Intel says manufacturing costs for its 18A process have fallen approximately 40 per cent since the first quarter, offering some relief for its battered foundry ambitions.
According to New Electronics, Intel chief financial officer Dave Zinsner said Intel 3 costs fell about 15 per cent over the same period.
Chipzilla has spent years explaining what its manufacturing technology will eventually accomplish. Producing chips more cheaply provides a welcome interruption to the presentations.
The company reported double-digit improvements in 18A yields during the third quarter. Better yields mean fewer expensive wafers producing silicon suitable mainly for disappointing the finance department. Processors manufactured on 18A now account for nearly one-third of client CPU revenue, compared with less than five per cent in the first quarter.
Wildcat Lake, its cost-focused processor family, has attracted strong demand. Silicon unit shipments increased 70 per cent sequentially, with available production capacity reportedly fully committed. That progress comes alongside a less cheerful assessment of the wider PC market. Intel has warned that weak demand could persist through the first half of 2027.
The manufacturing priorities are shifting accordingly. Chipzilla is reallocating some Oregon capacity from 18A to Intel 3 to support demand for server processors. The affected capacity had largely been intended for Panther Lake. Substrate availability continues to constrain overall output, showing that fixing one production problem does not make the others disappear.
Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said Clearwater Forest, its first server processor manufactured on 18A, is shipping and generating revenue. He expects demand to increase substantially in 2027. Diamond Rapids is scheduled to use Intel 18A-P in 2027, while Coral Rapids is expected to move to Intel 14A in 2028.
For desktop customers, Nova Lake is expected to introduce 18A-P. Tan says the programme is ahead of schedule, with projected launch design wins twice those secured for Panther Lake.
Intel claims 18A-P can deliver approximately nine per cent higher performance at the same power, or reduce power consumption by around 18 per cent at equivalent performance.
