Will Intel be a big foundry player?

11/5/2010 2:33 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. – As reported, Intel Corp. this week took a step into the foundry business. Intel will lend its semiconductor process technology muscle to build FPGAs for programmable logic startup Achronix Semiconductor Corp. at 22-nm and beyond under the terms of a strategic agreement between the two companies announced Monday (Nov. 1).  

Executives from Achronix (San Jose, Calif.) said the deal would not only help the company bring 22-nm FPGAs to market faster than programmable logic market leaders Xilinx Inc. and Altera Corp., but also give the startup a leg up in 15-nm and future technology nodes.  

For years, Intel has dabbled in the foundry and ASIC markets.  But the chip giant exited the ASIC business some years ago and has never been thought as a foundry player.

Now, there are signs that Intel is interested in the foundry business. It has reportedly hired a vice president in charge of foundry. Companies are approaching Intel about access to its fabs.  Perhaps Achronix is a guinea pig and the start of something big. Rumors are running rampant that FPGA startup SiliconBlue has approached Intel.

The question is will Intel become a foundry player or not? Will it challenge GlobalFoundries, Samsung, TSMC, UMC and others? Or will it just dabble in the arena?

Here’s some opinions from around the industry:

Peter Clarke, European news director at EE Times, said: "I think Intel will get involved in the foundry market. I think the days of the self-sufficient IDM are over. If you are a chip maker, you need volume—and there are plenty of fabless companies out there who will buy a piece of your manufacturing output. We see that Samsung has thrown its hat in the ring, and now Intel is dipping its toe. Intel of course will never be a pure-play foundry like TSMC, but it will be a chip maker that does foundry work like IBM, Samsung and others. TSMC will remain the leading pure-play foundry, but Intel can throw a wrench in the works by doing leading-edge processes for companies it see as strategic partners."

Dean Freeman, an analyst with Gartner Inc., said: ''Will Intel become a big foundry player? On the wireless or (FPGA) side, they have the potential of being a foundry player. Does Intel have the capital and manufacturing to be in the foundry business? Yes. But the question is can they compete at the same cost as TSMC, UMC and GlobalFoundries.’’

G. Dan Hutcheson, chief executive and chairman of VLSI Research Inc., said: ''Given the fact that Intel did not formally announce an entry into to foundry business, but instead disclosed as an arrangement with a fabless company, indicates that Intel is testing the waters, not plunging into them. Not formally announcing an entry into the foundry business means they can easily retreat if it doesn’t work. Intel is not a company that burns the ships when it arrives in a new world. So the risk is low and they will learn a lot. At the same time, releasing their 22-nm process to an outsider means Intel is very serious about winning – more serious than they have ever been. Does it make sense? The short answer is yes. Growth outside a core market is best done by utilizing core strengths. For Intel, this is processors and process. There is no reason to constrain themselves to PC processors. But this means they must move towards embedded processors. Pushing them in this direction is the fact that systems in embedded designs continue to look more like PCs, while applications for classical PCs are not outgrowing the market. Processors are integrating more, rather than just getting bigger, making them look more like an embedded device going forward.''

Mark LaPedus, semiconductor editor of EE Times, said: ''Clearly, Intel won’t fab parts for its competitors, such as AMD, Broadcom, Nvidia, Qualcomm and others. But there are some startups or non-competitive companies that may be interested in doing business at Intel, especially in baseband processors and FPGAs-and for good reason. The foundries, namely TSMC, fumbled the ball at the 40-nm node and struggled with the process. Wait until we get to the 28-nm node and beyond. I hear the foundries are struggling to ramp with good yields. And despite the denials, I hear the foundries are struggling with their high-k/metal-gate technologies. Intel has successfully put two generations of high-k in production.  Here’s one prediction: If the foundries fail to deliver high-k in time, watch out! Look for Altera, Xilinx and others to call on Intel. But there is more to the foundry business than just churning out parts. There is a service and IP mind-set. It’s really a service business, which is a whole new mind-set.  Intel’s focus is processors. Beyond processors, the chip giant has never really found much success. We see that Intel is re-entering the wireless chip space with the acquisition of Infineon’s wireless business. I see Intel flopping in wireless again. I see Intel making a strong push in the foundry business. I see modest success for them. But TSMC CEO Morris Chang must keep a close eye on GlobalFoundries, Samsung, and now Intel.''

Dylan McGrath, editor of EETimes.com, said: "I don't believe Intel has the willingness, desire or intention to become a significant foundry player. Intel's manufacturing technology is the envy at all, but it is dedicated to Intel. The company has the capacity it needs to build parts for its business, and it's not going to sacrifice its position there to dedicate its lines to other companies. Intel may be dabbling in foundry work, but in the face of a sharp upturn in business, foundry customers (including Achronix) will see their orders take a back seat to demand for Intel products, just as we have seen with other IDMs who dabbled in foundry in the past. This deal may be partly about Intel trying its hand in foundry and experimenting with the possibilities, but in my view it has more to do with getting its feet wet with programmable logic technology—specifically Achronix' asynchronous logic technology."

