Intel to push ahead with Panther Lake launch amid low 18A yield

After facing huge financial losses in the span of the last year, Intel is yet to perfect its next-gen manufacturing process. The company has poured billions into an effort to regain ground in the semiconductor sphere, but the future doesn’t look too promising, at least according to a new report on 18A’s yield numbers.

For those who might not be aware, Intel is heavily banking on the 18A process node to close the gap built by TSMC over the years, but the node hasn’t performed nearly as well. The chipmaker will push new Series 3 Core Ultra (codenamed Panther Lake) chips in the last quarter of this year, which are built on 18A, and yet, the yields still stand at an abysmal rate.

Panther Lake could come with terrible 18A yield numbers as Intel tries to win back PC market share

Reuters reports that 18A is still producing chips at a high defect rate. While the yield numbers weren’t specified, we know they aren’t good enough to scale production for the chips coming later this year. Intel is facing issues with Panther Lake, and while a yield rate of ~50% is typically enough to ramp up production, Intel’s numbers are nowhere near that.

Sources close to the matter have reported that the yield stands around 10% as of this summer, which is miles short of the 70-80% yield required for a profitable mass production. This, however, doesn’t mean the chips would be delayed as the company will push Panther Lake to avoid losing market share to the competition.

At this point, Intel does remain optimistic, at least to the public, as it has told Reuters that Panther Lake is “fully on track.” The company will be dishing out more chips next year, but given these yield numbers (which are said also not to improve any time soon), Intel could be eyeing a tough road ahead, especially given its delicate financial situation right now.