Intel: We are not discussing our 10nm schedules

Intel Corp. is confident that its 10nm manufacturing process will enable it to build central processing units cost-efficiently. However, the company does not want to reveal when exactly it plans to start making chips using its next-generation 10nm fabrication technology.

In accordance with Moore’s law and Intel's tick-tock cadence, the company needs to start using a new process technology roughly every two years. If Intel follows its rhythm, then it should start volume production of 10nm chips roughly two years after it initiated mass production of central processing units using 14nm fabrication process, i.e., in the second half of 2016. However, for some reason Intel does not want to talk about its exact plans regarding 10nm.

“First, we have said nothing about our timing of 10nm,” said Brian Krzanich, chief executive officer of Intel, during the company’s quarterly conference call with investors and financial analysts. “We will give all of our timing for 10nm at a later date.”

This is not the first time when Intel declines to talk about its 10nm plans. Back in February a high-ranking Intel executive from the middle-east region retracted his claim that he had made during an interview that the company was on track to ship 10nm chips commercially in 2017. Recently a media report suggested that Intel would delay mass production of 10nm CPUs.

Since Intel had to delay volume launch of 14nm code-named “Broadwell” chips by nearly a year, the company wants to avoid a similar situation in the future. In general, Intel does not want to reveal its plans concerning 10nm manufacturing and “Cannonlake” processors before it is 100 per cent confident that it can deliver.

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KitGuru Says: If Intel does not release “Cannonlake” central processing units in 2016, it will need to launch something like “Skylake Refresh” next year in order to energise its sales. While it is generally logical to expect Intel to start shipping its 10nm chips in 2017, the big question is whether it will be the early first half of 2017 or the late second half of 2017.

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