From CNET: After years of struggling to keep up with competitors, Intel will adopt their core strategy by making other companies' chips for them, new Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger said Tuesday. Intel largely has focused on making its own chips, but that'll change with the new and independent Intel Foundry Services business unit.
If the shift works, it'll mark a major turnaround for a decades-old Silicon Valley powerhouse. For years, technology leadership and the "Intel Inside" marketing campaign kept the chipmaker at the forefront of personal technology. But in recent years, Intel failed to tap into the mobile market and has suffered several delays to PC processor progress.
Intel's move also could help anchor technology supply chains to the United States -- an advantage during a time when politicians are concerned about reliance on Asian manufacturers. Intel welcomes political efforts to boost the US processor business, but the foundry shift doesn't depend on those efforts at all, Gelsinger said.
As Intel lost its chipmaking leadership, companies like Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm and AMD tapped into the abilities of chip foundries Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Samsung, and others. Apple's M1 processor, built by TSMC and powering several new Macs, is emblematic of the shift. It's faster and uses less battery power on many tests than competing Intel chips.
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