Intel’s tick-tock is gone and CEO’s time runs out; Samsung also struggles with chips

Intel abruptly parted ways with CEO Pat Gelsinger early this week (dateline: 5 December 2024) in the next chapter of the company’s ongoing turnaround flail, as covered by the Verge. While long hegemonic in the PC and server market, Intel missed out on the mobile revolution and is now watching NVIDIA dominate the rapidly growing AI compute space.

After fewer than four years in the job, Gelsinger lost the confidence of Intel’s board after his ambitious "five nodes in four years" plan resulted in mounting financial losses, including Intel's worst ever quarterly loss of $16.6 billion in the third quarter of this year. In August 2024, the chipmaker announced 15,000 layoffs—15 percent of its workforce—in an attempt to save $10 billion in 2025.

While most processor companies have chosen either to design processors (the aforementioned NVIDIA) or manufacture then (such as TSMC and Samsung), Gelsinger had aimed to restore Intel's leadership on both sides, committing vast resources to leading-edge processor design and manufacturing. While mostly successful, this strategy has failed to match Taiwan-based TSMC's manufacturing prowess, and reports indicate Intel’s critical 18A process lags behind TSMC’s 2nm chips in defect-free production rates.

Gelsinger's five-in-four roadmap represented a stark departure from Intel’s historic "tick-tock" model, whereby the company alternated years between architecture improvements (ticks) and die shrinkages (tocks). By combining and accelerating development, Intel sought to advance through five nodes in just four years, shrinking from 10nm to 1.8nm. As reported by XDA Developers, Intel has completed Intel 7 (10nm), Intel 4 (7nm), and Intel 3 (data center-focused with an 18 percent efficiency gain). It will skip Intel 20A (2nm) to focus on Intel 18A (1.8nm), set for late 2024.

Meanwhile, Sam Mobile reports Samsung Foundry has altered its product roadmap, delaying its stated push to 1.4nm semiconductor chips in 2027. Persistent yield issues with its 3nm process, which have hampered the company’s ability to compete with TSMC, are likely to blame.

Samsung dissolved its Foundry Technology Development division, reallocating its personnel to teams focused on improving 3nm yield and process design. While Intel is surging resources to its smaller 1.8nm process, Samsung is stabilizing current production before developing advanced nodes below 2nm.