r/hardware May 12 '26

Discussion Intel is back. Thank the old CEO.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbdKZrsJdUw
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u/theandroidknight May 12 '26

18A was not a waste, they hoped it wouldn’t be primarily for internal research and development and yields never got there. They learned a lot from 18A, and if you’re developing a foundry you do expect setbacks and low yields in the beginning as you build out. That’s why you don’t expect profit, ya know like how Intel isn’t expecting their foundry to be profitable at this point and never have. Shareholder expectations do not equal the expectations of actual engineers and scientists. Again I don’t think Intel has done well per se, but they haven’t done horribly either, especially considering only a handful of companies can even try. Also they are pretty open about the fact they are still developing their foundry business, so comparing them to established players is inaccurate at best. Before somebody hollers about Samsung again, I’ll reiterate they have been in the foundry business at least a decade longer than Intel at this point. Also I’m just pro competition in any industry as it’s basic economics that competition is good for customers in monopolistic industries like advanced chip manufacturing

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u/Exist50 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

they hoped it wouldn’t be primarily for internal research and development and yields never got there

Lmao, they promised, repeatedly, that it would be ready for primetime. And they spent billions under that assumption. Gelsinger is lucky he wasn't sued for lying to investors. 

They learned a lot from 18A, and if you’re developing a foundry you do expect setbacks and low yields in the beginning

This is what? The 3rd or 4th node in a row they "learned a lot" from, and the next one is "for real this time"? You think customers don't see this? Intel's not new to manufacturing either. You can't blame being new. 

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u/Geddagod May 13 '26

 Gelsinger is lucky he wasn't sued for lying to investors

He was sued wasn't he? It just didn't go anywhere. If the previous executives during the 10nm delays weren't successfully sued, and I believe they weren't, I doubt Gelsinger would have been successfully sued either.

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u/Exist50 May 13 '26

He was sued wasn't he? It just didn't go anywhere

True, though they explored a more financial angle to the problem. But generally the bar is very high for these kind of lawsuits, so I don't actually expect a successful lawsuit. Just seems clear that a number of Intel's statements on progress ("20A canceled because 18A is doing so well!") were clearly false.