The CEO of Nvidia sent a big signal to the world this week. Intel might be on its way to becoming a viable manufacturing alternative to Taiwanese chip maker
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.
On Tuesday during a Q&A session with reporters in Taiwan,
Nvidia
(ticker: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang was asked if the chip maker is looking to diversify its supplier base given the rising tensions between the U.S. and China.
The executive noted Nvidia’s close and long-term relationship with TSMC (TSMC), along with
Samsung
(005930.Korea), for manufacturing its chips.
“We have a lot of customers depending on us. And so our supply chain resilience is very important to us. We manufacture in as many places as we can,” he replied. “We’re open to manufacturing with Intel. And (Intel CEO) Pat (Gelsinger) has said in the past that we’re evaluating their process, and we’ve recently received the test chip results of their next generation process and the results look good.”
When the CEO of Nvidia publicly states a positive test result from
Intel’s
(INTC) Foundry Services’s coming chip manufacturing process, it is a significant moment. It shows the relationship between the two major semiconductor players is advancing.
Nvidia spokesperson said the company had nothing to add beyond Huang’s answers. Intel had no comment on Nvidia CEO’s remarks, but pointed to a prior announcement that stated Nvidia has committed to U.S. Department of Defense’s RAMP-C program to establish a domestic foundry infrastructure.
If a manufacturing partnership does develop, it would be a win-win for both companies. Intel would get its sorely needed flagship U.S. customer for its fledging chip-manufacturing business. Nvidia would get more diversity in suppliers in case U.S.-China geopolitics deteriorates, along with having another way to keep TSMC’s pricing in check.
Earlier this month, Intel executive Mark Gardner said the company’s Foundry Services offers a compelling proposition for its customers, citing what Intel says is a more geographically secure supply chain.
Intel’s chip-making factories and chip assembly/testing/packaging sites are placed in different places around the world, including the U.S., Gardner noted. In comparison, most of TSMC’s chip-making facilities are in Taiwan, though the company does have some facilities and offices in the U.S. and Europe and elsewhere in Asia.
According to TrendForce, TSMC has about 59% market share of the third-party chip-manufacturing business, followed by Samsung at 16%. Intel’s share is minimal as it begins to ramp up its foundry services to external customers.
Since joining two year ago, Gelsinger has implemented an aggressive turnaround strategy and bet the company on expanding the company’s foundry business. Last month, the Intel CEO reiterated the company is on pace to regain chip manufacturing technology leadership by 2025 and on track to make five advances in semiconductor process technology in four years.
But Nvidia CEO’s comment may be the best news yet for Gelsinger’s comeback plan.
Write to Tae Kim at tae.kim@barrons.com
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