During its Q3 2026 earnings call, Intel said it will convert some Intel 18A resources at its Oregon facilities to Intel 3, the node behind Xeon 6 "Granite Rapids," to keep up with demand for its Xeon server processors. According to CFO Dave Zinsner, those 18A wafers "are generally going to build Panther Lake products." Zinsner also indicated that weaker PC demand gives Intel room to make the switch, as the company expects the PC slowdown to last at least through the first half of next year. CEO Lip-Bu Tan said the added Intel 3 capacity should be in production in the second half of 2027. Tan also noted that the industry continues to navigate one of the most significant supply shortages in history, driven by unprecedented demand for "Super Intelligence"; he was pleased by the progress growing server supply in Q3 but is mindful of ongoing challenges in future quarters keeping pace with server demand. The capacity conversion is in a planned status.
Xeon server processorsXeon 6 "Granite Rapids"Panther LakeIntelTechPowerUpCapacity Change
According to a report published 31 October 2026, Intel is reallocating some of its capacity from client to data center CPUs in the face of what CEO Lip-Bu Tan called 'one of the most significant supply shortages in history,' driven by unprecedented demand for Super Intelligence. The company recently began expanding capacity at Fab 24 near Leixlip, Ireland to increase output of Intel 3-based Xeon 6 'Granite Rapids' processors, but this capacity will only come online by the end of 2027 unless accelerated. Intel also plans to convert some manufacturing resources at its Oregon facilities from Intel 18A to Intel 3 — resources originally intended for Panther Lake client processors — with the additional Intel 3 capacity expected to enter production in the second half of 2027. Intel is accelerating equipment installation into Fab 62 in Arizona, set to become its second high-volume manufacturing facility for 18A/18A-P, and is expanding advanced packaging capacity in New Mexico and Malaysia. Intel 3 manufacturing costs have declined by approximately 15% since the first quarter of 2026. Advanced organic substrates remain a bottleneck, with approximately 40% additional substrate capacity expected in the second half of 2027. Intel's DCAI business generated $7.3 billion in revenue in Q3 2026, up 17% sequentially and nearly 80% year-over-year; the company expects CapEx of approximately $20 billion in 2026, increasing significantly in 2027, with firm purchase orders to equipment suppliers up nearly 40% sequentially in Q3. Intel expects supply constraints to remain particularly severe in the first half of 2027 and demand for data center CPUs to remain strong in 2027–2028.
server CPUsXeon CPUsXeon 6 'Granite Rapids' processorsIntelTom's HardwareCapacity Change
On October 29, Ibiden raised its fiscal 2026 forecast, projecting consolidated net profit to rise 40% year-over-year to JPY89 billion (US$563 million) and revenue to increase 36% to JPY565 billion. The company also announced an additional JPY151 billion in capital investment to expand advanced IC packaging substrate capacity for generative AI servers and CPUs; per the title, the expansion for Intel is from 2029. The source does not provide further detail on what the 2029 date represents for capacity readiness.
advanced IC packaging substrateIbidenDigiTimes AsiaCapacity Change
During the Q3 2026 earnings call, Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan confirmed that the company's upcoming flagship client CPU, codenamed "Nova Lake," will be produced by Intel Foundry using its 18A-P node. Initially, Intel had planned to outsource the main compute tile production for "Nova Lake" to TSMC using its 2 nm N2 node, with TSMC expected to handle about 60-70% of the production and the remainder produced in-house by Intel Foundry on the 18A node, meaning a dual-sourcing arrangement for the next-generation chip. Later supply chain information suggested the company intended to bring the majority of "Nova Lake" compute tile production in-house, with these compute tiles made on the Intel 18A-P node. The CEO stated: "Nova Lake," our first Intel 18A-P client product, is tracking ahead of schedule, with design wins expected to be twice those of "Panther Lake" at launch, and more details will be shared at CES in January. The source does not state the cause for the shift of production in-house. This production arrangement remains planned; no completed production is reported.
