However, it appears that Intel will be able to win some market share based on its marketing strategy of increasing manufacturing capacity and services in Western nations. Intel said it is in engagement conversations with seven of the top ten largest chip-packaging clients, including Cisco Systems (CSCO) and Amazon (AMZN) Web Services.