Intel allegedly outsourcing some 14nm orders to TSMC as Mac chip maker struggles with die ...

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited September 2018
Intel is reportedly outsourcing some of its 14-nanometer chip production to Apple's iPhone and iPad chip manufacturer because of high demand, as it continues to have problems shifting to 10nm fabrication.

Apple MacBook Pro


TSMC will handle production of the H310 and "several other 300 series chipsets," DigiTimes said on Monday, citing industry sources. TSMC already builds some components for Intel, but mainly things like systems-on-chip for phones.

Intel is claimed to be falling short of 14-nanometer demand "by as much as 50 percent," and turning to outsourcing as an alternative to expanding its own capacity. Motherboard makers are expecting improved supply by the end of 2018.

Reacting in a statement, Intel did not explicitly confirm or deny the situation.

"In response to the stronger than expected demand environment, we are continuing to invest in Intel's 14nm manufacturing capacity," the company told Tom's Hardware.

The reason for the crush is likely Intel's delayed switch to 10-nanometer chips. Mass production was originally meant to start in 2016, but now the company is only targeting the fourth quarter of 2019.

The 300 series chipsets referred to by both DigiTimes and Tom's Hardware represents more than just the PCH, but also Intel's new Coffee Lake processors. The H310 chip itself is relatively simple and has been suffering shortages since May, which could make it a candidate.

Supporting claims of tough supply from Intel are rising prices for cheaper processors, and the high-end Core i7-8700K going in and out of stock at retailers.

Apple is expected to use Coffee Lake processors wherever it can for the foreseeable future, and may announce new Macs with them at its Sept. 12 press event.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 34
    netroxnetrox Posts: 1,421member
    You'd think that Intel with its massive revenues would have money to recruit talented engineers but they have come up with dismal results. It's time for them to re-evaluate their team of engineers.
    anton zuykovdoozydozenJWSCSpamSandwichwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 34
    wood1208wood1208 Posts: 2,913member
    Experts say Intel's fab/transistor tech at 14nm is close to 10nm from others but it seem ironic that how Intel who was way ahead of others in minimizing node size in chip fabrication fell behind. My hope is somehow Intel pulls off 10nm by 2nd half of next year and confident of 7nm in next two-three years.
    caladanian
  • Reply 3 of 34
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    The once mighty Intel. Who would have thought it would end like this. There's a great documentary on Prime about the beginnings of Silicon Valley and William Shockley, the inventor of the transistor. He founded Shockley Semiconductor which spawned Fairchild Semiconductor, which spawned Intel, founded by Gordon Moore and Robert Noyce. Moore and Noyce were recruited by Shockley when he started Shockley Semiconductor. A group of engineers that included Moore and Noyce left Shockley and started Fairchild Semiconductors. Later Moore and Noyce left Fairchild to start Intel. 
    hubbaxronndoozydozenRayz2016GG1watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 34
    If Intel dies ,will Windows die?
  • Reply 5 of 34
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    If Intel dies ,will Windows die?
    Oh **** are we now going to have to endure a flood of brain dead "Intel is Doomed" posts?
    edited September 2018 PickUrPoisonmuthuk_vanalingamSoli
  • Reply 6 of 34
    volcanvolcan Posts: 1,799member
    netrox said:
    You'd think that Intel with its massive revenues would have money to recruit talented engineers but they have come up with dismal results. It's time for them to re-evaluate their team of engineers.
    There are lots of scientists that have created smaller dies in the lab, with a transistor gate even down to a single atom in width, but that is completely different than manufacturing chips on a commercial scale. The main problem is as they continue to shrink the node size, the costs increase astronomically and there is a limited market for those chips. There are several fabs being built currently in China that are using conventional node scales for which there is a much broader market. Shrinking the nodes to 5nm or even 3nm is not going to be commercially profitable anytime soon if ever. There are just so few applications that would require such a small chip.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 34
    If Intel dies ,will Windows die?
    Windows should be worried about Chromebooks, but they don't need Intel to be successful.

    Intel
    should be worried about computers like this:
    Lenovo’s latest Yoga laptop is the first with Qualcomm’s new ARM processor and 25-hour battery life

    I would personally love a MacBook Pro that runs on Apple-designed ARM cores that allows insane battery life for simpler tasks, but I doubt the ROI would be anywhere near what they get out of designing the A-series chips for iPhone. The T1/T2 chips may very well be laying the groundwork for it at the OS level, though.
    edited September 2018 d_2watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 34
    tipootipoo Posts: 1,142member
    This is a curiosity, but a smaller deal than it could seem. 

