Intel kicks off 1.4nm process push, taking on Samsung and TSMC in advanced foundry race

Intel is ramping up design support for customers on its next-generation 1.4-nanometer semiconductor process, as the company prepares to launch risk production of the node next year in a bid to stage a comeback in the foundry market.

TSMC, the world's leading foundry, is also moving to maintain its technological dominance at the cutting edge, planning to begin risk production of its own 1.4nm process next year before ramping up to full mass production the year after. Samsung Electronics, meanwhile, is focused on strengthening its 2nm competitiveness first, with 1.4nm mass production targeted for 2029.

Intel Foundry recently announced it would provide process design kit (PDK) version 0.9 for its Intel 14A process node to select customers, according to industry sources Wednesday.

A PDK serves as the interface linking a semiconductor process technology to the design tools used to realize it in actual silicon chips. The release means customers can now work with the process technology under conditions much closer to a full-scale mass production environment.

"From a customer perspective, PDK 0.9 gives them the confidence to design products based on the Intel 14A process," said Ben Sell, vice president of Intel Foundry. "The process technology is progressing toward the level of performance and yield maturity that the industry expects at this stage of development."

The 14A process features RibbonFET 2, a second-generation gate-all-around (GAA) transistor, along with PowerDirect, a backside power delivery technology. GAA is a transistor architecture in which the gate wraps around the channel to improve current control. Backside power delivery routes electricity through the back of the chip, reducing wiring congestion and improving power efficiency.

Intel plans to release PDK 1.0 to customers in the first quarter of next year. The company said that while PDK 0.9 allows customers to design products ready for fab production, PDK 1.0 will provide assurance that the process technology's mass production readiness is proceeding as planned.

Intel is then targeting risk production in the second half of next year, followed by a broader production ramp in 2028. Translating its advanced process development progress into actual customer wins remains the key challenge.

Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Thursday (local time) during the company's third-quarter 2026 earnings conference call that Intel was "making progress with multiple potential customers on the 14A process" and that those customers were "already actively engaging and working with us."

TSMC is also accelerating development of its 1.4nm-class A14 process. At its third-quarter earnings call last month, TSMC said it had already begun securing production capacity for A14 and planned to conduct risk production in 2027 before moving to mass production in 2028.

Customer interest in next-generation processes is intensifying. TSMC Chairman Wei Che-chia said customer engagement on A14 had so far been "more active than on the 2nm process" and that he expected A14 to become "a larger process node than N2."

A14 will incorporate second-generation nanosheet transistors and NanoFlex Pro, a design optimization technology. TSMC, which has already begun mass production of its 2nm process, is simultaneously expanding capacity on existing advanced nodes while pushing ahead with next-generation development.

Samsung Electronics has pushed back its 1.4nm mass production target from 2027 to 2029. At the Safe Forum 2026 held at its Seocho headquarters in July, the company reaffirmed that development was on track toward that 2029 goal.

Samsung Electronics is focused on stabilizing yields on its 2nm process and expanding its customer base beyond mobile into AI and high-performance computing.

Its follow-on 2nm process is being developed around design-technology co-optimization (DTCO) to improve performance and power efficiency while leveraging existing infrastructure. For the cutting-edge 1.4nm process, Samsung Electronics said it is in discussions with multiple customers and has confirmed test chip development with some of them.