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Random freezes, missing sound and display glitches usually trace back to one bad driver. Find and replace yours safely.Free scan · under a minuteIn EE Times On Air episode 146, Intel outlined a plan to rebuild its manufacturing position through five process nodes in four years, new transistor and power-delivery designs, and expanded packaging. The July 2021 interview described Intel’s targets—not proof that it later met them: parity with competitors in 2024 and manufacturing leadership in 2025.
What is the EE Times episode about?
“Intel on Getting Its Mojo Back” is episode 146 of EE Times On Air, published July 30, 2021. Host Brian Santo, then EE Times editor-in-chief, interviewed Sanjay Natarajan, Intel senior vice president and co-general manager of logic technology development. The discussion focused on Intel’s manufacturing roadmap and its effort to compete with TSMC and Samsung in advanced chip production. EE Times episode page; the podcast feed lists the same episode title and date.
The episode placed manufacturing in a wider strategic context: trade tensions and pandemic-related supply disruption had sharpened attention on where advanced chips are made. At the time of the interview, it described TSMC, Samsung and Intel as the three companies capable of making the most advanced integrated circuits. Intel had faced production delays and was discussing the use of external manufacturing, making its roadmap and foundry ambitions especially significant.
What was Intel’s plan to regain manufacturing momentum?
Five process nodes in four years
Intel presented a roadmap of five process nodes over four years and said it would adopt a clearer node-naming framework after 10nm SuperFin. These were company-announced plans in 2021, rather than independently verified production results. EE Times roadmap coverage
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RibbonFET and PowerVia
RibbonFET was Intel’s proposed next transistor architecture, which Natarajan called the company’s first new transistor architecture in more than a decade. PowerVia was a backside power-delivery system: placing power delivery on the back of the chip was intended to free space in front-side wiring and improve density or signal-wire performance. Those are the design goals described in the 2021 announcement, not measured results in the podcast.
Natarajan characterized the announcement as “One of the most detailed technology roadmaps for process development, for packaging development. One of the most detailed roadmaps we’ve ever provided.” He also described RibbonFET as “our first new transistor architecture in over a decade” and PowerVia as “an industry first backside power delivery system.” EE Times roadmap coverage
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Advanced packaging and high-NA lithography
The roadmap also covered Foveros Omni and Foveros Direct alongside Intel’s Foveros and EMIB packaging approaches. These technologies formed part of Intel’s effort to combine process development with packaging development rather than rely on transistor scaling alone. Intel also said it was working with ASML toward the first high-NA production tool. The episode reported that effort as a development objective; it did not establish a production date or outcome.
What did Intel 20A and Intel 18A mean?
Intel 20A and Intel 18A were names for successive process nodes in Intel’s renamed roadmap. In the 2021 interview, Natarajan said Intel expected to reach process-technology parity in 2024 with Intel 20A and aimed to regain manufacturing leadership in 2025 with Intel 18A. These dates were forward-looking Intel targets made in 2021. The episode does not verify whether Intel subsequently achieved either target, nor does it define parity or leadership through independent yield, benchmark, market-share or revenue measures. EE Times coverage of Intel’s targets
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Which Intel Foundry Services customers did the episode mention?
The interview cited two customer-related proof points: AWS was using Intel packaging technology, and Qualcomm planned a major smartphone platform on Intel 20A. These examples indicated interest in Intel Foundry Services, but the episode did not provide contract details, production volumes, revenue, or evidence that the planned Qualcomm platform later entered production. EE Times coverage of the customer announcements
How did Intel make its case to foundry customers?
Natarajan presented Intel’s pitch as a combination of process technology, packaging, manufacturing scale, design enablement, software and platforms. As he put it: “We have process technology. We have packaging technology. We have manufacturing at scale. We have the design enablement and design technology. We have all of this stuff and software, platforms.”
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He also framed foundry selection around the customer’s needs: the process and packaging technology required, operating-voltage and power targets, density, and the supplier’s record of transistor innovation. The interview explains Intel’s intended value proposition; it does not provide a like-for-like technical comparison with TSMC or Samsung or independent evidence that Intel outperformed them.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the episode does—and does not—show
The episode is useful as a snapshot of Intel’s manufacturing strategy and expectations in July 2021. Its central evidence is what Intel announced and the customer examples it cited. It contains no independent yield, performance benchmark, market-share or revenue figures with which to assess execution. To judge whether the strategy restored Intel’s manufacturing position, the roadmap targets must be compared with later evidence, not treated as outcomes simply because they were announced.
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- Compatible with Intel 600-series (with potential BIOS update) or 700-series chipset-based motherboards
- DDR4 and DDR5 platform support cuts your load times and gives you the space to run the most demanding games
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