Intel's MeteorLake Processor Faces Yield and Throughput Problems, Affecting Gross Profit Margin

TapTechNews August 2nd news, analyst Patrick Moorhead said on the X platform that Intel has encountered problems in yield and throughput on the MeteorLake processor, which in turn has had a negative impact on the gross profit margin.

Referring to the statement of foreign media Anandtech, TapTechNews roughly sorts out the relevant content as follows:

Intel needs to deliver a specified number of MeteorLake processors to downstream OEMs at a specified time. However, Intel's current production capacity is not sufficient to achieve this goal, so Intel has adopted the hot batch method.

Chip production usually follows the principle of first-in, first-out of wafers and progresses each process in sequence. And the wafers designated as hot batch have a higher priority in the entire production line, and can quickly pass through the process flow that originally required queuing to complete production in less time.

The hot batch method not only means that these high-priority wafers have a higher cost, but also causes non-hot batch wafers to experience a longer waiting time before the process than the designed expectation, and the other wafers that are cooled down will have a decrease in yield.

In the end, Intel wasted a large number of wafers due to the hot batch, got fewer MeteorLake processors from the same amount of wafers at a higher cost, and the actual production capacity and revenue therefore declined, which in turn affected the gross profit margin.

Intel CFO David Zinsner also mentioned in the opening part of the earnings press release that Intel's performance in the second quarter was affected by unfavorable factors such as accelerated mass production of AIPC products for the gross profit margin..