Keywords: Intel, ARM, chips
On the Intel IDF2016 held a few days ago, Intel announced with ARM reached a new license agreement, Intel factory will produce ARM chips in the future. The move, immediately triggered a strong echo in the industry. So why should choose to rival Intel OEM chip? Intel foundry market chance into the ARM camps have?
Why Intel for former foes OEM chip?
Mentioned chip foundry, according to a recently released by the semiconductor market research firm IC Insights in the first half of 2016 the world's top 20 largest semiconductor company (including integrated circuits, optoelectronic devices, sensors and discrete device) sales rankings, TSMC mobile chip foundry business in the first half of this year alone has received $13 billion in revenue, ranked third (ranked the first, second, Intel and samsung also have their own chip sales), the second quarter growth of 11% compared with the previous.
It is with the aid of chip foundry business, the market capitalisation of TSMC riding high. As of May 13, 2016, for example, TSMC's shares have for $145 nt, market value beyond t $3.73 trillion, with Intel now t $4.59 trillion gap narrowed considerably. Even in the end of march this year, TSMC value growth to nt $4.18 trillion for a time. Thus chip foundry (main mobile chips) market is big.
, by contrast, Intel has been eager to enter the mobile phone and tablet with wisdom as representative's mobile market, helpless, because of the natural architecture with x86 (ARM) on the selection of inertia differences, partners, and such factors as the ARM, a unique business model, in the mobile market is always difficult to have won, and paid billions of dollars in cost.
According to statistics, currently Intel chips in the mobile market share of the overall only around 1%, which also caused the this year Intel stopped the upgrade and update of some mobile chips (such as Sofia series), which is interpreted as Intel will be out of the competition for mobile chip market. Although say with their own x86 architecture into the mobile market, in the face of the mobile market, especially the mobile chip foundry market space, Intel can still rely on their advantage on the chip manufacturing "curve" to enter or remain in the mobile market.
More important, because in the mobile chip market going badly and the traditional PC market weakness, considering from economy, Intel has deliberately slow down its pace of innovation in the chip industry. Intel corp, for instance, according to the latest new 10 - K file before it will abandon the chip industry innovation two-step "pendulum model" (Tick - Tock), to Process (Process), structure (Architecture), Optimization of three steps (Optimization), which means that represent the updating cycle of chip of the important indicators of innovation Process from two years to three years.
And the extension of innovation cycle for Intel can be fatal. After all, the ARM camp (including the ARM and represented by TSMC, samsung foundry enterprises) due to the strong market demand, speeding up the pace of innovation, while Intel to deliberately slow down the speed of innovation, this "a quick one minus" superposition, may in the future really let Intel lose the status of the led chip industry innovation.
At this point, the value of Intel for ARM contract chip is clear, in addition to the "curve" to enter or remain in the mobile market, the key is that weaken because of economic considerations and lead to the negative impact of innovation speed slow. So the next question is, at this time into the ARM Intel camp foundry business how much chance of victory, or to have been the largest chip foundry enterprises in this field, TSMC, samsung and other advantages compared to the giant?
Intel foundry market chance into the ARM camps have?
The industry know that process is measured and chip foundry enterprise one of the core indicators of competitiveness, therefore, the ARM camp two TSMC and samsung chip foundry enterprises play. Is the most typical performance against iPhone6 adopt the A9 chip foundry TSMC 16 with samsung 14 nano.
After the introduction of Intel chip foundry in the future market will be primarily TSMC showdown with Intel, samsung. Intel and well known is the fact that the current mainstream process is 14 nm. It seems Intel and samsung and TSMC should be a balanced, but this seems to be far from the surface Numbers look so simple.
According to the industry, 2, 3 years ago since the chip industry import new fin type field effect transistor (FinFET), specialize in marketing of samsung started to play up the "process of digital games." Such as TSMC currently mainstream use FinFET 16 nm process, originally called 20 nm FinFET. Because the process of the transistors minimum line width (half - pitch) and mass production of the previous generation of 20 nanometers traditional electric crystal system process, just change into new FinFET transistors. But the same process, samsung has first named 14 nm. If still called 20 nm TSMC, from the perspective of marketing must be against him. So called shortly after 16 nm TSMC.
To this, the analysis of the industry that samsung process known as 17 nm, TSMC is 19 nm to conform to the technical process of the definition, also conforms to the actual performance of the chip. That is to say, from the current look, samsung's 14, 16 in TSMC nano compared with Intel's 14 nm, are actually behind Intel for about a half a process node.
And based on the "process of digital game, the so-called future ahead of Intel's 10 nm TSMC process of 7 nm process, namely with Intel tied at best. So, at this time into the Intel chip generation of labor market, ARM's campaign is, in fact, has the lead in technology, this will clarify the outside world as "process digital games" and lead to think Intel's behind, is why TSMC and samsung should feel nervous (order to grab an apple, qualcomm, etc).
What has been discussed above, we think, Intel the OEM strategy of ARM chips. Although has to give up their x86 architecture in mobile chip market for the helpless, but given its lead in process technology and chip foundry market prospect, and eventually disappear to slow its economy lead to its innovation, its no matter from the Angle of strategy or market should be wise to not do more harm than good.
