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Intel 4 was a genuine manufacturing milestone, but it did not prove Intel had regained semiconductor dominance. It brought extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography into Intel’s production process technology for the first time, reached high-volume manufacturing, and supplied the compute tile in Meteor Lake. Its larger significance was strategic: Intel had resumed a process-development cadence that could lead to Intel 3 and Intel 18A. Whether that becomes a durable competitive recovery depends on yields, product results, manufacturing scale, external customers and financial returns—not on Intel 4 alone.
What Intel 4 changed
Intel 4 was the production successor to Intel 7 and Intel’s first process node to incorporate EUV lithography, according to the company’s 2023 annual filing. Intel described the node as delivering significant scaling improvements over Intel 7. Its earlier roadmap announcement projected approximately 20% better performance per watt than Intel 7, a company-reported process-level comparison—not a guarantee that every Intel 4 product would be 20% faster or more efficient.
“Intel 4” is a generation name, not a physical measurement that can be equated with TSMC N4 or another foundry’s similarly numbered node. Node names are not standardized across manufacturers. A meaningful comparison would require comparable evidence on performance, power, density, yield, cost, available capacity and product results. Intel’s public figures do not establish that Intel 4 was categorically superior to a competing process.
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EUV uses shorter-wavelength light than earlier lithography methods to print certain small features. It can reduce the need for complex multiple-patterning steps on some layers, potentially simplifying process flows. But putting EUV equipment in a fab is not the same as mastering high-volume EUV production. Results also depend on masks, resist chemistry, metrology, process control, defect management, equipment uptime and accumulated manufacturing experience.
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For Intel, the milestone was important because the company had fallen behind leading competitors in advanced-node execution. TSMC had already built substantial EUV experience, so Intel 4’s significance was primarily that Intel had begun catching up in a critical manufacturing capability—not that the first Intel EUV node established an industry lead. Intel’s 2025 Form 10-K identifies Intel 4, Intel 3 and later nodes as EUV-dependent technologies requiring substantial investment.
What Intel’s performance claim does—and does not—show
Intel’s approximately 20% performance-per-watt figure compares process technology with Intel 7 under the company’s stated process evaluation. It is not a universal CPU benchmark or proof of the same improvement in a particular laptop or server. A finished product’s performance and battery life also depend on its architecture, packaging, memory, software, cooling and power limits.
Intel positioned Intel 3 as a follow-on that would build on Intel 4, with further FinFET optimization, additional EUV use and a company-projected approximately 18% performance-per-watt improvement over Intel 4. That plan made Intel 4 useful as a manufacturing-learning step as well as a product node. The figures and roadmap expectations were set out in Intel’s process and packaging roadmap announcement; they should be read as Intel claims, not independently comparable results across foundries.
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Meteor Lake put Intel 4 into a real product
Meteor Lake, sold as Core Ultra Series 1, was Intel 4’s principal early commercial vehicle. It was a multi-tile processor: the compute tile used Intel 4, while other tiles were produced using different processes, including external manufacturing. Intel’s later filing confirms Intel 4 entered high-volume manufacturing in 2023 and was used for Core Ultra Series 1 processors (Intel 2025 Form 10-K).
This design demonstrated a strategic advantage of chiplets: Intel could apply its new process to a key tile without requiring the entire package to be built on Intel 4. It also complicates attribution. A product’s efficiency or performance cannot be credited to Intel 4 alone when tile partitioning, packaging, architecture and other manufacturing processes contribute to the result. Meteor Lake was evidence that Intel could deploy the node in a shipping product; it was not a clean, whole-chip test of Intel 4 or proof of superiority over rival laptop platforms.
Intel 4’s place in the 5N4Y recovery plan
Intel’s 5N4Y plan aimed to deliver five process nodes in four years, presenting a route back toward process leadership. The announced sequence was Intel 7, Intel 4, Intel 3, Intel 20A and Intel 18A. Intel 4 therefore mattered partly as the first major step after Intel 7: the next question was whether Intel could repeat progress rather than produce one successful milestone.
