Intel has been missing its own deadlines to advance chip technology and can’t advance the chip manufacturing process on a regular two-year Moore’s Law cycle.

Stacy Smith, Chipzilla's chief financial officer, said during a speech this week at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecom Conference that Intel is now advancing the chip manufacturing process every two and a half years. It did so with its current 14-nanometer manufacturing process, and is expected to do so with its upcoming 10-nm process,But he said the hopes to end the half-year lapse at the upcoming 7-nm process, when it hopes to return to advancing chip manufacturing every two years.

“We would like to be at two years, but we’re not. We’re just watching 7-nm as being the potential time where there’s a technology shift that might allow us to get back to the two-year cadence.”

Returning to the Moore’s Law schedule hinges on extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV), which is supposed to help make smaller chips. EUV could come into action with the 7-nm process. EUV can’t be used now because the tools don’t exist. Smith is optimistic that the EUV tools will be ready earlier than expected so they can be implemented in the 10-nm process, but Intel isn’t betting on it.