Nova Lake client CPU (18A-P compute tile)Intel, Intel Foundry and 3 totalTechPowerUpCapacity Change
As server demand exceeds supply, Intel is increasing equipment orders, and its server expansion is drawing equipment and materials suppliers into a capacity push, though the benefits will arrive in stages. Management's October 29 earnings-call comments identified three distinct constraints: wafer production, packaging substrates, and lost output from its disrupted Israel factory. Resolving these constraints and bringing additional manufacturing capacity online will take time. The source does not state the cause of the disruption at the Israel factory.
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan confirmed on the company's Q3 2026 earnings call that the next-gen Nova Lake desktop processors will be the first client product to use Intel's enhanced 18A-P node, that Nova Lake is tracking ahead of schedule with design wins expecting to be twice those of Panther Lake at launch, and that more details will be shared at CES in January (confirmation/planning stage, not an implemented capacity result). CFO David Zinsner said Intel intends to take 18A wafers — which were generally going to build Panther Lake products — offline to put Intel 3 into Oregon, using some of the freed-up capacity to produce more data center wafers (Granite Rapids); this reallocation is a stated plan/intent, not yet a completed action. Background figures: 18A-P offers a 9% speed improvement at iso-power or an 18% power reduction at iso-speed versus 18A; 18A products now make up a third of client CPU revenue, up from less than 5% in Q1; Tan said demand for Wildcat Lake is outstripping supply; OEM partners are aggressively managing inventory to match softer sell-through, and the company expects its client business to decline by more than 20% in the next quarter; Zinsner expects the 2026 PC unit TAM to decline approximately 12% with second-half units down more than 20%, plans a roughly 10% PC unit TAM decline for 2027, and does not expect a sustained recovery until memory availability improves and pricing begins to normalize.
Nova LakePanther LakeGranite RapidsIntelTom's HardwareCapacity Change
Tesla and SpaceX are building Terafab in Texas, with Musk aiming to establish a facility capable of processing 1 million wafers per month within 10 years. Intel has joined as a technology partner, and TSMC has confirmed discussions on potential cooperation. Procurement officials from Tesla and SpaceX visited Korean suppliers at SEMICON West. Whether Terafab will materialize as planned remains uncertain.
On October 27, Asus and Intel unveiled the new commercial laptop Asus ExpertBook A7 in Taiwan, as on-premises AI computing devices gain attention from enterprises and creators alongside traditional business PCs. Asus said products related to Nvidia RTX Spark are being allocated due to strong global demand, particularly models with 64GB and 128GB of memory, with the next shipments expected to arrive progressively by the end of October.
On October 21, during GTC Berlin, Nvidia announced several multi-billion-dollar deals with six major supply chain partners — Ibiden, Unimicron, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, SPIL, Amkor and KYEC — across substrates, advanced packaging, semiconductor testing and optical engines, to expand production capacity and reserve capacity for its AI accelerators; expanded supply is to be available from 2027 through 2028, with commitments and production roadmaps stretching through 2028. For substrates, Nvidia plans to secure 2.5x dedicated substrate capacity over the next three years: it earlier signed a deal to provide a multibillion-dollar capacity reservation advance to support Ibiden's Ono Plant in Japan (targeting 3x the plant's current capacity); the Samsung Electro-Mechanics deal will support facility upgrades and new plants in Busan and Sejong, with Nvidia projected to account for a significant portion of its output by 2028; a capacity reservation agreement with Unimicron supports its substrate expansion in Taiwan, expected to start providing capacity by Q2 2027 and reach full capacity by mid-2028. For co-packaged optics, Nvidia signed with SPIL to expand optical engine production capacity 15x (1,400%) by mid-2027, with plans to double again by the end of 2028. With Amkor, Nvidia targets a more-than-300% increase in interposer wafer capacity by the end of 2028 through advanced packaging expansion in South Korea; Amkor confirmed the deal is worth $1.3 billion, bringing Nvidia's total investment across Amkor's Arizona and South Korea facilities to $3 billion. For testing, on October 13 Nvidia signed a deal to pay KYEC $1.1 billion to reserve testing capacity at KYEC's new $1.4 billion U.S. facility (high-volume production slated to begin in April 2027; Singapore high-volume production expected to begin February 2027), with testing capacity expected to double from calendar 2026 to 2027; KYEC currently handles nearly all of Nvidia's chip testing. Per its August 2026 disclosures, Nvidia had accumulated $279 billion in outstanding supply and manufacturing-capacity commitments by July 2026. All expansion figures are announced plans and targets, not yet realized.
