Posted on 02/21/2025 9:15:01 AM PST by SunkenCiv
There are rumors that Intel and TSMC might team up to produce chips, and this news has stirred strong reactions from experts, industry insiders, politicians -- and, naturally, Intel employees, too. For example, one Intel engineer, Joseph Bonetti, posted on LinkedIn (though he later deleted his post) that Intel is about to reclaim its leadership in chip-making and win over more customers. He warned that giving TSMC control over Intel's manufacturing would be a big mistake.
Intel is also leading in another area by using advanced machines from ASML -- a toolset with which only Intel has experience [sic]. Although Intel's manufacturing division isn't making a profit yet due to heavy investments in new factories and equipment, early orders from big companies like Microsoft and Amazon show promise. Bonetti believes that if Intel were to give control to TSMC, it would weaken Intel's competitive edge and hurt U.S. leadership in the semiconductor industry.
Oddly, Bonetti's brave LinkedIn post defending the value of his beloved company disappeared within a few hours. Why? When the Herald researched the Principal Engineering Program Manager at Intel Corporation's LinkedIn profile page, we got a 404 error saying his account did not exist. Luckily for all of you interested in this story and what happened, you can read his post in full (while it is still up) right here: https://archive.ph/CAT5p
(Excerpt) Read more at hillsboroherald.com ...
Reading the whole piece, it appears to be a transparent pretext to bash President Trump, and nothing more. Intel's latest great leap attempt had already failed and had Intel turned to TSMC, not the other way around.
Intel’s share price is pretty low at the moment. Potential for recovery? World is going to need a lot of chips over the next few years and AMD, Nvidia and TSMC aren’t going to be able to supply all of the demand by themselves.
When he looked at the value of his stock options he changed his mind.
Where is Intel going to go?
They have nothing in
phones.
tablets.
Internet of Things (IoT).
The chips run hot, using up too much juice for massive parallel processing (smaller number of customers, but massive sales per customer).
They cannot compete in ARM’s space. Apple has quietly but forcefully moved them out of Macs. nVidia aces them out for specialty high-end boutique processing power and high-markup chips. AMD is the preferred platform for gamers these days.
That leaves enterprise/workgroup servers, old school Windows (and some Linux) desktops, some laptops. All of which are vulnerable to AMD.
I personally prefer Intel for my desktop, because I prefer the chipsets, but my once a decade SuperMicro purchase isn’t going to keep them afloat.
They were here once before, in the early 2000s, when they couldn’t make a laptop processor with power but without over-heating, and the Pentium line was under-performing, and they bet on RAMBUS and Itanium.
The Israeli-developed Core2Duo line saved the bacon. This time, I don’t see anything to save them. Too many attacks from too many sectors.
...All told, Intel stock rose by nearly 40% over five trading sessions through Tuesday.
But the flurry of news reports at times contradicted each other, with one saying the Trump administration raised the idea of TSMC taking a controlling stake in Intel's chip factories, while another citing a White House official saying Trump would not likely support such a deal...
Last fall, there were reports of Qualcomm approaching Intel about a takeover. Nothing has happened since...
China blocked a much smaller $5 billion acquisition of Israel's Tower Semiconductor in 2023, suggesting the Asian country isn't keen on any acquisition that would help the U.S. chipmaking industry...
Second, there isn't an easy way to separate Intel's chip manufacturing operations. In 2024, Intel Foundry generated $17.5 billion in revenue, down 7% versus the prior year, while losing $13.4 billion... It also doesn't help sentiment about Intel's foundry road map when Michelle Johnston Holthaus, interim co-CEO of Intel and CEO of Intel Products, repeatedly reiterates she would potentially use TSMC for data center CPUs in the future if it "made sense."
...Intel still doesn't have a permanent CEO after Pat Gelsinger retired last December. Intel would be better served finding a competent leader with technical expertise to figure out a turnaround strategy and stabilize the business...Intel's Future Is Still Murky. Don't Chase the Stock. | Tae Kim | Barron's | February 19, 2025
Pft!
Who listens to engineers!?
I do at rail crossings.
“Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company” Limited - TSMC
TSMC has been the world’s dedicated semiconductor foundry since 1987
How many ChiCom moles are embedded there?
I’ve had a year playing with the Intel3 process.
They are WAY behind the competition!
TSMC is a very good company.
World leader in process technology.
Probably a tough place to work for however.
Their major customer is Apple
Not sure. How many Chi Com moles are embedded in US tech companies?
Touché.
well, that there is good sound reasoning...
Seems pretty obvious why the post was deleted. It could be a securities law violation.
Boeing blames Airbus and Trump.
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