Today, Intel and MediaTek announced that they will collaborate to produce semiconductors utilising Intel Foundry Services’ cutting-edge process technology (IFS). The deal is intended to assist MediaTek in creating a significantly more balanced and stable supply chain with the assistance and counsel of a new foundry member with significant capacity in the U.S. and Europe. The announcement comes as the US semiconductor industry—and Intel in particular—is likely to receive a big financial boost from the government to enable them to produce additional chips for export.
Additionally, MediaTek plans to produce chips for a range of smart accessories using Intel’s manufacturing techniques.
IFS offers a comprehensive manufacturing platform built on a roadmap that includes next-generation advancements as well as three-dimensional FinFET semiconductors that have been successfully used in production. These technologies are designed for constant communication while consuming little power.
On top of that, it’s unknown how many of the more than two billion devices MediaTek currently manufactures annually will come from Intel’s foundries in the future. However, Intel does not specify how much of MediaTek’s manufacturing will take place in the US or Europe.
Corporate Senior Vice President of Platform Technology & Manufacturing Operations at MediaTek, NS Tsai, commented on this by saying,
Multi-sourcing has long been a strategy for MediaTek. With Intel, we already have a business connection involving 5G data cards, and we have now expanded it to include the production of smart edge devices via Intel Foundry Services. IFS adds value to MediaTek by pledging significant capacity additions as we work to build a more diverse supply chain. We are eager to establish a long-term collaboration in order to meet the rapidly expanding demand for our products from clients throughout the world.
The relationship, according to IFS President Randhir Thakur,
MediaTek, one of the top fabless chip designers in the world, powers more than 2 billion devices annually, making it an excellent partner for IFS as we move into our next stage of development. In order to assist MediaTek in delivering the next billion connected devices across a variety of applications, we have the ideal combination of cutting-edge process technology and geographically diverse capacity.