In a profit call, Intel CEO Bob Swan said the company had identified a defect in the 7nm process that led to a “performance degradation” in the fabrication of the chips. The company reports that its 7nm chips will not arrive until late 2022 or early 2023.
Originally the company planned to launch the 7nm processors in the fourth quarter of 2021, but during last Thursday’s profit call, Intel announced that it was forced to delay the technology, blaming it on a process failure in the manufacture of the chips.
Intel CEO Bob Swan said: “We now expect the first production shipments of our first 7nm Intel-based product to be made in late 2022 or early 2023.” And the company also issued a statement saying: “The most important factor is the performance of the 7nm process.”
The good news is that Intel is confident it can solve the problem without major difficulties: “We have found the root of the problem and believe there will be no further obstacles,” Swan said.
Intel could lose ground against AMD
This delay opens the door for competitor AMD to dominate the processor market in the coming years. The proprietary 7nm chips through the Ryzen line are causing headaches for Intel, which still works largely with the 14-nm node. AMD’s advantage could be further enhanced next year when the 5 nm chips produced by TSMC enter the market.
Intel’s CEO said that the company has learned many lessons in the 10nm development process. Remember that the introduction of this technology was planned for 2016, but only saw the light of day last year through the Ice Lake family, after several complications.
For now, Intel has alternative plans to compensate for the 7nm delay, including the option of turning to third parties to build its chips in the future, Bob Swan said.
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