Intel announced production of its most-advanced chip node, 18A-P, at the VLSI Symposium in Honolulu on Tuesday. The announcement brings the company closer to securing major foundry customers, including a possible deal to manufacture chips for Apple devices. Intel foundry head Naga Chandrasekaran called the development a signal of the company's commitment to leading-edge process innovation, as Intel works to transform into a competitive chip manufacturer for non-Intel products after years of manufacturing challenges.
Intel 18A-P Delivers Performance and Power Improvements
Intel said 18A-P can deliver 9% higher performance or use 18% less power than 18A, which the company has been making at volume at its chip plant in Arizona since December. The chip is at least 20% more heat resistant and is fully compatible with existing 18A buildouts, the company said.
First announced last year, 18A-P is now in what's known as "risk production," an early production stage with data indicating it will meet customer requirements upon final qualification. Intel brought 18A to PC chips in January, but the company has yet to secure a major outside customer.
"Yield rate is the number one criteria here," said chip analyst Neil Shah of Counterpoint Research. "If they can commit to more than 90% yield rate in the first month, I think they can attract a few more customers."
Intel Stock Surges on Government Stake and Nvidia Investment
Wall Street has been anticipating a massive rebound in the business, sending Intel shares up over 200% this year after the stock soared 84% in 2025. A major catalyst for the move came in August, when the U.S. government took a 10% stake in the company, followed by Nvidia's $5 billion investment in September.
Shares popped nearly 14% that month on reports that Intel reached a preliminary deal to make chips for Apple. Chip analyst Ben Bajarin told CNBC that Apple is likely to wait to make chips on 18A-P.
Intel CEO Expects Foundry Customer Commitments in Second Half of 2026
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told CNBC in May that he expects commitments from multiple foundry customers in the second half of 2026. Chandrasekaran said in a statement that "while we have more work ahead, we appreciate the opportunity to share the progress we are making."
Arm Architecture Presents Manufacturing Challenge for Intel
One big roadblock, Shah said, is that Intel primarily manufactures chips on the traditional x86 instruction sets, while custom chips from Apple, Google, Amazon and others are made on rival Arm architecture. "Building Arm chips is something that they have not done," Shah said. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, the market leader, "has mastered that," he said.
TSMC is expanding its own $165 billion chipmaking campus just 50 miles North of Intel's Arizona plant.
Intel Advanced Packaging Technology Targets TSMC Bottlenecks
Intel may be more likely to first secure a major customer for its leading advanced packaging technology, a lesser-known step of the chipmaking process that involves individual chip dies being connected to larger systems with increasingly complex methods. Intel's EMIB packaging — embedded multi-die interconnect bridge — rivals TSMC's leading CoWoS packaging technology.
"There is a lot of packaging bottlenecks at TSMC," Shah said. "That is a big opportunity right now, very low hanging opportunity for Intel."
FAQ
What did Intel announce at the VLSI Symposium on Tuesday?
Intel announced production of its most-advanced chip node, 18A-P, at the VLSI Symposium in Honolulu on Tuesday. The chip is now in risk production, an early production stage with data indicating it will meet customer requirements upon final qualification.
How does Intel's 18A-P chip compare to the 18A chip?
Intel said 18A-P can deliver 9% higher performance or use 18% less power than 18A. The chip is at least 20% more heat resistant and is fully compatible with existing 18A buildouts.
When does Intel expect to secure foundry customers?
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan told CNBC in May that he expects commitments from multiple foundry customers in the second half of 2026.
