Intel’s 18A process has been a hot topic in the tech world recently. On one hand, everyone wants to know the current progress, as TSMC’s near-monopoly doesn’t seem healthy in the long run. On the other hand, there’s also concern for Intel, a long-established company, because it’s clear to everyone that 18A is a potential turning point for them. Over the past six months or so, there have been news reports of interest from major ASIC customers such as NVIDIA, Broadcom, and Faraday Technology. Recent supply chain news reveals that this cutting-edge 1.8nm process has achieved new breakthroughs, with chip sampling results being viewed favorably by the industry. Intel appears to be injecting new vitality into its foundry business (IFS) with the 18A process.
In the past few years, Intel ambitiously proposed the “five nodes in four years” plan, attempting to catch up in process technology. However, market feedback was lackluster, and its foundry business struggled to gain a foothold. Now, the emergence of the 18A process has brought a turning point. Intel plans to officially mass-produce the 18A process in the second half of 2025, with the first products including the mobile-oriented Panther Lake processor and the server-side Clearwater Forest chip. Both of these chips were successfully powered on and ran operating systems last year. Intel also stated that the tape-out of the first batch of external customer chip designs will be completed by mid-2025.
The core highlights of the 18A process lie in two groundbreaking technologies: RibbonFET gate-all-around transistors and PowerVia backside power delivery. RibbonFET optimizes current control through a nanoribbon structure, which not only further reduces transistor size but also effectively reduces leakage current and improves the energy efficiency of high-density chips. PowerVia, on the other hand, moves the power lines to the back of the wafer, freeing up space for signal routing on the front, reducing resistance drop, and bringing a 5%-10% density improvement and up to a 4% performance gain. Compared to Intel’s 3 process, 18A offers approximately a 30% increase in transistor density and a 15% improvement in power-performance ratio. More surprisingly, its SRAM density is comparable to TSMC’s 2nm N2 process, and it even has a slight advantage in power and performance balance.
Intel’s 18A has attracted strong interest from external customers. NVIDIA and Broadcom are actively testing 18A process ASIC samples, and the verification results are quite optimistic. ASIC manufacturers such as Faraday Technology have also received early chip samples and given positive feedback. In addition, companies like IBM and Arm are also collaborating with Intel to ensure that the 18A process meets industry standards. Market analysis indicates that giants like NVIDIA are seeking to diversify their supply chain and reduce their dependence on TSMC, and Intel’s domestic US-based manufacturing capabilities perfectly meet this need. Especially against the backdrop of surging demand for AI chips, the high performance and supply chain advantages of the 18A process make Intel Foundry a potential “new favorite.”
It is worth mentioning that Intel’s plan is for 70% of its own products’ compute tiles to adopt the 18A process. However, limited by capacity and yield, some high-end products, such as the next-generation desktop processor Nova Lake, may still be partially outsourced to TSMC’s 2nm process. Nevertheless, Intel’s internal confidence in 18A remains strong. The new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, has repeatedly emphasized in public that 18A will enter high-volume manufacturing (HVM) by the end of 2025 and will attract more high-quality major customers.
Looking back, the mass production journey of the 18A process has not been smooth. Earlier reports indicated that the yield of 18A was once only 20%-30%, far below the 70% or more standard required for mass production, mainly due to the complexity of RibbonFET and PowerVia technologies. However, Intel officially responded that the yield of Panther Lake has already surpassed the performance of Meteor Lake at the same stage, and the mass production plan has not been affected. Data from market analysis firm Gartner shows that in the global AI chip foundry market in 2024, TSMC held a 68% share, while Intel only accounted for 5%. To break through in the competition, Intel must ensure that the yield and performance of 18A meet expectations.
Intel will further showcase the capabilities of 18A at the VLSI Symposium in 2025. Data shows that at 1.1V, the performance of the 18A process’s Arm core subsystem increases by 25%, and power consumption decreases by 36%; at a low voltage of 0.75V, performance increases by 18%, and power consumption decreases by 38%. Compared to Intel’s 3 process, the area of 18A is reduced to 0.72 times, and transistor density is significantly improved. These data indicate that 18A has strong competitiveness in both client and data center chip fields.
Compared to TSMC’s N2 process, 18A has its own advantages and disadvantages. TSMC’s N2 high-density standard cell transistor density reaches 313 MTr/mm², leading 18A’s 238 MTr/mm², and the SRAM cell size is also smaller (0.0175 µm² vs. 0.021 µm²). However, 18A has a slight advantage in performance and power balance due to its PowerVia technology. TSMC plans to mass-produce N2 by the end of 2025, with the first products expected to be launched in mid-2026, slightly later than 18A. Samsung’s 2nm process (SF2) is also scheduled for mass production in 2025, but its current yield is only around 40%, and its competitiveness remains to be seen.
Intel’s 18A is a crucial battle for the revival of its foundry business. With the mass production of Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest approaching, and the active participation of customers like NVIDIA and Broadcom, 18A is expected to open up new market space for Intel. In the coming years, Intel will also introduce the 14A process to further improve performance and density, continuing to challenge TSMC’s leading position. In this race for cutting-edge process technology, whether Intel can reshape the industry landscape with 18A is something all tech enthusiasts will be watching closely.