Intel’s manufacturing hold-up sends shockwaves through chip...

Intel’s manufacturing hold-up sends shockwaves through chip industry

Extract from above article in FT today

"A stunning slip in Intel’s manufacturing development reverberated through Wall Street on Friday, as the chip industry contemplated a decisive shift in leadership in the world’s most advanced manufacturing technology.The US chipmaker warned the day before that it had fallen a full year behind in the process technology required for its next generation of chips, though design changes in the chips themselves would limit the delay in the launch of new products to six months.

Following a rare lapse in moving to the previous generation of chipmaking technology, the latest slip marked a clear end to Intel’s long-running lead in global chip manufacturing, while handing Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC a significant edge.Intel’s chip fabrication plants had long represented the high point for US advanced manufacturing, and were a sign of the country’s dominance in a key technology, said Ambrish Srivastava, an analyst at BMO. “It’s not the case any more,” he added.

The shock sent Intel’s shares down 16 per cent on Friday morning, wiping $40bn from its market value. TSMC’s market value leapt by $45bn, or 13.5 per cent. Samsung is the only other company to have come close to matching the Taiwanese producer’s technology pace, though it serves a much smaller slice of the industry with its own chipmaking fabs."