- Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger has outlined a strategic overhaul at the chip giant
- The Intel Foundry chip manufacturing unit is to become a separate subsidiary that could attract external investment
- Intel has also put its chip manufacturing investment plans in Germany and Poland on ice
- And it’s looking to sell a stake in its Altera subsidiary
Intel is carving out its chip-making business into a separate subsidiary and putting some of its foundry expansion plans on ice as part of a strategic overhaul designed to reset the company and help keep costs under control, the semiconductor vendor’s CEO Pat Gelsinger revealed late on Monday in a letter to employees.
Intel has had a difficult year, both financially and strategically, as it struggles to find the right path after failing to anticipate the AI chip market boom that has propelled rival Nvidia to the forefront of the processor sector. Intel announced plans to cut 15,000 jobs to reduce its operating costs by $10bn when it reported its second-quarter results in early August and only weeks later speculation was swirling that further cost-cutting plans were being drawn up and that some parts of the Intel empire, particularly its Altera programmable chip business that was spun out as separate company earlier this year, might even be sold off.
Now Gelsinger has outlined the new company plan and, while it doesn’t include any asset sales (yet), it does put some of the company’s main plans for international expansion on ice. Gelsinger stated that he wanted to “provide some updates and outline what comes next” as there has been “no shortage of rumours and speculation about the company”.
