Discussion Samsung to Fabricate Chips for Intel

[jpiniero]

To give you an idea, the #2 best seller of laptops right now on Amazon has the N3160, which is an almost 4 year old Atom.

Intel has 16 fabs. You honestly think they're going to pay out the nose to a third party or convert more of their fabs into modern ones to handle the load all the way into 2023? If you seriously think Intel would rely on another company to make their 14nm, I've got a bridge to sell you.

They'd have to port the design to Samsung's node. It's a longshot for anything other than Atom of course, but they might not have any choice if they aren't willing to cede the market but need the wafers for Cooper.

I doubt Samsing's 14 nm node is expensive at all and Samsung does have a fab in Austin.

 

[A///]

To give you an idea, the #2 best seller of laptops right now on Amazon has the N3160, which is an almost 4 year old Atom.

What day is it today? What day was it yesterday? Do you understand how seller ranks work? Did you also know that Amazon had a sale on that laptop yesterday?

Lightning Deal: This Acer Chromebook is just $150 for the next few hours

Chromebooks represent some of the best value in laptops around. They're usually well-made, with great features and plenty of ports, but are priced more reasonably because they're aimed at the education and business market. But their loss is our win, because Chromebooks are amazing for everyday...

www.androidcentral.com

IF you're going to BS me, at least make it more legitimate.

 

[A///]

They'd have to port the design to Samsung's node. It's a longshot for anything other than Atom of course, but they might not have any choice if they aren't willing to cede the market but need the wafers for Cooper.

I doubt Samsing's 14 nm node is expensive at all and Samsung does have a fab in Austin.

Backporting feature sets from one node to another internally is a feat of engineering because you're doing a considerable amount of work. Porting to a different SMCF's node will take much longer and require testing to make sure it's within Intel's tight standards.

It isn't about what it costs. It's about what Samsung can charge. Processor nodes aren't FRAND. Samsung could tell Intel they want 50K per wafer round. What's Intel going to do then? The report, again, was never about Atoms. I can't make that any clearer to you, can I? It never made a reference to them. I can say that OEMs aren't hankering for Atoms. They're hankering for higher end processors. If Dell is forecasting a slow end to the year and citing Intel shortages, why should they be worried? If the Atom is the shortage, then surely there's millions of Core processors. Surely, right?

 

[jpiniero]

What day is it today? What day was it yesterday? Do you understand how seller ranks work? Did you also know that Amazon had a sale on that laptop yesterday?

I do. The best seller list has been populated for some time with tons of Chromebooks, and Braswell and regular Goldmont have been a popular choice with OEMs.

I could see Intel cutting supply on Comet U and going back to Whiskey to maximize usable chips but OEMs are upset because they want Comet.

 

[A///]

I do. The best seller list has been populated for some time with tons of Chromebooks, and Braswell and regular Goldmont have been a popular choice with OEMs.

Some time, eh? Got snapshots for the last 90 days?

 

[jpiniero]

Some time, eh? Got snapshots for the last 90 days?

Nah, but I've been watching the list every so often. But look at the list as is. There's a ton of Chromebooks on there. Some are even using MediaTek now because Intel isn't supplying enough of the cheap chips. Corporate types don't buy on Amazon so it's not a clear picture of the market as a whole ... they mostly buy i5's.

 

[A///]

I could see Intel cutting supply on Comet U and going back to Whiskey to maximize usable chips but OEMs are upset because they want Comet.

Yeah, I can see that, too. It's something I was discussing a while back. Intel's real goal right now is to cut fluff and make sure they're pumping out decent to high margin parts. It's a lot easier to produce Whiskey with less waste than Comet U. Margin's aren't great, but they're satisfying a need. And unfortunately, OEMs want the latest and greatest. That generation on the stickers means a lot to people who don't know much about computers but heck, their sticker says 8th gen and they want the shiny new model.

 

[A///]

Nah, but I've been watching the list every so often. But look at the list as is. There's a ton of Chromebooks on there. Some are even using MediaTek now because Intel isn't supplying enough of the cheap chips. Corporate types don't buy on Amazon so it's not a clear picture of the market as a whole ... they mostly buy i5's.

Lists are easily manipulated. Amazon doesn't release hard sales data. They could sell 10 of those a week and it'll remain in 1st place. The MediaTeks are ARM based. Intel Celeron N are Atoms. U at the end are the Core uarch processors.

Here's an example:

Celeron N3350 - Intel - WikiChip

Celeron N3350 is a dual-core 64-bit x86 mobile microprocessor introduced by Intel in 2016. The processor is based on Goldmont microarchitecture and is manufactured on a 14 nm process. The chip operates at 1.1 GHz with burst frequency of 2.4 GHz and has a TDP of 6 W (SDP of 4 W). This MPU...

en.wikichip.org

Celeron N3350 is a dual-core 64-bit x86 mobile microprocessor introduced by Intel in 2016. The processor is based on Goldmont microarchitecture and is manufactured on a 14 nm process.

 

[jpiniero]

What I could see happening is that they realized that due to competitive reasons they are going to have to sell for the most part the dual die Cooper models instead of the single. I don't know how Intel is going to sell the insane power consumption but I guess they will try.

Lists are easily manipulated. Amazon doesn't release hard sales data. They could sell 10 of those a week and it'll remain in 1st place.

It does look like it's manipulated to a degree but only so much.

 

[Abwx]

Doesn't Intel still have 22nm fab capacity to produce those? Or is that all switched over to 14/10nm? Heck if they wanted cheap chipsets, they could have gone to GF and gotten a better deal. Probably. Or SMIC hahah.

Although very good their 22nm is, perf/watt wise, well behind their most recent 14nm process, 7/10nm (including TSMC) not being as efficient as projected what is left to improve a plateform perf/watt is all other circuitries, of wich the chipsets are a sizeable part in global efficiency.

They could well externalise everything that is low margin to third party foundries while keeping CPUs, SSDs, 3D X-Point and Altera products in house for obvious technical and financial reasons, also Samsung is likely much cheaper than both TSMC and GF since they dont live of foundries sales, actually they can, and surely, have prices with about zero margin just to keep their foundries at full capacity output.

 

[A///]

What I could see happening is that they realized that due to competitive reasons they are going to have to sell for the most part the dual die Cooper models instead of the single. I don't know how Intel is going to sell the insane power consumption but I guess they will try.

Their marketing department will come up with something. It wouldn't be the first time Intel's chips ran hot and they still needed to move them. It's weird reliving history, but that's what happens when you get old.