As per the latest reports from JPMorgan, TSMC will manufacture Intel CPUs using its 5nm EUV process in the first half of 2022. That is right after Sapphire Rapids and before the launch of the Granite Rapids-based processors, with the latter featuring the now delayed Intel 7nm process.
The report alleges that Intel’s R&D team is already finalizing the tape-out for these processors, well ahead of schedule. Earlier, it was expected that TSMC would work on Intel’s CPUs in the second half of 2022, rather than the first half.
Intel has already confirmed that its XPG gaming graphics cards will be fabbed by an external foundry (TSMC) and the company won’t shy away from outsourcing its CPUs if the need arises.
The source further goes on to say that there’s still a chance that Intel’s HP/HPC class Xe GPUwill be outsourced to TSMC’s 7nm and 6nm EUV nodes if the company’s own 7nm capacity falls short.
At the same time, TSMC’s revenue is expected to grow at a record rate in Q4 2020 and 2021. With Apple, NVIDIA (A100), AMD, Mediatek, and Qualcomm all dependent on the Taiwanese foundry for their chips, it looks like TSMC will lead the pure-play foundry business for at least another five years.
