Intel expects production process to shrink again every 2 to 2.5 years after 2021

Intel CEO Bob Swan says his company is on track to scale down the manufacturing process every two or two and a half years. That should happen from the end of 2021, when Intel releases its first 7nm products. Intel has been producing at 14nm since 2014.

In an explanation of the quarterly figures, a report of which can be read at SeekingAlpha, the CEO confirms that Intel will release its first 7nm product at the end of 2021. That will not be a processor, but a gpu for data centers. The first processors made at 7nm will probably not be released until 2022.

Swan expects Intel to return to a biennial cadence from the 7nm process. This would mean that the processor maker would again comply with Moore’s Law. According to Swan, Intel has learned a lot from the difficult switch to 10nm. The director admits that reducing the production process has been quite a challenge in recent years. Intel has been producing at 14nm since 2014 and still does. The switch to 10nm has now started, but currently Intel only makes a few laptop processors on that smaller process. Intel does claim that the yields now exceed its own expectations.

Intel had revenue of $19.2 billion in the quarter, which was the same as the year before in the same quarter. Operating profit was $6 billion, 6 percent less than profit of $6.4 billion a year earlier.