Intel and Qualcomm to join forces to leverage Intel's Foundry Services for future Qualcomm chips

Qualcomm has been announced as the first major customer for Intel’s new Foundry Services business. Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips are responsible for powering most major Android devices and the new partnership means that Qualcomm will source its chips from Intel in the coming years using Intel’s upcoming 20A process technology.

The new process uses new RibbonFET transistor architecture and promises improved power management. While Intel and Qualcomm announced the partnership, no timeframe has been provided for when the first Intel-manufactured Qualcomm chips will arrive or which Qualcomm products will use Intel’s 20A process technology.

Intel’s 20A technology node is scheduled for release in 2024. Intel 20A will use two breakthrough technologies, RibbonFET and PowerVia. RibbonFET, Intel’s implementation of a gate-all-around transistor, will be the company’s first new transistor architecture since it pioneered FinFET in 2011. The technology delivers faster transistor switching speeds while achieving the same drive current as multiple fins in a smaller footprint.

Additionally, Amazon’s Web Services division (AWS) will rely on Intel Foundry Services, relying on Intel’s packaging solutions, although Intel won’t be directly producing any chips for Amazon. Intel also announced a new roadmap for its processors with the 12^th Gen Alder Lake chips coming later this year.

Intel is calling the next-gen 10nm in-house chipset Intel 7, promising 10 to 15 percent gains in performance. The new chips are already in production. Following Intel 7, the company will call the next generation of chips Intel 4 based on the 7nm node. Qualcomm chips will be based on Intel's 20A technology node, which is slated to arrive in the first half of 2024.