Bryan Lewis, an analyst with Gartner, said the foundry alliance between Intel and Achronix ''surprised me. Intel wants to experiment with FPGA products in the fab.’’

Rob Lineback, an analyst with IC Insights, said: ''My main thought is that returns on investment in the foundry business are no where close enough to Intel's profit margins to make much sense for the company to be pursuing contract wafer manufacturing.  Other IDMs are involved in foundry manufacturing, partly to fill wafer fabs, but that shouldn't be an issue at Intel.  The only thing that makes sense is that Intel would have something else at stake, such as wanting to gain access to technology or an investment in the company it's producing products for."   

Rick Merritt, editor-at-large for EE Times, said: ''This will be a big question for the company to wrestle with. On one hand, it has a very independent culture and an entrenched ‘copy exact’ methodology and little experience in chip-level customers. On the other hand, it is the single largest owner of fabs in an increasingly fabless and fab lite industry. And it has a long history of willingness to try new things. This would seem to set the stage for a great internal conflict within the soul of an industry bellwether.’’

Gus Richard, an analyst with Piper Jaffray & Co., said: ''We believe over the next couple of years a critical shortage of chips is going to develop. We are becoming increasingly aware of technology hurtles in leading edge logic, DRAM, and flash that will limit supply growth. We see evidence of OEMs striking long-term partnerships with chip makers and companies are approaching Intel for foundry services, not the other way around.’’

Intel Dalian’s Fab started production in due form, the total investment is USD 2.5 B.

This fab was started construction from September of 2007, and at that time Intel announced this fab will use 90nm technology, but now the capability already upgraded to 65 nm. Recently more than 20 new venders put the site in Dalian for business. More than 80 enterprises located in Dalian became Intel’s providers.

英特爾大連工廠正式投產 投資額25億美元

10月26日，英特爾大連芯片廠正式投產。大連芯片廠是英特爾自1992年在愛爾蘭建立廠后，新建的第一座芯片廠，也是英特爾在亞洲的第一個芯片制造工廠。新工廠將采用65納米制程技術，生產芯片組產品，支持從筆記本電腦、臺式機等各種領先產品。

英特爾大連芯片廠投資總額為25億美元，于2007年9月動工。過去3年時間里，英特爾將在大連工廠采用什么技術一直備受外界關注。最初，英特爾大連工廠宣布采用90納米制程技術，這是因為美國政府對半導體技術出口的限制所致，隨著政策的放寬，英特爾大連工廠后來將技術提升到65納米制程。

“我們在中國看到了包括三網融合、物聯網在內的越來越多的機會，我們要和中國合作伙伴一同來開發這些新產品，要保持我們的靈活性，大連工廠將在這個過程當中起到非常重要的作用。”英特爾中國區總裁楊敘向《財經》記者表示。

英特爾方面透露，目前已有20多家新供應商落戶大連，與英特爾開展業務。此外，還有80多家大連企業成為英特爾的供應商。

英特爾大連芯片廠總經理柯必杰：無二期投資規劃

歷經三年的建設，英特爾26日宣布其在亞洲的第一個晶圓制造設施—英特爾大連芯片廠（Fab 68）正式投入運營。英特爾大連芯片廠總經理柯必杰表示，將來芯片廠希望都由本地員工管理運營。

對于大連芯片廠是否有二期三期投資計劃，柯必杰稱目前65納米生產線剛剛起步，長期而言肯定會有接下來的投資，但是否有關于二期三期投資尚未有具體規劃。

柯必杰表示，晶圓廠是世界上最為復雜的工廠，大連芯片廠的建成歸功于1500名員工的大量付出，歸功于大連市政府等部門以及英特爾供應商的大力支持。初期大連芯片廠將首先采用65納米技術，這是一個相當重要的 技術，將在未來相當長的時間內采用這個技術。柯必杰表示，目前最主要的工作是投產運營。

制造如此復雜芯片廠，對于員工的要求也相當高。柯必杰指出，對于不同員工的有不同的方式來培訓，如生產工間的工人需要一年時間達到要求，而且一年時間只是掌握一個工具。更為復雜的職位，如量率和工藝整合師，一個大學生成為一個合格的量率和工藝整合師，則需要四到五年的時間，所以在培訓方面的投資是個長期過程。

柯必杰稱，目前大連芯片廠起步階段的員工數量是1500名，這些員工中絕大多數是本土員工，200多名是國外員工，這些國外員工是幫助建造工廠的，一些人已經回到美國，更多是本土員工來做，大連芯片廠的最終目標 是的運營和管理都是本地員工來完成。在這方面和以色列愛爾蘭的工廠一樣，都是有本地員工來完成，是有同樣的期待。