Track Hyper | Intel: Panther Lake will still be released on time

Author: Zhou Yuan / Wall Street News

Recently, rumors regarding Intel's delay in the Intel 18A process technology have begun circulating in the market again. Intel is also responding quickly to these claims.

The latest rumor suggests that due to delays in the Intel 18A process IP certification process, Intel's foundry customers are unable to complete chip manufacturing using the Intel 18A process, which was "scheduled" to be launched in the second half of this year.

In response, Intel indirectly stated, "We will begin ramping up production in the second half of this year to fulfill our commitments to customers."

This response is quite peculiar; the rumor mentioned a delay in the Intel 18A process IP certification, but Intel's response was about increasing production.

Public information shows that the SRAM density performance of the Intel 18A process has reached parity with TSMC's N2 process. Therefore, the Intel 18A process level can be compared to TSMC's N3 or N2.

Wall Street News learned from Intel that the company will proceed with the Intel 18A as planned. Additionally, Intel has announced that it completed the first tape-out for an external customer in the first half of this year, stating, "We are very pleased with these developments."

Previously, during the fourth quarter and full-year earnings call in 2024, Intel's interim co-CEO and Chief Product Officer Michelle Johnston Holthaus stated, "We expect to launch the flagship product Panther Lake, which uses the Intel 18A process technology, in the second half of 2025, further strengthening our client product roadmap."

This statement primarily responds to earlier market rumors that Intel would delay the release of the Intel 18A process technology.

The speculation about the delay in the Intel 18A process has also led to another rumor: that the release of Panther Lake, which uses the Intel 18A process technology, will also be delayed.

On March 6, Intel's Vice President of Investor Relations John Pitzer quickly clarified this matter at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference.

John Pitzer stated, "Panther Lake is still scheduled for release in the second half of this year, and the release timeline has not changed. We are very confident in the current progress."

Panther Lake is Intel's next-generation high-performance processor, primarily aimed at mobile devices (such as laptops), positioned as the core product of the Core Ultra 300 series, focusing on battery life and AI performance.

This chip is designed based on the advanced Intel 18A process, integrating ribbon gate transistors (RibbonFET) and backside power delivery technology (PowerVia) for significantly improved energy efficiency.

In terms of architectural design, it employs Cougar Cove performance cores (P-core), Sky Mont efficiency cores (E-core), and LPE low-power cores, supporting a hybrid architecture that balances performance and power consumption Panther Lake is Intel's flagship product in the mobile sector, aiming to enhance the performance, energy efficiency, and AI processing capabilities of laptops through process innovation, hybrid architecture, and AI acceleration, becoming the core power for high-end mobile devices in 2025; over 70% of the production capacity is produced by Intel's own factories.

Holthaus said, "Intel products will be among the first mass production customers of Intel 18A. We see that Intel's foundry is continuously improving in performance and yield, and we look forward to officially starting production in the second half of 2025, showcasing our top-notch chip design and process technology advantages."

The term "look forward" is used here, meaning it is not fully certain?

There are also rumors regarding the yield of the Panther Lake chip being "low," but Intel told Wall Street Insight, "In fact, the current yield level of Panther Lake is even slightly better than the performance during the development phase of Meteor Lake at the same time."

Holthaus also stated, "In 2026, the client business will be even more exciting—Panther Lake will achieve large-scale mass production, and we will launch the next generation of client product family, Nova Lake."

The latest reports indicate that previously, Intel had postponed the Intel 18A process for potential foundry customers to 2026. However, now, due to delays in the IP certification process, Intel has pushed this timeline back by six months.

The IP certification involved in chip manufacturing processes mainly includes: functional verification, performance testing, compatibility certification, reliability and security certification, as well as compliance review.

The IP certification cycle varies depending on the type of IP, process complexity, and verification depth, typically ranging from 3 to 12 months. Among them, the certification time for advanced processes is about 6 to 12 months.

Reports indicate that the main reason for the delay in the Intel 18A certification process is the certification process for the key intellectual property (IP) required for chip production. Small and medium-sized chip design companies rely on these fundamental building blocks to develop their own chip products.

Without these IP modules, these companies (i.e., Intel's IF customers) will not be able to produce chips using the Intel 18A process until at least mid-2026.

Regarding Intel's IF customers, recent reports have also indicated that Nvidia and Broadcom are testing the Intel 18A process with Intel.

Wall Street Insight has learned that indeed some companies are conducting related tests, but Intel has not officially confirmed the testing information for the aforementioned two companies