Intel has begun an important collaboration with TSMC that will allow it to obtain all the chips it needs to carry out, effectively and without major delays, all the products it plans to launch in the coming months. In this sense, the most important novelties that the chipo giant will present in the short term will be its Arc Alchemist graphic solutions, planned for the first half of 2022. These new graphic solutions will be manufactured in the 6 nm node of TSMC.
The Santa Clara company also plans to collaborate with TSMC to take advantage of the Taiwanese giant’s 3nm node, and according to new information shared by analyst Gus Richard, could also work with TSMC to take advantage of the 2nm node. It is information that makes a lot of sense because, in the end, the jump to 2 nm is going to be something very complicated, especially since, at that level, we are already getting too close to theoretical limit of silicon.
In case some of our readers are not clear, we are talking about the theoretical limit of silicon as a material to continue reducing the size of transistors. When a transistor passes from a certain process to a smaller one (in size), the thickness of the logic gates is reduced, thereby increasing the risk of electrical leakage. This happens when a transistor is unable to adequately control the passage of electrical signals, which prevents it from working normally and alternating between its two possible states 0 and 1, depending on whether it blocks or allows electricity to pass.
This collaboration between the two giants, both with extensive experience in semiconductor manufacturing, since Intel is not a “fabless” company, should have very important and positive implications for each year. exceed that limit to which we have referred, and all the challenges that may arise a posteriori.
According to Taiwanese sources, Intel will become the first company to make the leap to TSMC’s 4nm node with Apple, and the same will happen with the company’s 3nm node. Ultimately, the chip giant will become one of TSMC’s biggest customers, and although maintain and expand its own semiconductor factories, will have no choice but to continue to rely on the Taiwanese firm to be able to manufacture all its products, since Intel, alone, it will not have enough capacity to carry out a portfolio as ambitious as the one you have proposed in your last roadmap.
