Intel CEO embraces its 18A node for external customers as 18A-P gets 'inbound interest' — company cites increasing yields
Source: Tom’s Hardware
Image credit: Intel
When Lip‑Bu Tan came to Intel last year, he considered stopping the promotion of the company’s 18A (1.8 nm‑class) fabrication technology among potential external customers and making it an internal‑only node, as he did not believe the manufacturing process made a lot of sense for external clients. Less than a year later, he seems to have changed his mind because some external customers expressed interest in 18A‑P, a performance‑enhanced version of 18A. Yet, Intel admits that 18A continues to suffer from process variability.
“While Lip‑Bu was, I think, thinking that we probably should focus on 14A as a foundry node and make 18A really just an internal node, now that we have seen some real progress there, I think he is now starting to recognize that this is actually a good node to offer to external customers as well,” said David Zinsner, chief financial officer of Intel, at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference 2026.
”We have been getting some kind of inbound interest in 18A‑P as a foundry node. So, I think that is pretty positive.”