After the ‘change of regime’, spinning off Intel Foundry is an ‘open question’ for the CPU manufacturer

Intel Foundry, Intel’s answer to chip manufacturing giants like TSMC, is already pretty separate from the standard operations of Intel, but the option of entirely separating this portion of the business is apparently still an “open question.”

As reported by Reuters, in the Barclays 22nd annual global technology conference, Barclays’ Thomas O’Malley addressed David Zinsner and Michelle Johnston, the interim co-CEOs of Intel after the abrupt retirement of Pat Gelsinger.

Starting the conversation by acknowledging the “change of regime”, the talk is an attempt to clarify the intent and goals of the business in the wake of this change. Importantly, David Zisner states that he is “more in the operational, financial aspects of the business” whereas Michelle Johnston is “super experienced in the product side”. The only place where this divide is less intentional is Foundry, where Zinsner will continue to communicate with customers.

The divide between Foundry and the rest of the company is solidified in this conversation. When asked about 18A, Intel’s upcoming chip technology, and the divide between the two, Johnston says “I mean, we really do already run the businesses fairly independently. Product Co makes their decisions. Foundry makes their decisions”.

Zinsner adds to this by saying “We already run the businesses separately, but we are going down the path of creating a subsidiary for Intel Foundry as part of the overall Intel company”. This separation is concluded by saying “As far as does it ever fully separate, I think that’s an open question for another day.”

It is unclear fully what it meant by separating here. That could mean running it as an entirely independent business, as what’s known as a pure-play foundry, or even attempting to sell it to a different manufacturer. Being unable to comment on it could suggest all options are being explored.

When Pat Gelsinger retired, it was believed that the spotlight would dim on Intel’s fabs (people fear no one quite had the confidence in them that he did). Intel has been in a bit of a weird place for a long time with instability and crashes in its 13th and 14th gen CPUs, and even being replaced by Nvidia in a key Dow Jones index.

This has led to stock insecurity and could be a potential explanation for Gelsinger leaving the company. This is why there’s some importance in this quote. The unwillingness to fully state one way or the other with Intel Foundry is likely related to Intel’s ever-shaping business model. 18A is a bit of a big bet for the company and a lot currently rides on it.

Meanwhile, the latest Intel CPUs aren’t great for gaming, and we weren’t a big fan of the Arc B580 either. And both of these feature chips are largely manufactured by Intel Foundry’s biggest competitor, TSMC.

Intel has some way to climb to be as respected as it once was, even if it still seems to have some concrete long-term plans.