Intel Foundry Tool Orders Surge 50% Year Over Year as Demand Booms

Intel Foundry seems to be on a roll, as the company has reportedly increased its semiconductor tool orders by 50% compared to last year. This is a significant expansion, especially considering that Intel currently has no official new clients for its Foundry business. It’s an exciting development, suggesting that Intel’s CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, wouldn’t invest in significantly expanding its foundry capacity without concrete deals in sight. Last week, UBS Group noted that new foundry commitments are expected this fall, and we can see the supply chain starting to ramp up to accommodate new customers. According to Anue media, many firms in semiconductor manufacturing are expected to be part of this ramp-up. The most well-known is ASML, but there are countless suppliers involved in both front-end and back-end foundry work. This includes companies like KINK Company, which provides inspection, laser processing, and other tools, as well as firms like E&R Engineering, which supplies diamond disks to flatten wafer surfaces.

In reality, semiconductor plants are much more complex than just acquiring EUV machines. Intel is already a major ASML customer for High-NA EUV scanners, which are boosting Intel’s expansion for the 14A node. However, many additional tools for chemical treatment, inspection, metrology, and other processes are also needed for Intel to manufacture its 18A, 18A-P, and 18A-PT nodes, while also ramping up the 14A node.

We have already reported that there have been numerous rumors about Apple, AMD, NVIDIA, Google, and Broadcom considering utilizing Intel’s silicon manufacturing, including the 18A, 18A-P, and 18A-PT nodes, as well as the upcoming 14A node. Apple is rumored to be planning to manufacture some of its M-Series “Apple Silicon” laptop processors in 2027 using the 18A-P node, while Google might leverage Intel’s EMIB and Foveros 3D advanced packaging technology for some of its TPU designs.