Intel hopes to become a rival to TSMC and Samsung by 2025
Apple was planning to use Intel’s 5G modem chip on its first 5G phones
Intel says that over the next four years, it will introduce five new technologies related to the production of these vital components. One of the five is the introduction of Intel’s first new transistor design in ten years. As early as 2025, Intel will get its hands on ASML’s next-generation extreme ultraviolet lithography (EVL) machines that place on the silicon an image of where the circuitry will be placed.
The larger the number of transistors that fit inside a square mm, the more powerful and less energy-guzzling a chip is. And while Intel has been losing the process node war with TSMC and Samsung, it does plan to reveal a design for transistors smaller than 1nm by 2024.
Intel’s first major new customers will be Qualcomm and Amazon. The former is known for the Snapdragon chips that drive mobile phones with some helping to connect handsets to 5G networks. These chips will use Intel’s 20A manufacturing technique that will produce chips that consume less power than current components thanks to the use of new transistor technologies.
Analysts wonder whether Intel will be able to deliver on its promises
While some analysts remain cautious about whether Intel can deliver on the promises it has made, Real World Technologies’ David Kanter said that the chipmaker is being more cautious than it has been in the past. He says, “Intel is absolutely going to catch up, and be ahead in some dimensions, with TSMC over the next few years. Intel really does have people who spend all their time looking at how to deploy new materials and technology to juice their performance.”
