A senior AMD executive has implied that the most significant strategic change implemented at Intel under the stewardship of Pat Gelsinger was misguided. Intel's newfound enthusiasm for being a contract chip manufacturer for other companies, a key part of its IFS strategy, goes against the grain for a successful modern chip design company, hinted Darren Grasby, EVP for strategic partnerships and president of AMD EMEA. Grasby's comments on Intel's strategy, highlighted by The Register, were made at the recent Canalys EMEA Forum 2023. When asked whether or not Intel's IFS strategy will succeed, AMD's exec responded "Of course not."
AMD's business has made strides in recent years, and its fortunes have enjoyed particular growth since it divested in manufacturing. It has also started to look increasingly strong compared to its Goliathan rival, with first-mover advantages in more refined semiconductor processes, pioneering multi-chip packages, and adding potent iGPUs.
During the aforementioned forum, Grasby said that AMD's choice to go fabless was "the turning point of the company that allowed us to invest those R&D dollars into the roadmap." That implies Intel could enjoy greater success if it did the same. Grasby's key observation was that strategic R&D investments made in products end up being the ones that bring the best returns.
Failure or Passing Grade?
During questioning at the Canalys EMEA Forum 2023, Grasby delivered a direct and damning comment on AMD's biggest CPU-making rival and its current strategy. Asked whether the Intel IFS strategy will succeed, the AMD exec bluntly responded, "Of course not."
Last week, Pat Gelsinger was reportedly quite uncharacteristically humble about Intel's IFS venture, saying, "I would give us a passing grade, two and a half years into the [IFS] journey."
Intel's significant investments in production facilities at home and worldwide might look a little scary. However, it is using government funding to take some of the risk out of these massive investments.
At home and abroad, we have seen CHIPS Act-style funding grasped by Gelsinger on tour. The extra billions in backing and the will of the states involved should help make these significant industrial initiatives more likely to succeed. Moreover, news indicates that Intel has high-profile customers lined up. We've previously reported on its courting of the fourth largest chip designer, MediaTek. It also already has some prepay 18A IFS customers, and Intel-built Nvidia GPUs are looking more likely.
