Intel: Don't expect 10nm CPUs for another year

10nm Intel microprocessors won't be appearing in volume until October, company warns

Intel has warned that its first 10nm CPUs won't be available in volume for more than a year, due to its ongoing struggle with production yields.

The first parts will finally hit the shops by the second half of 2019, the company has admitted, but added that they would only start appearing in volume in the fourth quarter - from around October 2019.

While parts for the consumer market would initially be prioritised, 10nm Xeon CPUs would follow shortly after. In the meantime, Intel has pushed its 14nm products, with leaks suggesting that it plans to crank-up clock speeds in the interim.

It is also planning a renewed push into graphics technology following the hiring of Raja Koduri in November 2017. Koduri had been senior vice president and chief architect of AMD's Radeon Technology Group graphics division.

The news was revealed by Intel chief engineering officer Venkata Renduchintala in a conference call with investors following the announcement of the company's second quarter results last week. It was the first results announcement following the sudden departure of former CEO Brian Krzanich, which also enabled company executives to come clean on bad news following repeated production delays to 10nm parts.

The timing means that the 10nm chips will be a good four years late - Intel had originally slated 10nm for the second half of 2015, but has repeatedly delayed the introduction of the products citing production difficulties.

In the meantime, rival foundries have not just caught up with Intel, but claim to have overtaken it. Both Samsung and TSMC are now ramping up ARM-based CPUs on 7nm. Meanwhile, Intel's direct rival AMD will have launched its third generation of Ryzen microprocessors on 7nm process technology, based on the Zen 2 microarchitecture, having already shifted its second generation line-up to 12nm.

AMD's 7nm Ryzen CPUs will be produced by GlobalFoundries, but its 7nm Epyc server CPUs, codenamed Rome, will be produced by TSMC.