"I’ve bet the whole company on 18A." So, says Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in the most deadpan, matter-of-fact manner imaginable. He's not glib. He's not joking. Everything rides on Intel's 18A process according to Gelsinger.. And we can't help but notice that Gelsinger was even less equivocal this time than when he addressed precisely the same subject late last year., he stopped just short of saying he was betting the company on 18A.
But why is 18A, rather than any of the other landmarks along the way so important? Partly the answer is to do with the advanced technology it promises. 18A will offer backside power, or what Intel calls PowerVia. In really, really simple terms, that means supplying power to a chip's transistors from below rather than above.
The bottom line is that those power lines feeding down into the chip cause interference. The solution is backside power and for Gelsinger it is a"hallelujah" moment for the chip industry. Gelsinger's plan is for Intel Foundry Services, or IFS, to take that second spot away from Samsung and the supposed attraction of its 18A node is a big part of the reason why Intel thinks it will be able to win customers away from the likes of TSMC and Samsung.