substratesadvanced packaginginterposer wafersNvidia, Ibiden and 7 totalTom's HardwareCapacity Change
Intel confirmed on Oct. 22 local time that construction and equipment installation are underway at Fab 62 on its Ocotillo campus in Arizona, with plans to begin operating the facility by the end of 2028; the fab is expected to use the company's 1.4-nanometer-class Intel 14A process. Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president and chief technology and operations officer of Intel Foundry, said Fab 62 will be the sixth high-volume manufacturing facility at the Ocotillo campus. Intel began constructing Fab 52 and Fab 62 in 2021; Fab 52 was completed in 2023 and has been mass-producing chips on the Intel 18A process (combining RibbonFET and PowerVia technologies) since late 2025. Intel's $28 billion plant in New Albany, Ohio, recently installed its first major roof truss; originally scheduled for completion in 2025, it is now expected to be completed in 2030 due to funding difficulties. Intel also plans to be the first in the industry to deploy High NA-EUV lithography equipment in mass production at its Oregon facility, carries out large-scale advanced packaging production in New Mexico, and has begun construction on a new mask manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, California.
At an event this week, Micron announced that its next-generation 3D NAND (G11), which it plans to enter mass production in 2H 2027, is set to offer three significant advantages: doubling storage density (approximately twice the bit density of G9, with 3D TLC going from 21 Gb/mm² to 42 Gb/mm²), increasing I/O performance by up to 50% versus the company's current-generation NAND memory (interface speed from 3,600 MT/s to 5,400 MT/s), and reducing data transfer energy consumption per bit by more than 25%. G11 will adopt wafer-on-wafer bonding, manufacturing the NAND array on a new 3D NAND node and the peripheral circuits and I/O on a logic process before bonding them together, and will transition to more than 400 NAND layers; Micron has not disclosed the exact number of active wordline layers or memory decks. Micron executive Scott DeBoer described G11 as the world's most advanced NAND, ramping in the second half of next year. Micron also expects to disclose more G11 technical details in 2027 and, beyond G11, is developing high-mobility materials and denser cell architectures to continue XYZ scaling; specific architectural details, density targets, or production schedules for post-G11 generations have not been disclosed. These are the company's stated plans and expectations; mass production has not yet occurred.
3D NANDG11 3D NANDMicronTom's HardwareCapacity Change
In an early Friday announcement dated 23 October 2026, SK hynix said it had decided to abandon plans for a potential initial public offering (IPO) of Solidigm, its U.S.-based enterprise SSD subsidiary, citing unfavorable stock market conditions and semiconductor share price trends. At the same time, SK hynix confirmed it plans to build a new fab for Solidigm in the U.S. to address growing demand for enterprise SSDs. SK hynix stated that although an IPO could have helped finance a new fab in the U.S., its subsidiary's expansion remains a priority; the company has discontinued its review of both pre-IPO financing and an IPO and will continue to evaluate alternative funding mechanisms. The source states that the planned fab's capacity, investment requirements, and construction schedule have not yet been disclosed. Solidigm specializes in high-capacity data center SSDs based on floating gate 3D QLC NAND memory, and its existing manufacturing capacity is barely sufficient to address its projected needs.
enterprise SSD3D QLC NANDSolidigm, SK hynixTom's HardwareCapacity Change
Intel has begun installing equipment at Fab 62 within its Ocotillo campus in Chandler, Arizona. According to Intel officials, construction and equipment installation are currently underway, with production projected to begin by the end of 2028. Naga Chandrasekaran, Executive Vice President of Intel Foundry and Chief Technology and Operations Officer, stated: 'Today, I am pleased to share that construction and tool installation at Fab 62 are now fully underway, and we expect operations to begin by the end of 2028.' Reaching this stage comes more than a year after Intel had Fab 52 at full production capacity. Fab 62 could support the 18A, 18A-P, and 14A process nodes, however the company has not confirmed which ones; the next-door Fab 52 already manufactures chips on the 18A node, currently producing Panther Lake processors and Clearwater Forest server CPUs using the 18A process. It can be presumed that the new facility could either expand existing capacity or support the next-generation 14A process, but this remains unconfirmed by the company. Intel also reported progress in Ohio, where the first major structural truss has been installed on the first fab in New Albany.
