[News] Intel Earnings Call Highlights: 18A Lifecycle, Product Roadmap, and AI & ASIC Strategies

At its July 24 earnings call, Intel warned that failure of 14A could jeopardize its advanced node business. But CEO Lip-Bu Tan and his team were also candid, sharing key updates on the product roadmap and Intel’s outlook on the growing AI market. Here’s a brief summary of Intel’s conference call highlights, drawing on information from Investing.com and IT Home.

18A: Durable, Long-Lived Node; 14A Timetable Reiterated

According to Investing.com, Team Blue is making steady progress on 18A yield and performance, as Lip-Bu Tan called it the foundation for at least the next three generations of its in-house client and server chips. Both 18A and 18A-P will be key to Intel’s product lineup and are expected to generate strong wafer volumes well into the next decade, Tan added.

IT Home suggests this points to both Nova Lake and Razar Lake being built on the 18A node, following Panther Lake’s expected mass production by year-end. Notably, Nova Lake is projected to launch in late 2026, the report adds.

According to Tan, the 18A family also plays a key role in projects for the U.S. government under the Secure Enclave program, along with other early committed clients. As Chosun Biz previously revealed, Intel has reportedly secured a major foundry deal with Microsoft, using its 18A process.

Meanwhile, CFO David Zinsner said that 18A will be a long-lasting node with strong ROI, mainly driven by Intel’s internal use in the near term, as per Investing.com. He reportedly added that while early external customers may be limited, 18A isn’t off the table for outside clients, as multiple waves of adoption and new use cases are expected over time.

The reports, citing Tan, note that Intel’s 14A is expected to launch between 2028 and 2029, roughly matching TSMC’s A14 timeline.

Xeon Processor Update

In terms of Intel’s Xeon performance-core lineup, the next-generation “Diamond Rapids” is expected to launch around the second half of 2026, plus or minus six months, as noted by IT Home. The following generation, Coral Rapids, is tentatively scheduled for 2028 to 2029, the report adds.

Though the exact core count and specs of Diamond Rapids remain unclear, TechNews previous reported that rumors suggest Intel will leverage 18A process technology for this product. Positioned to compete directly with AMD’s EPYC Venice—built on TSMC’s 2nm process—Diamond Rapids is set to heat up the data center CPU battle between the two industry giants, as per TechNews.

More Concrete AI Strategy to Release Soon

IT Home, citing Tan, suggests that Intel will unveil its AI strategy in the coming months, prioritizing inference and agentic AI. According to Tan, the company wants to explore how to leverage the x86 lineup and accelerators to build the compute platform of the future.

Tan spoke at the earnings call that Intel will welcome several new team members onboard and are focused on bringing in more software talent, which will help the company seize the opportunity and become a key player in the AI market.

Notably, amid cloud giants racing to develop in-house ASICs, Tan emphasized that Intel is open to collaborating with system companies to build purpose-built AI platforms that boost performance, as per Investing.com and IT Home. He stressed Intel is fully committed to seizing the opportunities ASICs bring, according to the reports.

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(Photo credit: Intel)