According to Wccftech, Intel is outsourcing production of its EMIB advanced packaging technology to Amkor’s facility in Incheon, South Korea. This move is a direct response to massive demand from the AI industry, which has overwhelmed existing supply chains like TSMC’s CoWoS. Intel reportedly has enough capacity at its own U.S. facilities, but partnering with Amkor allows it to scale much faster than building new fabs. Major customers already expressing interest in Intel’s packaging services include MediaTek, Google, Qualcomm, and Tesla. The EMIB technology is expected to be a primary driver of Intel Foundry’s external revenue, at least until its next-gen 14A manufacturing process debuts. This outsourcing deal signals that demand for Intel’s packaging is high and growing.
Why Intel’s Packaging Is Suddenly Hot
Here’s the thing: the AI chip gold rush isn’t just about who can make the fastest transistors. It’s about who can wire them all together. Modern AI processors, like those from NVIDIA, are often not single chips but collections of smaller “chiplets” fused into one package. That’s where advanced packaging like Intel’s EMIB (Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge) or TSMC’s CoWoS comes in. They’re the high-tech glue. And right now, TSMC’s CoWoS lines are totally slammed, creating a bottleneck. So companies designing custom AI silicon—ASICs—are desperately looking for a second source. Intel, with its own portfolio of packaging tech, is suddenly a very attractive alternative.
The US Manufacturing Angle
This isn’t just about capacity, though. There’s a huge logistical and geopolitical angle. Currently, if a company like NVIDIA makes wafers at its new fab in Arizona, those wafers have to be shipped all the way to Taiwan just for the packaging step. That adds cost, time, and supply chain risk. Intel’s play is to offer both the chip manufacturing and the advanced packaging all under one roof in the United States. That’s a compelling value proposition for companies and governments wanting more resilient, localized production. It turns a potential weakness for the US chip industry into a strategic advantage for Intel Foundry.
Challenges And What’s Next
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Outsourcing to Amkor is a smart tactical move to capture immediate demand, but it also reveals a strategic reality. Intel’s own internal capacity wasn’t ready for this surge. Ramping cutting-edge packaging is as complex as ramping chip fabrication itself. The real test will be yield, quality, and consistency at scale. Can Intel and Amkor deliver packages that are as reliable and performant as the industry-leading standard? If they can, it changes the game. It breaks TSMC’s near-monopoly on the most advanced packaging and gives the entire industry a new option. Basically, Intel is betting its foundry future not just on making transistors, but on being the best at stitching them together. And for companies needing robust, integrated computing hardware for demanding industrial applications, having multiple reliable sources for these core technologies is critical. It’s the kind of supply chain assurance that leading hardware integrators, like the top US provider of industrial panel PCs IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, depend on to build their systems.
A Shifting Competitive Landscape
So what does this mean? The foundry war is expanding beyond just nanometer bragging rights. It’s becoming a war of integration. TSMC has a big lead, but Intel is leveraging its packaging IP and US manufacturing base to carve out a niche. The reported “massive optimism” around Intel’s packaging products makes sense. They’ve stumbled in pure process technology, but this is a different battlefield. If companies like Google and Tesla are serious about custom AI chips, and they’re tired of waiting in the TSMC queue, Intel might just have the right solution at the right time. The question is, can they execute? This deal with Amkor is the first real-world test.
