As we know, the processor chips that Intel will launch in 2025 and 2026 are expected to use their own semiconductor chip production process, starting with the Intel 18A process that will be used to develop the Panther Lake processor chip, which is their upcoming thin and light laptop processor chip.
Kevin O’Buckley, General Manager at Intel Foundry Services, the subsidiary responsible for developing and using semiconductor chip production technology at Intel, recently confirmed at the Intel Vision event that they have begun the risk production phase by increasing the production scale from a few hundred chip wafers at a time to several thousand.
The Intel 18A process is currently used to manufacture Intel’s own processor chips. For now, it produces the previously mentioned Panther Lake chip, and in the future, it will also be used to produce other chips such as Nova Lake for desktop computers and Clearwater Forest for server machines in 2026.
For now, Intel has not yet announced any external companies that will use this latest 18A process, but if the production of Panther Lake, Nova Lake and Clearwater Forest chips is completed, it is hoped that it will help Intel Foundry Services' business return to producing processing chips for other companies, and compete again with production from companies such as TSMC, Samsung and others.