Intel will become a key source of TSMC’s future revenue growth
Intel proposed the “IDM 2.0” strategy this year, announcing that it will build a world-class Intel foundry service (IFS) and expand the use of third-party foundry production capacity. At the same time, Intel and Apple seized the production capacity of TSMC’s N3 process node. The rumors involved four products, including GPU modules used to manufacture Meteor Lake released in 2023, and some modules based on Ponte Vecchio. In the future, the relationship between Intel and TSMC is both a partner and a competitor.
According to DigiTimes reports, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will meet with TSMC President Dr. Wei to discuss the N3 process node capacity and some future cooperation details. Due to the existence of a certain competitive relationship between the two parties, it is estimated that the specific cooperation will be weighed against the pros and cons of their respective operations. Understand that the cooperation between Intel and TSMC will continue at least until the post-N2 process node era in 2025. With the deepening of cooperation, Intel is expected to rise to the top three customers of TSMC in 2023, becoming a key source of TSMC’s continued revenue growth in the next few years.
For TSMC, there are not many customers using advanced processes below the N7 process node, because the cost is too high. A large part of customers stays at the N7 process node. At present, customers of TSMC’s N5 and below process nodes include Apple, MediaTek, Qualcomm, AMD, Nvidia, Xilinx, Google, Tesla, and some manufacturers in mainland China, and some customers have little demand for production capacity. At the N3 process node, now only Apple and Intel are left. Due to Intel’s urgent demand for advanced processes and large demand for production capacity, it will accelerate TSMC’s recovery of R&D costs.
