Intel manufacturing business suffers setback as Broadcom tests disappoint, sources say
Broadcom has been testing silicon wafers at Intel's manufacturing business for months, sources say
Silicon wafers from Intel failed Broadcom's tests, sources say, dealing setback
Intel's contract chipmaking effort is crucial to CEO Pat Gelsinger's turnaround plans
By Max A. Cherney
Sept 4 (Reuters) -Intel's INTC.O contract manufacturing business has suffered a setback after tests with chipmaker Broadcom AVGO.O failed, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, dealing a blow to the company's turnaround efforts.
The tests conducted by Broadcom involved sending silicon wafers - the foot-wide discs on which chips are printed - through Intel's most advanced manufacturing process known as 18A, the sources said. Broadcom received the wafers back from Intel last month. After its engineers and executives studied the results, the company concluded the manufacturing process is not yet viable to move to high-volume production.
Reuters could not determine the current relationship between Broadcom and Intel or whether Broadcom had decided to walk away from a potential manufacturing deal.
"Intel 18A is powered on, healthy and yielding well, and we remain fully on track to begin high volume manufacturing next year," an Intel spokesperson said in a statement. "There is a great deal of interest in Intel 18A across the industry but, as a matter of policy, we do not comment on specific customer conversations."
A Broadcom spokesperson said the company is "evaluating the product and service offerings of Intel Foundry and have not concluded that evaluation."
Intel's contract manufacturing business was launched in 2021 as a key part of Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger's turnaround strategy.
Broadcom is not a household name but makes crucial networking gear and radio chips that helped generate $28 billion in overall chip sales in its last fiscal year. It has benefited from the boom in spending on artificial intelligence hardware, and J.P. Morgan analyst Harlan Sur estimated it will bank $11 billion to $12 billion from AI this year, up from $4 billion last year.
Some of its chip sales are from agreements with companies such as Alphabet's GOOGL.O Google and Meta Platforms META.O to help produce in-house AI processors, which can include arrangements with a manufacturer, such as Intel or Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co 2330.TW.
CRUCIAL SETBACK
As part of a disastrous second-quarter earnings reportthat shaved more than a quarter from the company's market value, Intel announced a 15% job cut and a reduction in capital spending related to its factory construction. Gelsinger and other executives will present a plan to the board of directors in mid-September on possible cuts to business units and teams to reduce costs, Reuters reported on Sunday.
Intel has committed to about $100 billion of expansion and new factory construction at several sites in the U.S. A crucial part of the company's expansion includes attracting big customers such as Nvidia NVDA.O or Apple AAPL.O to fill up capacity at all its new sites.
Intel reported a $7 billion operating loss for the foundry business, wider than the $5.2 billion in losses the year earlier. Executives expect the contract chip business to achieve breakeven in 2027.
Typically fabricating an advanced chip requires more than 1,000 separate steps inside a chip factory, or fab, and takes roughly three months to complete. Production success is determined by the number of working chips on each silicon wafer. Achieving a substantial yield is crucial to move to producing the tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of wafers demanded by big chip designers.
Broadcom's engineers had concerns with the viability of the process, the sources said. Typically that refers to the number of defects on each wafer or the quality of the chips fabricated.
For an advanced manufacturing process used by TSMC, the Taiwanese giant charges roughly $23,000 per wafer at high volume, according to two sources familiar with wafer pricing. Reuters could not determine Intel's wafer pricing.
TSMC declined to comment on its wafer pricing.
Moving a chip design from a manufacturing process used by a company such as TSMC to another vendor such as Samsung 005930.KS or Intel can take months and requires dozens of engineers, depending on the complexity of the chip and the differences in manufacturing technology.
Betting on a new manufacturing process such as Intel's 18A is impossible for some smaller chip companies because doing so would require resources they do not have.
Intel released its manufacturing tool kit for its 18A process to other chipmakers over the summer, Gelsinger said on an earnings call last month.
The companyplans to be "manufacturing-ready" by the end of this year for its own chips and begin high volume production for external customers in 2025, Gelsinger said. At an investor conference last week, he said there are a dozen customers "actively engaged" with the tool kit.
BREAKINGVIEWS-Intel will be forced to find a plan B https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/intel-will-be-forced-find-plan-b-2024-08-26/
Max A. Cherney in San Francisco; Editing by Kenneth Li and Matthew Lewis
Ativos relacionados
Últimas notícias
Isenção de Responsabilidade: As entidades do XM Group proporcionam serviço de apenas-execução e acesso à nossa plataforma online de negociação, permitindo a visualização e/ou uso do conteúdo disponível no website ou através deste, o que não se destina a alterar ou a expandir o supracitado. Tal acesso e uso estão sempre sujeitos a: (i) Termos e Condições; (ii) Avisos de Risco; e (iii) Termos de Responsabilidade. Este, é desta forma, fornecido como informação generalizada. Particularmente, por favor esteja ciente que os conteúdos da nossa plataforma online de negociação não constituem solicitação ou oferta para iniciar qualquer transação nos mercados financeiros. Negociar em qualquer mercado financeiro envolve um nível de risco significativo de perda do capital.
Todo o material publicado na nossa plataforma de negociação online tem apenas objetivos educacionais/informativos e não contém — e não deve ser considerado conter — conselhos e recomendações financeiras, de negociação ou fiscalidade de investimentos, registo de preços de negociação, oferta e solicitação de transação em qualquer instrumento financeiro ou promoção financeira não solicitada direcionadas a si.
Qual conteúdo obtido por uma terceira parte, assim como o conteúdo preparado pela XM, tais como, opiniões, pesquisa, análises, preços, outra informação ou links para websites de terceiras partes contidos neste website são prestados "no estado em que se encontram", como um comentário de mercado generalizado e não constitui conselho de investimento. Na medida em que qualquer conteúdo é construído como pesquisa de investimento, deve considerar e aceitar que este não tem como objetivo e nem foi preparado de acordo com os requisitos legais concebidos para promover a independência da pesquisa de investimento, desta forma, deve ser considerado material de marketing sob as leis e regulações relevantes. Por favor, certifique-se que leu e compreendeu a nossa Notificação sobre Pesquisa de Investimento não-independente e o Aviso de Risco, relativos à informação supracitada, os quais podem ser acedidos aqui.