Intel To Build Qualcomm Chips, Lays Roadmap To Expand Its New Foundry Business

Intel is leaving no stone unturned in its attempt to regain the lead in the chip-making space. The company has now chalked out a strategy to catch Asian rivals like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung Electronics. Intel said that is expanding its new foundry business with the goal of retaking the top position in the space by 2025. The company also said that its factories would start building Qualcomm chips. Intel has been a leader in the field of building the smallest and fastest computing chips for decades. Speaking at Intel Accelerated webcast, chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger made several plans for the next five years. One of the major announcements made was Intel will no longer use the nanometer-based nomenclature.

There are several chip manufacturers that are still using this nomenclature. For decades this was considered to be a gold standard. But as companies are working to pack more transistors in their small area of chips, things are bound to change. The company has announced a new scheme to name its chips. Intel said that new nomenclature being adopted by it would give a more “accurate view of process nodes across the industry.” Under this, 10nm chips would no longer be referred to as some name base on 10nm. Instead, they would be called ‘Intel 7.’

But there are some who believe that it could simply be a marketing tactic. Commenting on this, Intel senior vice president Sanjay Natarajan said that the shift is aimed at making it easier for customers to make a comparison with rivals. Natarajan said that it is important as the company is moving into a foundry market. But these changes came a little late as Intel has lost the title of being a leader in the industry to TSMC and Samsung. Intel’s rivals Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Nvidia have used their manufacturing services to manufacture chips that outperform those produced by Intel.