In a quarterly earnings call held today, Intel announced its plan to launch its in-house processor products based on the Intel 18A process node in mid-2023.
Intel stated that the official (1.0) version of the Intel 18A Process Design Kit (PDK) suite will be released this quarter.
Processors Clearwater Forest (Xeon 7 efficiency cores) and Panther Lake (expected to be part of the Intel Core 300 series) based on this process node have already entered the fabs.
Ramping up production for these products will begin in the first half of 2025, with product releases scheduled for mid-next year. Intel believes Clearwater Forest and Panther Lake will be the best products in their respective categories.
Intel 18A is also Intel's second advanced process node officially offered to external customers for foundry services, with 6 external customers already onboard:
As previously reported by pulsestacks, Microsoft and Ericsson have both indicated adoption of this process node, with TSMC explicitly planning to launch a related 64-core Arm SoC in the first half of next year.
Furthermore, Intel mentioned that the wafer foundry price for the Intel 18A node is approximately three times its cost, which is expected to enhance profit performance.
