After experiencing difficulties in recent years, Intel is ushering in a series of strategic adjustments under the leadership of its new CEO, Chen Liwu. The semiconductor industry veteran, who took office in March 2025, is driving the company to reshape its core competitiveness and optimize resource allocation to cope with fierce market competition and financial pressure. Today, we will list the latest developments at Intel in terms of technology, foundry business, product roadmap, and organizational structure.
Upon assuming office, Chen Liwu quickly adjusted the company’s strategic direction, emphasizing engineering technology as the core, simplifying the management structure, and reducing administrative expenses. He made the Data Center and Artificial Intelligence Division and the Client Computing Division report directly to him, and established an independent product department led by Michelle Johnston, covering customers in all market segments. The purpose of this flat management model is, of course, to improve decision-making efficiency and accelerate market response speed. At the same time, Intel is freeing up resources to focus on core areas of computing business by divesting non-core businesses, such as outsourcing marketing to Accenture.
In terms of the foundry business (Intel Foundry Services, IFS), Intel is undergoing a major strategic shift. The “IDM 2.0” strategy previously pursued by former CEO Pat Gelsinger focused on foundry expansion, planning to compete with TSMC through the 18A node (1.8-nanometer process). However, due to insufficient orders from external customers and operating losses, the mass production time of the 18A node has been postponed until early 2026. Chen Liwu adjusted the strategy, deciding to use the 18A process mainly for internal product production, reducing dependence on external customers, and accelerating the research and development of the next-generation 14A node (1.4-nanometer process), which is planned to enter risk production in 2027 and achieve mass production in 2028. This is done to optimize resource allocation, reduce the financial pressure on the foundry business, and lay the foundation for winning orders from major customers such as Apple and Nvidia in the future. In addition, Intel’s cooperation with TSMC has been further deepened, and some chip production has been outsourced to TSMC to ensure product performance and market competitiveness.
In terms of the product roadmap, Intel is accelerating the development of processors based on the 18A process. Among them, the client processor Panther Lake is expected to be put into production in the second half of 2025 and launched on a large scale in the first quarter of 2026, aiming to strengthen competitiveness in the laptop market. The server processor Clearwater Forest for the data center market is also planned to be launched in the first half of 2026. Nova Lake, as the next-generation desktop processor, is expected to be released in 2026 and will adopt a new architecture to improve performance and compete with AMD and Nvidia. In addition, Intel also canceled the Falcon Shores AI accelerator project.
To achieve financial goals, Intel has launched large-scale layoffs and organizational restructuring. In 2024, the company has laid off about 15,000 employees, and the layoff plan continues to be advanced in 2025. The main purpose of the layoffs is to reduce operating costs and improve the net loss of up to $18.8 billion in 2024. Intel also plans to control operating expenses at $17 billion in 2025 and further reduce it to $16 billion in 2026. Although these measures are conducive to financial improvement, they also raise market concerns about the company’s long-term innovation capabilities.
In terms of organizational culture, Chen Liwu advocates the “startup” concept, breaking down hierarchical barriers and giving engineers more autonomy. For example, the advanced packaging team can directly respond to customer needs and quickly iterate technology; the defect rate during the 18A trial production phase has been reduced by 40%. Intel also strengthens ecosystem construction through the “Chiplet Alliance” and “Value Chain Alliance” to support startups in developing based on the 12nm mature process and Arm architecture IP, shortening the R&D cycle. In addition, Intel has deepened cooperation with customers such as MediaTek, Qualcomm, and Microsoft, involving 5G baseband chips, autonomous driving computing platforms, and AI chip foundry, respectively, demonstrating its transformation to “open foundry”.
At the technical level, Intel’s 18A process combines RibbonFET transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery technology, significantly improving performance and energy efficiency. Although the current yield rate is about 75%, lower than TSMC’s N2’s 85%, Intel plans to optimize costs through the scale effect of 100,000 wafers per month in 2026. The 14A process introduces EMIB-T packaging technology, which lowers the threshold for multi-chip design and attracts more customers. Intel also benefits from the US “Chips and Science Act” subsidy of $52 billion, supporting local factory construction and enhancing supply chain resilience.
In the market competition landscape, Intel’s foundry business accounts for only 1% of the global market share in 2024, and AI chip foundry accounts for 5%, far behind TSMC’s 56% and 82%. Chen Liwu has set a goal of achieving $30 billion in foundry revenue and 15% market share by 2030. To this end, Intel needs to break through TSMC’s ecosystem barriers, improve yield and cost competitiveness, and use geopolitical advantages to attract customers back.
Under the leadership of Chen Liwu, Intel is working hard to reshape its market competitiveness by focusing on core technologies, streamlining operations, and deepening customer cooperation. Although facing multiple challenges such as technology research and development, financial pressure, and talent drain, Intel’s strategic adjustments have laid the foundation for a new stage in the semiconductor industry. In the future, the successful mass production of 18A and 14A processes, and cooperation with partners such as TSMC, will be the key to Intel’s return to the forefront of the industry.