(NASDAQ: INTC) entered into a partnership with Arm Holdings (NASDAQ: ARM) last year to ensure that its upcoming Intel 18A manufacturing process would be a viable choice for chip designers using Arm's technology. While Intel and its x86 instruction set dominate the PC and server central processing unit (CPU) markets, Arm-based chips dominate pretty much everywhere else. Around 30 billion Arm-based chips are shipped annually.

For Intel's foundry business to be a success, the company has little choice but to embrace Arm. The company's plan is for its Intel 18A process to overtake foundry leader Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing technologically by the beginning of 2025. The agreement with Arm involves optimizing both the Intel 18A process and Arm's chip designs.

This collaboration was always going to take time to pay off, given that the Intel 18A won't be ready for volume production until the start of next year. While Intel has won a handful of unnamed Intel 18A customers that have secured capacity, little is known about these customers.

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Source Fool.com