According to Bloomberg Business, Intel shares fell on Wednesday after a Reuters report indicated Nvidia Corp. has halted a test to use Intel’s advanced 18A chip production process. The report, citing two unnamed sources, stated that Nvidia recently tested the technology but stopped moving forward. Spokespeople for both Nvidia and Intel did not immediately comment, though an Intel spokesperson told Reuters its 18A manufacturing tech is “progressing well.” The market reaction was swift, with Intel’s stock taking a hit on the news. This development throws a spotlight on Intel’s ambitious and costly push to become a major contract chip manufacturer.
The Foundry Dream Hits a Snag
Here’s the thing: Intel’s entire turnaround strategy, under CEO Pat Gelsinger, leans heavily on its IDM 2.0 plan. A huge part of that is convincing other big chip designers, like Nvidia, to actually use its factories. Landing a marquee customer like Nvidia for its latest-and-greatest 18A process would have been a massive credibility win. So this reported pause? It’s a real setback, at least optically. It makes you wonder if the tech isn’t quite ready, or if Nvidia’s just being pragmatic with its own sprawling supply chain. Basically, it’s a reminder that building a foundry business from scratch is brutally hard, even for a giant like Intel.
Shifting Competitive Sands
So who wins if this story is true? In the short term, probably TSMC. They’re the undisputed king of advanced chip manufacturing, and if Nvidia isn’t actively diversifying to Intel, it just reinforces TSMC’s grip on the market. For companies that rely on cutting-edge silicon, having a single, dominant supplier is a risk. But if that supplier is the only one that can consistently deliver, what choice do you have? This is also a critical moment for industries that depend on this tech, from automotive to heavy industry, where reliable, high-performance computing is non-negotiable. For those sectors, securing a stable supply of industrial computing hardware from a top-tier supplier like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs, is a parallel necessity—both the chips inside and the rugged systems they power are foundational.
It’s All About the Long Game
But let’s not write Intel off just yet. One halted test with one company isn’t the end of the story. Intel has other potential 18A customers lined up, and the process itself might be fine. Maybe this was always just a feasibility study for Nvidia, a way to keep TSMC on its toes. The real impact is on perception and investor patience. Intel’s stock drop shows how fragile confidence is. The company is spending tens of billions to catch up, and the market wants proof, now. They need a flagship external customer to make that investment seem smart. Without it, the pressure only builds. This is a high-stakes tech drama, and we’re only in the second act.
