

This week I’m at SEMICON West with 27,000 of my closest friends. Good information, good networking, and some great rumors this year. Yesterday I heard a juicy rumor in the halls that Intel is still having 14nm yield problems. Remember, we heard a similar rumor last year and it turned out to be true. I Googled around this morning and found this:

Intel’s Broadwell Chips for Most Macs Not Shipping Until Early to Mid 2015

Intel’s line of 14-nanometer Broadwell chips, which are expected to be included in future versions of the MacBook Air, Retina MacBook Pro, and iMac, have been further delayed, reports Chinese site VR Zone.

According to the translated version of the article Intel has begun production on its low power Core M processors but production on the Broadwell chip series will not begin until much later in 2014. If that is in fact true then Mac shipments will be pushed out until 2H 2015, meaning it will not be a Merry Mac Christmas for some.

The Intel 14nm yield saga started at about this time last year:

Intel 14nm Delayed?

by Daniel Nenni

Published on 07-31-2013 08:45 PM

One of the more interesting pieces of information I overheard at SEMICON West earlier this month was that Intel 14nm was delayed. This rumor came from the semiconductor equipment manufacturers and they would know. What I was told is that the Intel 14nm process has not left the OR development facility to be replicated in the OR and AZ fabs….



No Mention of 14nm at the 2013 Intel Developer Forum?

byDaniel Nenni

Published on 08-19-2013 03:00 PM

Intel Really is Delaying 14nm Move-in. 450mm is Slipping Too. EUV, who knows?

by Paul McLellan

Published on 08-24-2013 01:23 PM

Intel Comes Clean on 14nm Yield!

by Daniel Nenni

Published on 12-04-2013 06:00 AM

Intel 14nm Delayed Again?

by Daniel Nenni

Published on 02-12-2014 07:00 AM

Intel 14nm Delayed Yet Again?

by Daniel Nenni

Published on 7-10-2014 10:00am

And yes, as petty as I am, I was rooting for 14nm problems back then as a result of Intel’s initial arrogance in entering the foundry business. Remember, EEETimes in May 2012 Intel started with “Fabless model is Collapsing” and “Fabless companies will not be able to follow where Intel is going.” Intel added that Qualcomm would not be able to use the TSMC 20nm process as an example. Well, Qualcomm is already shipping TSMC 20nm chips and has taped out FinFET versions of their mobile products.

Thankfully Intel has since softened its position against the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and I really appreciate that. Some people, like myself, have put their lives into this industry and we do not want to hear from anyone that we have failed when clearly we have not. Collaboration is key to success and Intel has a lot to offer us, absolutely. Intel’s next public address is on 07/15/14 at 2:00 PM PT Q2 2014 Intel Corporation Earnings Conference. Let’s hope there is transparency here so we can figure out what is really going on and learn from it for the greater good.



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