According to a TrendForce post dated October 22, 2026, Intel's U.S. fab expansion is moving ahead: Arizona's Fab 62 has begun equipment installation, targeting late-2028 production for potential 18A or 14A capacity, while Ohio One's first fab begins taking structural shape. This is a planned expansion; the process (18A or 14A) remains potential/undetermined, and the source does not state the cause.
18A14AIntelTrendForce Official (Market Data)Capacity Change
Intel is accelerating its long-delayed US semiconductor manufacturing projects: equipment installation is underway at its Fab 62 facility in Arizona, and construction is progressing at its Ohio site. The source states these developments come as stronger demand for AI data center processors supports the chipmaker's efforts to expand capacity and strengthen its foundry business. The source does not specify expansion volume or production start dates.
AI data center processorsIntelDigiTimes AsiaCapacity Change
According to Maeil Business Newspaper, citing industry sources, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is reportedly set to receive a combined KRW 3.7 trillion in investment from Tesla and NVIDIA to expand advanced chip substrate production; the investment is a reported commitment. The company has signed a long-term flip-chip ball grid array (FC-BGA) substrate supply agreement with Tesla and is expanding dedicated production lines at its Sejong facility. The substrates are expected to be used in AI chips for Tesla's autonomous electric vehicles and Optimus humanoid robots under a five-year agreement running from 2029 through 2033. Tesla will contribute approximately KRW 1.1 trillion toward the expansion in exchange for guaranteed substrate supplies; the funding forms part of Samsung Electro-Mechanics' KRW 4.27 trillion Sejong investment plan disclosed in September. Construction of the new FC-BGA substrate production facilities at the Sejong plant is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, with equipment installation and trial operations scheduled for the first half of 2028, mass production in the second half, and deliveries to Tesla expected to begin in 2029. According to TechNews, NVIDIA is also expanding global substrate capacity through supplier partnerships and aims to increase its total IC substrate capacity to 2.5 times its current level over the next three years: in Japan, NVIDIA has committed billions of dollars in capacity reservation prepayments to Ibiden, whose Ono plant aims to triple production capacity, with additional output expected to begin ramping in the first quarter of 2028; in South Korea, Samsung Electro-Mechanics is expanding its Sejong and Busan facilities, with NVIDIA expected to account for a significant share of its annual package substrate capacity by 2028 — while NVIDIA did not disclose an investment amount, Maeil Business Newspaper reports the commitment is believed to be worth approximately KRW 2.6 trillion; NVIDIA is also supporting Taiwan's Unimicron in expanding its KF substrate capacity through a capacity reservation agreement, with additional output expected from the second quarter of 2027 and full capacity targeted by mid-2028. Separately, Samsung Electro-Mechanics disclosed a KRW 360.5 billion contract on October 19 to supply memory semiconductor package substrates to an undisclosed global customer throughout 2027, with the customer not identified citing business confidentiality, according to Chosun Biz. The broader expansion comes as high-end FC-BGA production remains concentrated among a handful of suppliers, including Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Japan's Ibiden, and Taiwan's Unimicron; industry estimates cited by Maeil Business Newspaper put Ibiden's market share at more than 70%, with Samsung Electro-Mechanics working to narrow the gap.
FC-BGA substratememory semiconductor package substrateKF substrateSamsung Electro-Mechanics, Tesla and 5 totalTrendForceCapacity Change
On 21 October 2026 (Wednesday), Intel announced that it had started installing production tools at its Fab 62 in Arizona, with the fab on track for mass production by late 2028; however, the company has not disclosed when it intends to begin high-volume production, the planned wafer processing capacity, the capital expenditures required to complete the facility, and it has not officially assigned Intel 14A to Fab 62 (Fab 62 remains unassigned, while Fab 52 has been designated for Intel 18A). Per Intel's manufacturing roadmap disclosed earlier this year, Fab 62 will be able to make chips on 18A, 18A-P, and 14A nodes. Intel also confirmed that it has integrated High-NA EUV lithography into high-volume manufacturing (HVM), used to produce select tiles for Panther Lake CPUs at its D1X fab in Oregon; Intel has not explicitly confirmed whether High-NA EUV scanners are currently used to produce the same circuits as Low-NA EUV machines. In addition, construction workers recently installed the first major structural truss at the first fab of the Ohio One complex in New Albany, Ohio, but Intel did not provide an updated construction schedule, disclose when the first fab is expected to begin operations, or reveal which process technology it will use or its estimated capacity. The source does not state the cause (this is a capacity expansion progress update, not a price or disruption event).
