Intel Could Push 7nm Process Back to 2021

Intel may have revised its plans to deliver a 7-nanometre process by 2020 or earlier, according to reports. A revised job listing for a Processor Designer at Intel’s new Microarchitecture Research Lab in Bangalore, India – posted in September last year – which initially projected 7nm development to arrive in the “2020 and beyond timeframe,” now reads:

“The India Lab specifically, in collaboration with MRL-US and Intel product architecture teams worldwide, will spearhead the research and advanced development of Microprocessor Cores in the 2022 and beyond timeframe. By conceiving of and prototyping radical approaches, the Lab will aim to deliver much greater CPU power and area efficiency while still delivering industry-leading performance. The microarchitecture and design of these advanced CPUs will be aggressively co-optimized with Intel’s sub-10nm technology nodes deep into the next decade.”

Since the revised job listing lists “2022 and beyond” as the projected timeframe for the Microarchitecture Research Lab to deliver 7nm technology, where does the year 2021 come from? As The Motley Fool’s Ashraf Eassa explains:

“Intel has said that it plans three waves of 10-nanometer technology: 10-nanometer, 10-nanometer+, and 10-nanometer++. If Intel keeps to an annual product launch cadence, then we should see volume availability of the first 10-nanometer+ products in January 2019, and the first 10-nanometer++ products in January 2020.

Based on this cadence, which is admittedly probably on the pessimistic side, the first products based on 7-nanometer would be expected to launch in January 2021 — a bit earlier than the 2022 time frame given in the job listing.”

Intel is still on course to transition its 10nm process further over the next few years.