1. Sure, the USA NEEDS INTEL, as Intel is the one U.S. firm able to offering state-of-the-art logic manufacturing.
2. Neither Samsung or TSMC plan to carry their state-of-the-art manufacturing to the U.S. within the close to time period.
3. U.S. clients like Nvidia, Apple, Google, and so forth wants and may perceive they NEED a second supply for his or her lead product manufacturing resulting from pricing, geographic stability and provide line safety causes.
4. Intel is money poor and might’t afford to spend money on the capability wanted sooner or later to exchange TSMC or perhaps a cheap fraction of TSMC capability. They most likely want a money infusion of $40B or so to be aggressive. Realistically that funding is 100% of the Chip Act Capital grants so unlikely the USG is the savior.
5. The one place the money can come from is the purchasers. They’re all money wealthy and if 8 of them had been keen to speculate $5B every then Intel would have an opportunity.
6. The current Intel CEO’s feedback about not investing in new expertise (14A) till clients enroll is a joke. To win on this house you want to be the chief in expertise not the follower. It takes a number of years to create one in every of these applied sciences and no buyer desires to join one thing that’s second finest.
7. Fortuitously Intel has good expertise to work with (excessive NA EUV, bottom energy, and so forth) so that they have a practical shot at management IF THEY INVEST NOW. They only want the cash.
8. The place does the cash come from? The purchasers make investments for a chunk of Intel and assured provide. Why ought to they make investments? Home provide, second supply, nationwide safety, leverage in negotiating with TSMC, and so forth. AND IF THE USG GETS ITS ACT TOGETHER, they catalyze the motion with a 50% (or no matter quantity Trump picks) tariff on state-of-the-art semi imports. If we are able to assist home metal and aluminum, certainly we are able to assist home semiconductors.
9. The FFWBMs (4 former smart board members) of Intel proceed to say you have to interrupt Intel into two items earlier than any buyer will spend money on Intel. Be critical. There are a lot of firm interactions that contain each provide and competitors. It’s also extraordinarily arduous to think about Intel actually competing with the likes of Nvidia, Apple, Meta, Google, Dell, and so forth of their effectively established product strains. By all means, if you wish to complicate the issue, then take the time to separate up Intel and make the FFWBMs blissful however when you’re within the enterprise of saving Intel and its core manufacturing energy for the USA then remedy the true drawback – speedy funding in Intel, dedicated clients, nationwide safety, and so forth.
10. POTUS and DoC can set the stage, the purchasers could make the required investments, the Intel Board can lastly do one thing optimistic for the corporate, and we cease writing opinion items on the subject.
The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary items are solely the views of their authors and don’t essentially mirror the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.
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