In brief: On Monday, MediaTek and Intel announced a strategic partnership that'll see the former utilize the latter's advanced process technologies to help build a more balanced and resilient supply chain.
Intel said MediaTek aims to use Intel Foundry Services (IFS) to create chips for a range of smart edge devices that are optimized for high performance, low power and always-on connectivity. Team Blue has significant capacity in the US and Europe, and should be able to help MediaTek expand its reach into these major markets.
Financial terms of the agreement were not shared publicly and we don't know how many chips Intel will be making for MediaTek. The first batch of chips will be built on the Intel 16 legacy node which is expected to be available for tapeouts later this year ahead of volume ramps in early 2023. Intel 16 is an enhanced version of the company's 22FFL (FinFET Low Power) process for less demanding applications.
MediaTek is one of the world's top fabless chip designers. Most of the more than two billion devices it makes each year come from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
"We have the right combination of advanced process technology and geographically diverse capacity to help MediaTek deliver the next billion connected devices across a range of applications," said IFS President Randhir Thakur.
Intel in early 2021 announced the launch of IFS, an initiative to open up its tech to other chipmakers and meet the surging global demand for semiconductor manufacturing capacity. In addition to its existing global factory network, IFS customers will be able to tap new fabs in Ohio and Germany when they go online.