Intel is more than just fabs. AMD spun off digital foundry forever ago and just uses TSMC, no reason Intel couldn’t do the same. At this point their fabs are a liability. They have a new leader who’s from a semiconductor manufacturing background so I have some faith they’ll give up on the pursuit of next gen fabs and focus instead on their IP. There’s a huge opportunity in their GPU segment. They’ve gone from a joke to competitive in a couple years, and they offer more VRAM for the dollar. They could tailor towards AI and really get some traction there.

> At this point their fabs are a liability.

Intel outsourcing their core product line is also a massive liability. It's just a different kind of liability.

I personally think the world's reliance on TSMC indicates that fabs are critically important infrastructure. And operating a world class one provides a company with a ton of leverage with governments and other businesses.

> no reason Intel couldn’t do the same.

Intel is doing the same. IDK if they are working on new fabs at this point, but the last few generations of chips from intel have used TSMC.

My expectation is that Intel might still run fabs, but they'll be mostly contracting them out to people who want cheap ASICs and 10 year old fab tech.

> ... I have some faith they’ll give up on the pursuit of next gen fabs and focus instead on their IP.

The problem with Intel is that they are so short sighted and they change direction and focus very quickly. Intel will adopt these seemingly great ideas that require 10-20 year strategies, invest heavily in them, and then abandon them 5 years later. They always measure initiatives against their core CPU line and if they don't show similar profitability in the short term then they defund and eventually cut the programs entirely.

Owning fabs is the only thing that makes Intel special IMO. There are dozens if not hundreds of fabless semiconductor companies.

If everyone chases higher margin and ditches their fabs what kind of industry are we left with? One giant fab company like TSMC? That sounds healthy!

> They have a new leader who’s from a semiconductor manufacturing background

That's the precious leader. The new CEO is not from a semiconductor manufacturing background. His main claim to success is leading a company that built EDA tools.

> At this point their fabs are a liability.

So we're just going to hand control of the US supply of semiconductors completely over to TSMC, Samsung, and the Chinese fabs in the works? That seems incredibly short sighted and reckless.

They are bringing a lot of that “liability” online in the next few years. You’re ignoring strategic context - as long ad intel maintains domestic fabs it will not be allowed to fail

>digital foundry

global* foundry