To date, the chipmaker has fabs worth more than $70 billion under construction in Arizona, Ohio, and Germany. It has also announced billions more in upgrades to retrofit many of its existing facilities for contract manufacturing of custom silicon designs.So, while Tower would have played a key role in advancing Intel's foundry buildout, the chip giant was by no means dependent on it, Gupta emphasized.
And ultimately, Intel may be better off focusing on leading-edge process tech. Intel has been stuck on 10nm process tech for years, but is working to bring several more advancedto market. These include the long-delayed 7nm process – which it has taken to calling Intel 3 – and a 2nm node it is calling Intel 18A.
"From the foundry business perspective, obviously, the margins are more on the leading edge, which is where Intel plays," Gupta said – adding that, even if an acquisition is off the table, there's no reason that Intel can't leverage its advanced packaging tech to integrate other fabs' chiplets with its own.
It's worth noting that while the industry is moving toward a heterogeneous chiplet ecosystem, industry veterans tell us it's still a from reality. So, while partnering with other foundries is certainly possible in the long term, it may not help Intel in the immediate future.That's not to say IFS isn't without challenges. While Intel has been talking up its advanced packaging and process tech for years now, Gupta says it's time"to move beyond just having the right technology, to proving that it's a viable option for customers.