Report: Intel still needs TSMC’s capacity in 2024 and 2025

TSMC might land as much as 5.6 billion and 9.7 billion dollars in orders from Intel in 2024 and 2025, respectively, according to a Goldman Sachs Securities report picked up by the Taiwanese-language newspaper Commercial Times. That would represent 6.4 percent and 9.4 percent of the foundry’s total revenue in the corresponding year. Overall, Intel plans on outsourcing manufacturing jobs worth 18.6 and 19.4 billion dollars in 2024 and 2025.

Intel handed technological leadership at the leading edge to TSMC after it slipped up during the 14-to-10nm transition. To stay competitive, the US processor giant has been outsourcing some of its manufacturing load to the Taiwanese outfit and other foundries in recent years. The adoption of multi-chiplet designs facilitates this strategy. For example, the upcoming Meteor Lake processor features an Intel 4 CPU tile (equivalent to 7nm) and a 5nm GPU tile manufactured by TSMC.

Recently, Intel established a foundry-like relationship between its manufacturing and internal product business units. With Intel Foundry yet again grappling with delays and inefficiencies as the PC and notebook processor markets are picking up, the company decided to continue relying substantially on TSMC to fulfill orders as it endeavors to catch up with the Taiwanese foundry.

Last week, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger reported his company is still “on track” to start manufacturing five nodes in four years, which would put Intel ahead of TSMC in 2025. Additionally, Gelsinger said he’s signed “a large customer.”