Sept. 25, Processor powerhouse Intel debuted its Xeon chip, codenamed Clearwater Forest, at its Enterprise Tech Tour event in Portland, Oregon, last week, according to Tom’s Hardware, which reported that the chip is Intel’s first and latest Intel 18A process chip, though the It’s the first of Intel’s newest Intel 18A process chips, though it may not be available until the second half of next year.
Clearwater Forest: Intel’s innovative breakthroughs and market expectations
The semiconductor industry faces increasing competition as technology continues to evolve. Especially with the rise of AI and machine learning, processor performance and energy efficiency requirements continue to increase. Intel’s successful launch of the 18A process will help it occupy a more favorable position in this field.
While Intel unveiled its latest Intel 3-process-based Xeon 6 Granite Rapids data center chips at the event, it’s the first time since the launch of AMD’s EPYC in 2017 that Intel has brought the number of cores (up to 128) of its data center processors up to a level comparable to AMD’s competition. But it will still need to look to Intel’s 18A-processed Clearwater Forest’s Xeon chips if it wants to widen the gap further.
Market analysts pointed out that Intel’s success depends not only on the process technology, but also in the construction of the ecosystem to make a breakthrough. Closer partnerships with software developers, cloud service providers and others will be the key to its long-term development.
For Intel is in the middle of the financial crisis at the helm of Pat Kissinger (Pat Gelsinger), the next Intel will be mass production in the first half of 2025 Intel 18A process will be the key to turn the tide. Not only Intel’s next generation of PC and data center processors need to rely on Intel 18A process to return to internal manufacturing, and enhance product competitiveness, while Intel is also counting on Intel 18A to achieve the TSMC 2nm process beyond, so as to win more foundry customers.
According to data previously released by Intel, the Intel 18A defect density (D0) has reached less than 0.40 (def/cm^2). However, according to industry insiders who told Core Intelligence, D0 is less than 0.2 to get started, and less than 0.1 to be able to produce.
Meanwhile, market demand for chips is still on the rise, especially in emerging areas such as autonomous driving, IoT and smart devices. This provides a good opportunity for Intel to win a share of these markets through its advanced process technology.
Recently, Intel also announced that it is “skipping the productization” of the Intel 20A node to ensure smooth mass production of the Intel 18A process in 2025, and is committing engineering resources from Intel 20A to Intel 18A ahead of schedule, which will utilize the RibbonFET full-surround technology that has already been completed on Intel 20A. The process will utilize the RibbonFET full wrap-around gate transistor architecture and PowerVia backside power supply technology that has already been completed on the Intel 20A.
Prior to that, on August 7, Intel had announced that the first products built on Intel’s 18A process node – AI PC client processor Panther Lake and server processor Clearwater Forest – have their samples now shipped, running on power and booting the operating system smoothly The first products, Panther Lake, an AI PC client processor, and Clearwater Forest, a server processor, built on the A process node, have now shipped, powered up and successfully launched their operating systems. This is less than two quarters after the previous successful wafer flow. Both Panther Lake and Clearwater Forest are currently progressing well and are expected to begin mass production in 2025. Additionally, Intel announced that the first external customer using Intel 18A is expected to complete flow in the first half of next year.
Already announced external customer collaborations include: Microsoft plans to use the Intel 18A process node to produce a chip of its design. Intel will also utilize the Intel 18A process to produce AI Fabric chips for AWS.
Competition in process technology: the strategic importance of Intel 18A
If the Intel 18A process is successful, it will not only help Intel’s own products to expand the competitiveness of PC and server processors, but will also successfully open up Intel’s foundry business. According to Intel’s projections, some foundry revenue from external customers will be generated in 2026 and “meaningful” revenue in 2027.
Therefore, for Intel, as its first Intel 18A processor – Clearwater Forest Xeon can be launched on schedule, the performance of subsequent products and market performance, is particularly critical. Kissinger has also previously said that he has bet the entire company bet on Intel 18A above.
