In the contract area, Intel does not expect to achieve significant sales until 2026 at the earliest

According to the official press releases, Intel has so far managed to win at least four well-known contract customers. If MediaTek settles for less sophisticated technical processes, Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Ericsson are aiming to obtain chips from Intel made using the “Angstrom” 18A technical process. The company’s management admits that sales in the contract business will only reach a significant level in 2026.

Image source: Intel

Last week, Intel CFO David Zinsner spoke at the Citi technology conference tried to explainThis type of customer made a large deposit that the company will use to accelerate construction of a testing and packaging line for chips manufactured using Intel 18A technology in Arizona. The company’s CEO, Patrick Gelsinger, recently spoke about this payment.

David Zinsner explained that given the size of the deal, this customer could well be called a “whale” and Intel intends to announce its name by the end of this year, when the contract will be signed in its final form. According to Intel’s CFO, the advance payment reaffirms the customer’s confidence in the contractor’s ability to fulfill its obligations on time. Zinsner made it clear that Intel was negotiating with another “whale” and that the contract would be discussed later.

According to Zinsner, Intel’s contract revenue will not reach “real values” until 2026 or even 2027 at the earliest. Intel’s operating profit margin in this area will be below historical levels but will still be attractive for the company, the CFO added. The company should be able to master five new technical processes without any problems in four years – fortunately, some stages of this journey have already been completed.

Interestingly, industry expert Ming-Chi Kuo, known for his predictions about Apple’s plans, based on Zinsner’s speech I made a guessthat Intel could start producing chips with 18A technology for the British company Arm, which has so far denied any ambitions to develop processors for its own needs. However, the interests of both companies may converge in the production of prototypes of processors with Arm architecture, which will ease the path to the Intel assembly line for products from other customers of the first company.