Core Viewpoint - Intel's new CEO, Lip-Bu Tan, is considering significant changes to the company's contract manufacturing business to attract major clients, which may incur high costs compared to previous plans [1][2]. Group 1: Strategic Changes - The new strategy for Intel's contract manufacturing will not include marketing certain long-developed chip manufacturing technologies to external clients [1]. - Intel's 18A process, which has seen substantial investment, is reportedly losing appeal to new customers, prompting the need for potential write-downs [1][2]. - The company is focusing more resources on the 14A process, which is expected to be more competitive than TSMC's N2 technology, aiming to attract major clients like Apple and Nvidia [2]. Group 2: Financial Implications - Intel is projected to incur losses of up to $18.8 billion in 2024, marking its first loss since 1986 [3]. - The potential costs associated with the shift in strategy could lead to losses in the hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars [1][2]. Group 3: Production Plans - Intel plans to achieve mass production of the 18A chips later this year, with internal chips expected to be delivered ahead of external customer orders [4]. - The timely delivery of 14A chips to secure large contracts remains uncertain, and Intel may continue with its existing 18A chip plans [4][5].

Core Viewpoint - Intel's new CEO, Pat Gelsinger, is pushing for a fundamental strategic shift in the company's chip foundry business, planning to stop promoting the long-invested 18A (1.8nm) process technology to external customers and instead focus resources on the next-generation 14A (1.4nm) technology [1][4]. Group 1: Strategic Shift - The decision to halt external sales of the 18A process marks a complete departure from the foundry expansion strategy set by former CEO, Bob Swan, and could lead to billions of dollars in asset write-downs [1][4]. - Intel's foundry business has been centered around "technology openness" since the introduction of the IDM 2.0 strategy in 2021, but customer penetration for the 18A process has been significantly lower than expected [4]. Group 2: Financial Implications - Analysts estimate that the R&D investment in the 18A and related technologies has already cost Intel billions, and without foundry orders to recover these costs, the company may face asset write-downs potentially amounting to "hundreds of millions to billions of dollars" [5]. - Intel will need to renegotiate contracts with existing foundry customers like Microsoft and Cisco, who had previously signed long-term agreements based on the 18A technology [5]. Group 3: Organizational Changes - Since June, Intel has been laying off employees in its automotive chip division and core chip design roles, affecting over 20% of staff [5]. - A new round of layoffs is set to begin on July 15, primarily targeting non-core teams in physical design and logic development, as the company shifts its culture towards "efficiency first" [5].