According to a report by Caixin on December 13 (editor: Ma Lan), during Barclays' investment banking conference held on Thursday, Intel's interim co-CEOs Michelle Johnston Holthaus and David Zinsner made their latest comments on the fate of the chip foundry division.

The two executives admitted that if the new chip manufacturing technology 18A to be launched next year fails to achieve the expected success, Intel may be forced to sell its chip foundry division. Following this comment, Intel's stock price rose by 3.28% on Thursday.

So far this year, the company's Market Cap has decreased by more than 100 billion dollars, largely related to its continuously loss-making chip foundry division. Moreover, the company has also missed out on the biggest driving factor in Technology this time—AI, which has left investors feeling very disappointed.

Despite this, Intel has previously hesitated to spin off its chip foundry division, hoping that 18A technology could compete with Taiwan Semiconductor and Samsung's 2nm chip manufacturing. Intel hopes to bring the manufacturing of its flagship personal computer chips back in-house with 18A technology, which is currently forced to be done by Taiwan Semiconductor.

The outlook is concerning.

Holthaus stated that she personally believes that the idea of completely separating chip design, manufacturing and Intel products is impractical, but this is not for her to decide.

Zinsner, who also serves as Intel's Chief Financial Officer, outlined the idea of separating the finances and operations of the chip foundry division into an independent subsidiary, stating that the division has already been operating separately from Intel's Other businesses and is establishing an independent operation committee and business process Software system.

Zinsner does not rule out the possibility of completely spinning off the chip manufacturing division but stresses that this is not a decision that can be made at the moment. He has previously insisted that Intel's core revival strategy will remain unchanged, and the company still aims to be a leading CPU supplier and chip manufacturer.

Once Intel's manufacturing plant becomes a completely independent division, Intel can list it while retaining control. However, the market is highly skeptical about the significance of spinning off a manufacturing plant that does not lead the market in production.

Intel plans to share the progress of 18A at the Earnings Conference at the end of January, providing the market with a more detailed view of the chip manufacturing technology situation. However, based on Holthaus and Zinsner's current attitudes, neither of them seems to have complete confidence, which may indicate that Intel's prospects remain challenging.

Editor/lambor