Intel is reportedly planning to outsource a larger portion of its Arrow Lake CPU production to TSMC. This move comes as Intel appears to be losing confidence in the capabilities of its own foundry division, Intel Foundry Services (IFS).
According to a report by Ctee, Intel has increased orders with TSMC for both Lunar Lake and Arrow Lake CPUs in an effort to maintain its competitive edge against AMD, which already utilizes TSMC's advanced manufacturing processes. This is a significant development, as Arrow Lake marks the first time Intel has outsourced production of its core CPU products due to IFS's underperformance.
Intel's increased reliance on TSMC raises questions about the future of its foundry business. The substantial operating costs and declining profits of Intel Foundry, coupled with the company's growing dependence on TSMC (especially with the potential use of TSMC's 3nm process for its next-gen Falcon Shores AI GPUs), suggest a potential shift in strategy. A sell-off of the manufacturing unit could be a possibility as Intel strengthens its partnership with TSMC.
