Following the resignation of Patrick Gelsinger earlier this month, Intel is being led on an interim basis by Chief Financial Officer David Zinsner and Product Head Michelle Johnston Holthaus. The former recently admitted that the future of the company as a whole will have to be decided by the next permanent CEO.
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First of all, as Bloomberg notes, Zinsner made it clear that the idea of separating the manufacturing business and the direction of processor development, which was in the air even under Gelsinger, is still relevant, and no one is giving up on it. Both interim Intel executives spoke at Barclays’ technology conference for investors this week. In response to an analyst’s question about the company’s split, Zinsner explained: “That’s an open question that will have to be answered for another day.” However, he notes that work to transform Intel Foundry into an independent division continues. Zinsner added that he and his colleague are more focused on sharing with the public their accomplishments rather than their plans, which is why the board of directors instructed them to lead Intel.
Already as CFO, he added that the two divisions of Intel are already separate at the operational level, they have different management and their own accounts. As is known, Gelsinger did not welcome the idea of a final separation of these two structures within the company. Michelle Johnston Holthaus added that access to advanced technological processes for Intel is the key to the advantage of the brand’s products. “Pragmatically speaking, do I think it makes sense to separate them completely without leaving any connections? I don’t think so, but it will be up to someone else to decide,” she said.
Commenting on the need for cooperation with TSMC in the field of chip production, Holthaus called the Taiwanese company a fantastic partner and a model for the entire industry, but emphasized that at times it makes sense to use the services of its own manufacturing unit. The Intel 18A process technology is the company’s first step towards restoring its technological leadership, and Panther Lake processors released using it in the form of engineering samples are already being supplied to eight Intel partners. She also added that Intel needs to strengthen its position in the server market, and this work will be carried out next year. Holthaus admitted that AMD was more successful in this segment. While acknowledging that Gaudi accelerators remain difficult to use, she added that Intel is now concentrating on improving general-purpose GPUs and gradually hopes to make them more competitive.
Regarding the fate of Mobileye, it was said that Intel is seeking to sell some of its shares in the subsidiary to raise cash, but would like to retain a large stake. Intel is currently looking for a financial partner for Altera, and in the future would like to list its shares on the stock exchange. Having cut about 15,000 people this year, Intel has now met its plan in this area. At the same time, the analysis of the organizational structure and its optimization continues.