Intel's next-gen chips are too defective to sell
Intel's "Panther Lake" laptop chips, built on their fancy new 18A process, aren't rolling out as smoothly as planned.
The company wants to start mass production by 2025, but too many chips are coming out with defects—which could mess with profits and slow things down.
Yields are getting better but still not good enough
Right now, only around 10% of these new chips make the cut as of this summer—still not close to Intel's goal of 70%.
Their CFO, David Zinsner, says yields are getting better but still aren't good enough to actually make money.
These high-tech upgrades (like RibbonFET transistors and PowerVia power delivery) boost performance but also make manufacturing trickier.
Compete with TSMC by selling advanced chips to others
Intel executive Lip-Bu Tan wants the company to compete head-to-head with TSMC by selling these advanced chips to others.
But if they can't fix the yield problem soon, they might have to rely on rivals like TSMC for future products—or even step back from making cutting-edge chips altogether.