Intel has reportedly handed over all processes below 3nm to TSMC, and has cut 15% of its global workforce in an effort to reverse its decline

On September 9, according to Taiwan media "Commercial Times", the development of Intel's wafer foundry business has been hindered. It is said that it has fully outsourced the process below 3 nanometers to TSMC and launched a plan to lay off 15% of its employees worldwide in an attempt to reverse the downward trend.

Taiwanese media quoted a "semiconductor industry insider" as saying that the investment cost of advanced processes is high, and as competitors gradually fall behind, the industry shows a "winner takes all" trend. Intel's CPU has adopted TSMC's foundry model since Lunar Lake. Although Intel is still insisting on the wafer foundry business, companies such as Broadcom have expressed concerns about the services provided by Intel, believing that it is not suitable for mass production.

According to Intel's latest quarterly financial report, the loss of its foundry business has expanded to $2.8 billion (IT Home Note: Currently about RMB 19.894 billion), with an operating profit margin of -65.5%. Intel admitted that the expansion of Intel 3 and Intel 4 process capacity in its Irish factory has put tremendous pressure on profitability. Currently, they are actively promoting transformation through "cost reduction and efficiency improvement", planning to save $10 billion (currently about RMB 71.051 billion) in costs by 2025, sell some businesses, and suspend dividends.

The semiconductor industry insider stressed that Intel has no way out and must cut all unnecessary spending and focus resources on its core chip business.