Do you think Intel will spin off their fabs?

[jpiniero]

Samsung doesn't have anywhere near the (logic) wafer volumes that Intel has.

With the Apple A9 contract? Apple just sold 75M iPhones last quarter. And that's just Apple products, that doesn't include what Samsung fabs for themselves.

 

[Roland00Address]

Intel will never split off their fabs.

The fabs are why intel makes so much money on the server industry. As long as they make money selling servers they will not allow anyone with server ambitions to use their fabs.

Now they may one day decide to give up x86, and just become an arm licensee and allow others peoples to use their own ip in conjunctions with their fabs. For example they make the cpu and lots of things but they have a universal fabric where you can input your own sensors, dsps, etc. But they will only give up x86 on the small devices nothing server size.

In fact they are already allowing other people to port technology to intel's fabs where intel makes their chips and these people pay a hefty premium to get the intel fab advantage. This is what currently is happening to Altera with FPGA with no x86 and Alerta and Intel are even working together with Intel now allowing FPGA to be integrated in the same package as a Xeon processor. These Hybrid chips will be launched next year and intel allows this relationship to guarantee no one tries to take Intels server's marketshare.

Intel may change its mobile plans but it will forever keep its fabs, its fabs are intel's ace in the hole.

----

Remember while most of the world may be moving to more mobile devices and the internet of stuff and things, you still need a backend to support all these devices. The internet is not just your iphone or your laptop the things you actually touch as an end user, it is also all those hidden computers that the fortune 500 companies have to buy to support all the end users who log into the cloud.

As long as intel can keep the business market, they can lose the consumer market. Now of course Intel wants to keep both markets, for if they can keep a large market share of both markets they make more money than just keeping the business server side.

 

[soccerballtux]

that makes no sense.
it's not even worth repl

 

[Phynaz]

that makes no sense.
it's not even worth repl

But you did?

 

[tynopik]

There's still lots of smaller fabs around, you just don't hear about them because they aren't huge companies. Even GM runs a fab.

not at modern process nodes

 

[witeken]

Intel will sell these (+ larger variants) in 100M+ units per year.

They actually shipped 100M chips for the first time in 1 quarter in Q3.

 

[NTMBK]

If Intel spin off anything, it will probably be the chip design business. They have the best transistors in the industry, without the ties to the x86 business they could be fabbing chips for Apple, Qualcomm, Oracle, IBM, NVidia, AMD, and also still the spun off portion of Intel (let's call it Chiptel). And Chiptel would be free to produce lower-cost parts on older, cheaper nodes (like the foundries' 28nm process) for price sensitive markets.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

I personally think there's going to be a huge problem sub-4nm. I have doubts not only will it have a hard time getting decent yields, it will not be profitable either. The fabs built around that time will be making chips for many, many years. Once ROI is met and no new cpus are being built on smaller processes, that's the next step towards continued profitability.

My opinion of course...

 

[krumme]

Profit is in servers. Look at dcg profit.
Servers is tco. Tco is first and foremost perf/watt and cooling cost.
For best perf/watt tight integration between design and production is optimal.
Therefore.

 

[DeathReborn]

Only if Intel are forced to by a regulatory body.

 

[jpiniero]

Profit is in servers. Look at dcg profit.
Therefore.

I'm not sure what you are looking at. Intel's 4Q had revenue of 8.8B and income of 3.9B for the PC Client Group whereas the Servers had revenue of 4B and income of 2.2B. It's a nice chunk of change, but it's not where the bulk of the money is coming from.

 

[witeken]

I'm not sure what you are looking at. Intel's 4Q had revenue of 8.8B and income of 3.9B for the PC Client Group whereas the Servers had revenue of 4B and income of 2.2B. It's a nice chunk of change, but it's not where the bulk of the money is coming from.

Now consider that PCCG is flat while DCG is forecasted to grow 15% CAGR until 2018%. Also look at the margins (50% for DCG).

 

[DrMrLordX]

But you did?

I think he forgot to put $(*#$$(#$NO CARRIER at the end of his sentence.

 

[krumme]

Now consider that PCCG is flat while DCG is forecasted to grow 15% CAGR until 2018%. Also look at the margins (50% for DCG).

+ add the integration benefits that is needed on dcg benefits pccg as well.
Think packaging and validation as vital part of dcg product. Intel is lightyears ahead here.

 

[tweakboy]

Things will slow down,,, Micron and Seagate have joined toegether...