If ever there was a time for Intel to ask AMD's chipmaker for help it's right now

Intel manufacturing wafer
(Image credit: Intel)

Intel is once again rumoured to be offloading some chip production to TSMC, the Taiwanese Commercial Times reports (via Seeking Alpha). Following recent delays to its 7nm process, it's said that the company is eyeing up an order of 180,000 wafers from the Taiwanese semiconductor company using its 6nm process node.

Now before we proceed, I'm usually hesitant to touch any story that claims Intel is outsourcing any major chip production to a third party. These stories come around every couple of months—and they have done for years—and so far Intel has never committed to any considerable numbers from elsewhere other than its own fabs.

However, Intel's policy on the matter has always been that it wouldn't be unusual to outsource some products—at least that's what an Intel representative told me back in 2018—and these rumours are arriving at a time when Intel has had to admit some defeat in the semiconductor manufacturing department.

Intel CEO Bob Swan recently announced a six-month delay to the 7nm process node—this was due to a defect causing lower than expected yields. To soothe shareholders, Swan went on to confirm "contingency plans to hedge against further schedule uncertainty", including the use of third-party fabs.

"The extent that we need to use somebody else’s process technology and we call those contingency plans, we will be prepared to do that," Swan says. "And if we do, there are lots of moving parts."

Board walk

(Image credit: MSI)

Best gaming motherboard: the best boards around
Best AMD motherboard: your new Ryzen's new home

With that important exposition in place, the sudden arrival of a rumour positing Intel buying up some chip demand from TSMC, only days after the Intel investment, is certainly worthy of discussion. The rumoured deal would have Intel buying up 180,000 wafers of the company's 6nm process node—which is itself an optimisation of the 7nm process node.

The oft-rumoured move would see Intel join AMD and Nvidia on TSMC's client roster. The company is one of the largest contract semiconductor companies—and the largest pure-play foundry—in the world. It currently supplies most of AMD's lineup, including Zen 2 CPUs and RDNA GPUs, and Nvidia's Turing GPUs. There's no exact word on which chips Intel would look to outsource, if any, but it wouldn't likely be any that require the advanced packaging techniques it's been touting as of late.

However, the report remains highly speculative, and neither TSMC or Intel have (or likely will) confirm or deny any such deal has been struck. Similarly, last week an analyst from Sanford C. Bernstein claimed that TSMC would not have the capacity spare for Intel, so we're looking at a direct contradiction of that report today. 

Whatever the case may be, TSMC's share price is already nearly 10% up today alone. Intel's share price, on the other hand, remains steady after a sudden drop of nearly 17% following the most recent earning's call. So even if the rumours aren't true—and I naturally gravitate to this eventuality—the fact TSMC is a plausible option for Intel to tap has its immediate benefits.

TOPICS
Jacob Ridley
Managing Editor, Hardware

Jacob earned his first byline writing for his own tech blog. From there, he graduated to professionally breaking things as hardware writer at PCGamesN, and would go on to run the team as hardware editor. He joined PC Gamer's top staff as senior hardware editor before becoming managing editor of the hardware team, and you'll now find him reporting on the latest developments in the technology and gaming industries and testing the newest PC components.

Latest in Hardware
A Nacon Rig Streamstar M2 microphone on white gravel, shot in 3/4 profile
Nacon Rig M2 Streamstar review
1X Technologies humanoid robot, the Neo Gamma, standing alongside Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang. Huang is wearing an ERL-made studded leather jacket.
Humanoid robot Neo Gamma gifts Nvidia CEO a studded leather jacket and may even be able to one day wash up a cup without dropping it
Razer Blade 16 (2025) gaming laptop
Nvidia RTX 5090 mobile tested: The needle hasn't moved on performance but this is the first time I'd consider ditching my desktop for a gaming laptop
A woman wearing a VR headset with dramatic, colourful lighting across the background
'World’s smallest LEDs' could lead to accurately lit screens with 127,000 pixels per inch and much more immersive VR
The NES themed 8BitDo Retro mechanical gaming keyboard on a blue background
I love the 8BitDo Retro C64 keyboard but I'd pick its cheaper NES-themed model near its lowest price ever during Amazon's Big Spring Sale
An MSI RTX 5080 in white installed in a gaming PC.
MSI GeForce RTX 5080 Ventus 3X OC White review
Latest in News
live action Jimbo the Jester from Balatro holding a playing card and addressing the camera
You've probably been pronouncing Balatro wrong all along, but 'it's kind of a gif/jif situation'
Wuk Lamat, a character in Final Fantasy 14: Dawntrail, stares in an unimpressed manner.
'I can't really say what they were thinking' says whistleblowing modder, as Final Fantasy 14's attempt to thwart stalkers falls terribly short of the mark
Raidou Kuzonoha and pals, looking like they've about to drop the most fire single of the 1930s
Raidou Remastered is finally bringing the historical Shin Megami Tensei supernatural sleuth spinoff to PC this June
Greedfall 2
Greedfall 2 aims to turn around a disastrous early access launch with a combat overhaul and a big new boat
Nova, a hero from Marvel Comics, smolders at the camera while surrounded by flames.
The team behind Shredder's Revenge has a Marvel beat 'em up on the way with a whopping 15 characters and unsurprisingly gorgeous pixel art
Kinich, a character in Genshin Impact, stands prepared to brawl with an enemy.
'Diabolical': Genshin Impact's English cast gives new VO the cold shoulder after he frames replacing a striking actor as an 'opportunity to carry the flame'