Elon Musk said on October 20, during a live broadcast of SpaceX's Q3 2026 earnings call on X, that ASML and other critical semiconductor equipment suppliers have expedited shipments to the Terafab semiconductor manufacturing facility, a joint megaproject between Tesla and SpaceX, to support his aggressive timeline. He said the company is targeting volume chip production at Terafab's primary facility in Gibbons Creek, Texas, by the third or fourth quarter of 2028, emphasizing that the timeline is highly aspirational and carries 'big error bars'; SpaceX plans to manufacture its first experimental test chip at its research fabrication facility in Austin, Texas, around Q2 2027. Terafab will use traditional extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems utilizing Intel's 14A manufacturing node; Intel officially joined the Terafab venture in April 2026 to co-develop and refactor silicon fabrication technology. According to unofficial sources, Terafab's first EUV tool was reportedly slated for delivery in mid-2027, and it remains unclear if this is the expedited timeline Musk referred to. Other major suppliers include Applied Materials, Lam Research, and KLA Corporation, as well as Japan's Tokyo Electron; Tesla and SpaceX are also in talks with about 10 South Korean equipment makers, including Hanmi Semiconductor (advanced packaging equipment) and HPSP (high-pressure hydrogen annealing equipment). Musk also outlined AI compute goals: 2.5 to 3 GW of computing capacity active by the end of 2026, a total of 13 GW by the end of 2027, and plans to bring a 440,000-GPU Nvidia 'Vera Rubin' training cluster online by the end of Q2 2027. The event remains a plan/target and volume production has not been achieved.
EUV lithography systemslogic chipsmemoryASML, Tesla and 11 totalTom's HardwareCapacity Change
An Intel Foundry editorial, citing the Semiconductor Industry Association, notes that America's share of global semiconductor manufacturing fell from 37% in 1990 to 10% in 2022. The editorial states that construction and tool installation are underway at Intel's Fab 62 in Arizona, with operations expected by the end of 2028, while its Ohio project has reached another structural milestone; it emphasizes that construction progress signals preparation for future demand, although the eventual impact will depend on execution, customer adoption and competitive manufacturing performance. The editorial also states Intel works with more than 4,500 suppliers across 49 states and generates more than $29 billion in annual domestic spending. These are editorial claims and in-progress construction plans, not achieved capacity results.
Japan's Fujifilm is expanding its extreme ultraviolet (EUV) photoresist production capacity to deepen cooperation with Samsung Electronics. Brian O'Donnellley, president of Fujifilm Electronic Materials USA, said the company is producing EUV photoresists in Pyeongtaek and, although it has not yet entered full-scale mass production, some EUV PR products have passed qualification tests at major customers. Fujifilm has expanded EUV PR production facilities in Shizuoka, Japan (its primary hub for advanced photoresist development and production) and Pyeongtaek, South Korea (near Samsung, selected for its most advanced products); EUV PR production and inspection equipment at both locations began operating in October 2025. The source does not state when full-scale mass production in Pyeongtaek will begin. The company cited artificial intelligence (AI) driving demand for materials used in processes at 2 nanometers and below, and expansion of advanced manufacturing processes increasing demand for ArF and EUV photoresists as the stated reason. Separately, Fujifilm is expanding its CMP slurry production facility near Samsung's Cheonan campus, planning to increase production capacity by approximately 30%, with additional facilities scheduled to begin operating in the first half of 2027; Fujifilm holds the largest global market share in CMP slurries for copper interconnects. The company also operates a facility in Carrollton, Texas near Samsung's Taylor plant and is considering various options to expand its manufacturing presence in South Korea, where it currently has two production facilities.