hatSeems a bit unlikely. Even given that TSMC will have no issues with 7nm, that view relies on assumptions that Intel will continue to have nothing but trouble with 10nm and be stuck there forever while everyone else just blazes through not only 7nm, but 5nm and 3nm nodes with no issues...

Caso predicts that by the time Intel goes sub-10 nm (7 nm or something in that nanoscopic ballpark), TSMC and Samsung could each be readying their 5 nm or 3 nm process roll-outs.

Vayra86Seriously, everybody thinks 7nm is a real thing already but we know the current non-EUV 7nm process is costly and not spectacular yield wise and therefore less suitable for mass production. Any product on that node will be expensive and scarce.

The way this really works is that until you see mass produced 7nm product on the shelf and readily available, it really doesn't exist. Thus far, there is no real lead on Intel by TSMC. That only exists on powerpoint slides and early production samples.

Let's just take a look at early Intel 14nm and how that went down. It was slowly introduced to the market and delayed as well.

_FlareIntel might have a solution to that even by today.
With Jim Keller they could speed up their product-pipeline-plans, that could be the 2nd or 3rd attempt for 10nm and/or plan for whats coming after that.

Personally i did think that Jim Keller would never join Intel because they whould never come in a dilemma like this, in hirering Jim Keller their must have had a problem what exactly he could help to solve, and he does solve big widespanning problems with mid- to long-term strategies and from design to manufacturing and everything involved.

jabbadapEdit. well of course I should have said you are right that we have nothing from the TSMC 7nm HPC process

HTCAgreed.

That Intel is behind is quite obvious but i'd expect @ most 2 years. Unless ofc their 10nm woes continue: then it might actually be longer.

So far, we (me, @ least) haven't heard any bad things regarding the 7nm process being behind schedule so i'm assuming it's on track to it's target date.

Also, as you pointed out, they seem to think lower process nodes will be "as easy" to transition to as it is to 7nm: seriously doubt this will be the case.

By that time, Intel will have missed several competitive milestones behind TSMC, which is in final stages of quantitatively rolling out its 7 nm process. Caso predicts that by the time Intel goes sub-10 nm (7 nm or something in that nanoscopic ballpark), TSMC and Samsung could each be readying their 5 nm or 3 nm process roll-outs

john_Intel abandoned the idea of invading mobiles, when TSMC and Samsung closed the gap in manufacturing. That manufacturing advantage could make x86 chips look like almost as efficient as ARM chips. With that advantage gone, Intel had no reason to keep spending billions promoting atoms in tablets and mobiles. Now with Intel dropping behind, we will really see if it's engineering teams are really good, or just mediocre that could take advantage of billions for R&D and the manufacturing advantage Intel was enjoying over AMD.

On the other hand we all remember what a joke 20nm from TSMC was and look where TSMC is today.

zelnepjust remember - intel do not have problems with 10nm. intel has problems with 14nm! and it does not looks like intel will sort it (14nm yields) out any time soon and only then we will hear about 10nm problems - so it is multiple years behind for sure. 7nm TMSC (aka 10nm by intel standard) - have not heard problems so far - the newest iPhones use TMSC 7nm process and it is out it is real and chip or it yields are not the problem.

FordGT90ConceptIt's only a matter of time until physics stops TSMC and Samsung too. There needs to be a revolution in process technology and Intel should be knee deep in that.

zelnepjust remember - intel do not have problems with 10nm. intel has problems with 14nm! and it does not looks like intel will sort it (14nm yields) out any time soon and only then we will hear about 10nm problems - so it is multiple years behind for sure. 7nm TMSC (aka 10nm by intel standard) - have not heard problems so far - the newest iPhones use TMSC 7nm process and it is out it is real and chip or it yields are not the problem.

londisteIntel has problems with both processes, the problems are just different:
- 14nm is fine and awesome, there are no yield issues, it works well, but they simply do not have manufacturing capacity (enough fabs). Most likely because they are moving fabs over to 10nm.
- 10nm, the problems are supposedly yields or reliability of the product.

TMSC 7nm we do not know much about.
- First, SOC and GPU/CPU processes are somewhat different.
- Apple A12 chips have been in manufacturing for over half a year, we do not know how much capacity TSMC has for 7nm nor how the yields are.
- A11 was 83 mm² and considering 7nm should give about twice the density (probably less that that is reality) A12 is more likely smaller rather than larger. This is the same size if not smaller than Intel's 10nm CPUs (that are 70-72 mm²).

DeathtoGnomesIntel spread itself to thin with so many products. This is a result of mis-management.

R0H1TWell we know that Kirin 980 & A12 are coming out this year IIRC, between them I bet the volumes are enough to outpace & outsell any other semiconductor behemoth, excluding Intel.