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by tgtweak 141 days ago
If Intel decides they're not going to continue foundry services after 14A - you can just shift back to TSMC like everyone did between Samsung and TSMC?
2 comments

"Just shift back" is really underestimating how much effort it takes to port a design to a different foundry. Sure, you can target a new stdcell library and recompile your RTL (and re-floorplan, and re-do a bunch of other stuff) but you also have to swap out all your memories and interfaces, not all of which may have exact equivalents... it can easily take 1+ years of work for a competent team, and if you have to shift back all that time and effort was wasted.
Seems most major players are not only fabless but also fab-agnostic - as I noted they switch from one supplier to another even for the same product line. I'm sure it is work but it doesn't seem to be an existential crisis for a huge provider to send some volume to a new fab - certainly if it's derisking supply capacity, tariffs or other geopolitical risks.
That work is an opportunity cost that you could have used in taping out new designs.
And just hope they have any capacity to deliver? That's what I'd worry about, especially right now.