    This is not using TSMC's leading edge 7nm fab, and Intels 14nm was a generation ahead of TSMCs. This is merely about Intel fabs being at full capacity, which is not a bad problem to have. Their chipsets were often one or two fabs back from the main processor because they don't need the most bleeding edge. 
  • Reply 9 of 34
    Intel is run by businessmen not scientists. It will likely die like all the other american manufacturing businesses that look to make shareholders happy and grossly compensate executives. Just wait for the corporate raiders to enter the fray to sell off the profitable segments and IP.  It's a shame the US is the greatest innovator - but Kodak, Ford, Intel, IBM, ATT, Xerox, Boeing, 3M, Motorola will all end up irrelevant (some already gone).
    DAalsethaknabi
  • Reply 10 of 34
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Fatman said:
    Intel is run by businessmen not scientists. It will likely die like all the other american manufacturing businesses that look to make shareholders happy and grossly compensate executives. Just wait for the corporate raiders to enter the fray to sell off the profitable segments and IP.  It's a shame the US is the greatest innovator - but Kodak, Ford, Intel, IBM, ATT, Xerox, Boeing, 3M, Motorola will all end up irrelevant (some already gone).
    Few posts here have I agreed with more.
    larryjw
  • Reply 11 of 34
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    netrox said:
    You'd think that Intel with its massive revenues would have money to recruit talented engineers but they have come up with dismal results. It's time for them to re-evaluate their team of engineers.
    This has nothing to do with their engineers, or designs. It has to do with booming orders for their 14nm production, and they’re moving to 10nm, with the results that they lack capacity for 14nm. We’ll see 10nm around the end of the year, or first quarter next year.

    considering that Intel’s 14nm is considered to be about equal to everyone else’s 10nm, and that their upcoming 10nm to everyone else’s 7nm. They really aren’t that far behind. These other manufacturers are fighting a pr battle that they Starr Ted by claiming numbers that really don’t matter. Intel is trying to have a new measuring spec for process nodes that makes more sense these days where the node number doesn’t mean that much. They want to measure transistor packing density, which make much more sense, but, naturally, they are getting pushback from other manufacturers whose packing density is well behind Intel’s.
    JWSCcaladanian
  • Reply 12 of 34
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member

    Fatman said:
    Intel is run by businessmen not scientists. It will likely die like all the other american manufacturing businesses that look to make shareholders happy and grossly compensate executives. Just wait for the corporate raiders to enter the fray to sell off the profitable segments and IP.  It's a shame the US is the greatest innovator - but Kodak, Ford, Intel, IBM, ATT, Xerox, Boeing, 3M, Motorola will all end up irrelevant (some already gone).
    Bah! That’s nonsense. It’s popular to make statements like that as a faceless comment. If you don’t understand Intel’s business, which apparently you don’t, then refrain from commenting like this.

    eventually every company dies, no matter what country they’re in. Companies make mistakes, as do governments. But extropolating Intel’s fate is just sour thinking.
    JWSCwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 34
    DAalseth said:
    If Intel dies ,will Windows die?
    Oh **** are we now going to have to endure a flood of brain dead "Intel is Doomed" posts?
    well, given that Intel is supposed to be the best chip designer and manufacturer, what they did would be akin to Apple asking Samsung to design their next iPhone.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 34
    JanNLJanNL Posts: 327member
    well, given that Intel is supposed to be the best chip designer and manufacturer, what they did would be akin to Apple asking Samsung to design their next iPhone.
    Better: given that Intel is supposed to be the best chip designer and manufacturer, what they did would be akin to Apple asking Foxconn to assemble their iPhone.
    ... Oh they do!
  • Reply 15 of 34
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    DAalseth said:
    If Intel dies ,will Windows die?
    Oh **** are we now going to have to endure a flood of brain dead "Intel is Doomed" posts?
    well, given that Intel is supposed to be the best chip designer and manufacturer, what they did would be akin to Apple asking Samsung to design their next iPhone.
    No, it’s like having another OEM make your chips for you. With Apple, it’s everything. With Intel, it’s the overflow they can’t handle.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 34
    larryjwlarryjw Posts: 1,031member
    What you are seeing is the American version of capitalism killing companies.

