What you need to know
- Intel's CFO says that Intel's process tech will lag behind AMD's until the end of 2021.
- He states that Intel's process technology will reach parity with AMD's when Intel makes the 7nm node.
- He adds that Intel feels it won't regain leadership until the 5nm node comes out in the future.
Intel's CFO, George Davis, shared at the Morgan Stanley conference that Intel process technology likely won't catch up to AMD's until the end of 2021 (via Tom's Hardware). Davis states that Intel's process technology should reach parity with AMD's when Intel produces the 7nm node at the end of 2021. Davis believes that Intel will regain process leadership when it builds the 5nm node at some point in the future.
Davis summarized how Intel feels it will catch up to AMD at the conference:
So we bring a lot of capability to the table for our customers, in addition to the CPU, and we feel like we're starting to see the acceleration on the process side that we have been talking about to get back to parity in the 7nm generation and regain leadership in the 5nm generation.
Davis was blunt with his assessment of the current generation of process tech from Intel, stating, "Look, this isn't just going to be the best node that Intel has ever had. It's going to be less productive than 14nm, less productive than 22nm." He continued to look ahead, adding, "we're excited about the improvements that we're seeing, and we expect to start the 7nm period with a much better profile of performance over that starting at the end of 2021."
Davis' statements are intended to give investors clear knowledge of where Intel is at the moment. He also outlined how Intel feels it will catch up and surpass the competition in the future.
Intel's 7nm process technology should roll out in late 2021. Intel hasn't publicly shared a specific date or time frame for the 5nm tech that Davis mentioned.
