[분석] Eyes on the mouth of the new Intel CEO… Will Samsung Electronics Bring Foundry Supplies?

[아이뉴스24 장유미 기자] The semiconductor industry is paying attention to the new CEO of Intel, as Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company, welcomes Pat Gelsinger as its new head.

This is the influence that Intel announced earlier that it will come up with a detailed plan for the foundry (consignment production of semiconductors) after taking office as the new CEO last month. In the industry, it is expected that Intel will start outsourcing for some products to TSMC and Samsung Electronics as it is revising its management strategy after Gelsinger took office.

Intel announced on the 16th that Gelsinger was inaugurated as the eighth CEO in history. Gelsinger’s CEO is called a veteran with more than 40 years of experience, including 30 years at Intel, his first job.

In the industry, with the inauguration of Gelsinger, it is expected that Intel will come up with concrete plans for foundry partners sooner or later. This is because Intel announced this plan in a conference call that took place after the announcement of the fourth quarter of last year held on the 22nd of last month.

In fact, former CEO Bob Swan said, “After the new CEO of Gelsinger took office, we will decide whether to outsource manufacturing of the latest CPUs (central processing units), and announce it.” Gelsinger’s CEO also said, “We will internally manufacture the 7-nanometer (nm) process necessary for the production of products produced in 2023, while expanding the use of external foundries for specific technologies and products.”

In the industry, there is a lot of interest in whether Intel will give up its own semiconductor production in the future. Intel has insisted on its own production while strengthening its own production capabilities, but it is experiencing a crisis as design technology has recently been pushed back by latecomers such as AMD.

For this reason, at the end of last year, the famous American activist hedge fund’Three Point’ has publicly demanded Intel to seek strategic alternatives after securing Intel stock worth 1 billion dollars (about 1.1 trillion won).

An industry insider said, “If Intel abandons manufacturing and switches to a fabless (without factory) company that only designs semiconductors, it could be an opportunity for Samsung Electronics or TSMC in Taiwan, which divides the foundry market.” It is enjoying this overflowing boom, but if Intel also expands consignment production, the ransom price of TSMC or Samsung Electronics is expected to increase in the future.”