    Jack Ma of Alibaba has stated clearly that US decline is caused companies focusing on profits for investors rather than profits churned back into production. 
  • Reply 17 of 34
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    volcan said:
    netrox said:
    You'd think that Intel with its massive revenues would have money to recruit talented engineers but they have come up with dismal results. It's time for them to re-evaluate their team of engineers.
    There are lots of scientists that have created smaller dies in the lab, with a transistor gate even down to a single atom in width, but that is completely different than manufacturing chips on a commercial scale. The main problem is as they continue to shrink the node size, the costs increase astronomically and there is a limited market for those chips. There are several fabs being built currently in China that are using conventional node scales for which there is a much broader market. Shrinking the nodes to 5nm or even 3nm is not going to be commercially profitable anytime soon if ever. There are just so few applications that would require such a small chip.
    Intel missed the boat of smartphones. The processors used in smartphones are several times more than in PCs. And they are mostly manufactured by TSMC. 
  • Reply 18 of 34
    larryjw said:
    What you are seeing is the American version of capitalism killing companies.

    Jack Ma of Alibaba has stated clearly that US decline is caused companies focusing on profits for investors rather than profits churned back into production. 
    I can't tell you how many US manufacturers went to China for cheap labor and everyone else was forced to follow suit in order to stay competitive. As long as their is cheap manual labor in China there will be companies pursuing it to increase profits. The problem is that almost all if not all companies lose IP going to China and may end up closing the doors of the US company. I am not sure the board could see past the huge stock awards they were going to get as a result and maybe didn't care if the company shut its doors 5 years later. They got theirs. I also don't think that we can overlook the work ethic of most Americans is so weak compared to any 3rd world country where putting food on the table isn't a everyday guarantee. They are so thankful for food for the families and typical American is troubled if they don't have latest phone, game console, car, boat etc. It should be said that this is probably a problem of all first world countries. 
  • Reply 19 of 34
    tzeshantzeshan Posts: 2,351member
    metrix said:
    larryjw said:
    What you are seeing is the American version of capitalism killing companies.

    Jack Ma of Alibaba has stated clearly that US decline is caused companies focusing on profits for investors rather than profits churned back into production. 
    I can't tell you how many US manufacturers went to China for cheap labor and everyone else was forced to follow suit in order to stay competitive. As long as their is cheap manual labor in China there will be companies pursuing it to increase profits. The problem is that almost all if not all companies lose IP going to China and may end up closing the doors of the US company. I am not sure the board could see past the huge stock awards they were going to get as a result and maybe didn't care if the company shut its doors 5 years later. They got theirs. I also don't think that we can overlook the work ethic of most Americans is so weak compared to any 3rd world country where putting food on the table isn't a everyday guarantee. They are so thankful for food for the families and typical American is troubled if they don't have latest phone, game console, car, boat etc. It should be said that this is probably a problem of all first world countries. 
    Apple sourcing iPhone manufacturing to Foxconn which is a Taiwanese company. Taiwan does not have enough workers to assemble iPhone. Foxconn thought to do this in China. So this is not Apple wants to manufacture iPhone in China. It is the Taiwanese company Foxconn that wants to do this way. Taiwan news today said Foxconn will construct two assembly plants in US, one in Indiana, one in Houston. But you should know US workers have very high demand in salary and benefits. 
  • Reply 20 of 34
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    tzeshan said:
    metrix said:
    larryjw said:
    What you are seeing is the American version of capitalism killing companies.

    Jack Ma of Alibaba has stated clearly that US decline is caused companies focusing on profits for investors rather than profits churned back into production. 
    I can't tell you how many US manufacturers went to China for cheap labor and everyone else was forced to follow suit in order to stay competitive. As long as their is cheap manual labor in China there will be companies pursuing it to increase profits. The problem is that almost all if not all companies lose IP going to China and may end up closing the doors of the US company. I am not sure the board could see past the huge stock awards they were going to get as a result and maybe didn't care if the company shut its doors 5 years later. They got theirs. I also don't think that we can overlook the work ethic of most Americans is so weak compared to any 3rd world country where putting food on the table isn't a everyday guarantee. They are so thankful for food for the families and typical American is troubled if they don't have latest phone, game console, car, boat etc. It should be said that this is probably a problem of all first world countries. 
    Apple sourcing iPhone manufacturing to Foxconn which is a Taiwanese company. Taiwan does not have enough workers to assemble iPhone. Foxconn thought to do this in China. So this is not Apple wants to manufacture iPhone in China. It is the Taiwanese company Foxconn that wants to do this way. Taiwan news today said Foxconn will construct two assembly plants in US, one in Indiana, one in Houston. But you should know US workers have very high demand in salary and benefits. 
    Which is why I expect those plants to be almost completely robotic. No tens of thousands of jobs. Just Chinese robots assembling things, tended by a few dozen or maybe a hundred techs.
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