Intel has come up with a new weapon in its attempt to regain the edge in advanced chipmaking lost to Asian rivals: change the way it names its most advanced technology.
The US chipmaker said on Monday that it would no longer refer to its latest generation of manufacturing technology based on the size of the transistors on its semiconductors. For decades this has been considered the gold standard in advanced chipmaking, as companies raced to pack ever-larger numbers of transistors on their chips.
The shift follows Intel’s loss of global leadership in manufacturing to TSMC and Samsung, ending its decades-long advantage of being the first to reach each new process step, or “node”.