Intel foundries lost $13 billion last year, but its losses are no longer historic

Jan 31, 2025 04:44 AM - 1 week ago 11386

Sean Hollister

Sean Hollister is a elder editor and founding personnel of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.

Last quarter, amid turmoil and restructuring, chipmaker Intel announced one of the largest firm quarterly losses of each time — $16.6 billion, 10 times worse than its $1.6B nonaccomplishment the 4th before. But successful today’s Q4 2024 and full-year net release, Intel’s not hurting arsenic badly: the institution conscionable announced a specified $126 cardinal quarterly nonaccomplishment connected $14.3 cardinal successful revenue.

That doesn’t mean the company’s successful awesome shape, exactly, arsenic its superior businesses were each down this 4th and hardly up complete the afloat twelvemonth (see array below). And if you thought its chipmaking foundries were spending excessively overmuch back erstwhile they mislaid $7 cardinal successful 2023, well, Intel conscionable revealed the foundries mislaid astir double that — $13.4 cardinal — crossed 2024.

Some group would reason that foundry money is conscionable the value Intel’s paying to put successful its future, drawback up to rivals, and enactment the only awesome chipmaker that designs and fabricates its chips from scratch. And by “some people,” I mean it was ousted Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger’s goal. But now he’s gone, location person been much whispers about Intel spinning disconnected its chipmaking businesses, thing Gelsinger somewhat seeded himself.

Intel says its foundry business is doing amended anyhow, though, pinch reduced losses of $2.3 cardinal past quarter, expected “financial improvements” coming adjacent twelvemonth arsenic it ramps accumulation of its utmost ultraviolet lithography (EUV) chips, and a scheme to deed “op inc break-even” by the extremity of 2027. Intel says its all-important 18A process, which uses EUV, will nutrient chips successful measurement successful the 2nd half of adjacent year.

Meanwhile, the institution seems to beryllium laying disconnected just arsenic galore labor arsenic promised: by the extremity of 2024, it had 15,000 less labor than it did the erstwhile quarter, the institution confirmed today.

Over the afloat year, Intel mislaid $18.76 cardinal connected $53.1 cardinal successful revenue.

Developing: I’ll beryllium listening successful connected the Intel net telephone soon (at 5pm ET) to spot if we study thing additionally intriguing; this’ll beryllium the first from Intel’s caller co-CEOs, 1 of whom promised astatine CES 2025 that the company’s really still committed to graphics.

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