[HN Gopher] Intel Talks with TSMC, Samsung to Outsource Some Chi...
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       Intel Talks with TSMC, Samsung to Outsource Some Chip Production
        
       Author : doener
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2021-01-08 20:50 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.bloomberg.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.bloomberg.com)
        
       | vnqwerty wrote:
       | Well, in the U.S. and Europe people who actually produce
       | something are hindered by bureaucrats and ideologues.
       | 
       | It is no wonder that valuable knowledge moves to Asia.
        
         | princekolt wrote:
         | Funny, ARM, AMD, and Apple seem to be having no issues. Maybe
         | they should change the company name to Antel?
        
       | addled wrote:
       | Conspiracy theory: Intel is using their deeper pockets to buy up
       | TSMC fab capacity in an effort to slow AMD production. Doing so
       | gets them breathing room to improve their own manufacturing
       | process before TSMC can bring on enough capacity to serve both of
       | them fully.
        
         | tpmx wrote:
         | Deeper pockets than Apple?
        
           | striking wrote:
           | Deeper pockets than AMD. All other assumptions holding true,
           | Intel doesn't need to outrun the bear...
        
       | trianglem wrote:
       | I'm so sad.
        
       | meragrin_ wrote:
       | Intel is supposed to be releasing their Xe-HPG this year and
       | they've already announced it was going to be manufactured
       | externally. Is this supposed to be specifically about the CPUs?
        
       | tracker1 wrote:
       | I have really mixed feelings on this. I'd prefer to see Intel
       | work with TSMC and/or Samsung to build/operate joint fabs or some
       | kind of co-ownership over completely outsourcing. I'd prefer to
       | see a few more diverse production locations that include an EU
       | fab, and updated US fab locations. I'm concerned about
       | instability with China stretching its' elbows in the region and I
       | think having more geodiverse locations would be better for
       | everyone involved.
       | 
       | It's kind of the end of an era and sad to see in a lot of ways. I
       | do want to see Intel be more competitive as they'll probably be
       | treading water in mindshare for the next couple years.
       | 
       | Aside: I want to know how much Intel is paying laptop mfgs to
       | keep higher end memory and GPU options out of AMD powered
       | laptops.
        
       | baybal2 wrote:
       | Yet another Bloomberg "bombshell" without a single named source?
       | 
       | Rumour were going on for at least 3 years, but they are rumours.
       | 
       | Except for the fact of Bob Swan being sighted visiting Xinzhu,
       | there was no other facts supporting that whatsoever in a those
       | years.
        
         | meragrin_ wrote:
         | How is this a bombshell? They have already announced some of
         | their new GPUs are going to be manufactured externally and due
         | for release this year.
        
           | baybal2 wrote:
           | Yes, _G_ PUs, not _C_ PUs.
        
       | TakuYam wrote:
       | I'm mildly irked by this but only because there will be more than
       | a few people who will believe this to in response to the dreadful
       | letter from Third Point.
        
       | ogre_codes wrote:
       | Giving up manufacturing would be terrible. It really feels like
       | Intel is ceding any hope of leadership to focus on milking their
       | IP for cash. That would be incredibly frustrating and sad.
       | 
       | I hope it's not true or just very limited scope.
        
         | Alupis wrote:
         | It's worked out extremely well for AMD... and recall everyone
         | was saying it would be the end of AMD when they spun off their
         | FAB into Global Foundries.
         | 
         | Fabricating, and design are very different businesses.
        
         | Traster wrote:
         | I think this is the wrong way of looking at it - and actually
         | the way that Intel themselves describe it. Intel think of
         | themselves as a manufacturing company whose designs drive
         | demand for their fab. But in truth, most of their value comes
         | from x86 which could be produced by any fab. To stay
         | competitive, their high end designs need to be on the absolute
         | bleedge edge process. Which up until now has been Intel fabs.
         | 
         | But it's not giving up on Intel fabs to get their stuff
         | produced by TSMC. They need to do both - they need to make
         | money by producing the best designs in the market no matter
         | what the process in the high end space, as wl as sinking
         | investment into their fabrication side to make sure that in 5
         | years time they're the leading fab. At which point they can
         | turn around and say F-U to all those TSMC customers, produce
         | only Intel chips and use that to capture market share.
        
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       (page generated 2021-01-08 23:00 UTC)