The original sequence did not unfold literally. Intel later canceled productization of Intel 20A as originally planned and concentrated on Intel 18A, as described in its 2024 annual filing. That change is a reason to distinguish a roadmap announcement from completed manufacturing and product results. It does not erase Intel 4’s progress, but it does mean the original five-node cadence should not be treated as five equivalent commercial successes.
Intel 3 tested whether the progress was repeatable
Intel 3 entered high-volume manufacturing in 2024 and is used in Xeon 6 offerings, according to Intel’s 2025 Form 10-K. As a derivative of Intel 4, it tested whether Intel could build on the manufacturing base and learning from the earlier node while improving the process for later products.
Reaching volume production is meaningful, but does not by itself reveal how much product volume can be made at attractive yield and cost. Intel reported that Intel 3 represented a modest share of its internal production and revenue in 2025, with a larger share expected in 2026. That distinction matters: a node can be in high-volume manufacturing while remaining a limited portion of the company’s overall output.
Intel 18A became the more consequential test
Intel 18A is the node on which the present-day leadership question turns more directly. It brings together RibbonFET, Intel’s gate-all-around transistor architecture, and PowerVia, its backside power-delivery approach. Intel reported that 18A entered high-volume production in late 2025; its first Core Ultra Series 3 products based on the node launched in January 2026. Intel also said 18A-P entered risk production in June 2026. These are significant execution milestones, but production status and a product launch are not alone proof of competitive yields, broad customer adoption or attractive economics. Intel’s VLSI Symposium update provides the company’s account of those milestones.
Intel 4 and 18A represent different stages of the recovery story:
| Node | Role in the recovery |
|---|---|
| Intel 4 | First Intel production node incorporating EUV; resumed advanced-node execution and supplied Meteor Lake’s compute tile. |
| Intel 3 | Derivative follow-on, in high-volume manufacturing in 2024 and used for Xeon 6 offerings. |
| Intel 20A | Planned node for introducing RibbonFET and PowerVia; productization was canceled as originally planned. |
| Intel 18A | High-volume deployment of RibbonFET and PowerVia; the more current test of manufacturing leadership and foundry credibility. |
Why Intel 4 did not restore dominance
“Semiconductor dominance” covers more than process technology. Intel would need competitive products, reliable manufacturing at scale, customers willing to use its foundry, and returns that justify enormous fabrication and research investments. Intel 4 was positive evidence on process capability and manufacturing learning. It could not settle all of those other questions.
- Process technology: Intel demonstrated EUV production and followed with later process milestones, but the public evidence does not establish that Intel 4 led competing nodes on comparable performance, yield, cost and density.
- Product competitiveness: A process advantage does not automatically make CPUs, accelerators or other products best in their markets. Product architecture, software, packaging and workload performance matter too.
- Scale and economics: Working production is different from making enough wafers reliably at competitive cost and utilization. EUV equipment and advanced fabs require substantial capital and operational expertise.
- Foundry customers: External designers need confidence in yield and supply, plus usable design rules, process design kits (PDKs), electronic design automation support, intellectual property and long-term service. Transistor characteristics alone do not constitute a foundry ecosystem.
- Financial returns: A technically successful node must ultimately support profitable products or attract enough external business to justify its cost.
Intel Foundry progress is not the same as a viable external foundry business
Under its IDM 2.0 strategy, Intel sought to combine internal manufacturing, selective use of outside foundries, external wafer-fabrication customers and advanced packaging. Intel Foundry’s offer includes fabrication, packaging, chiplet integration and design-enablement services. Intel’s filing also describes the quality, yield, design-tool and customer-trust requirements involved in winning outside business (2025 Form 10-K).
The reported financial mix illustrates why internal manufacturing capability and external foundry traction must be judged separately. For fiscal 2025, Intel reported $17.8 billion of Intel Foundry revenue, of which $17.5 billion was intersegment revenue; external revenue was $307 million. Intel also reported a large operating loss for the foundry segment. These figures are from the company’s 2025 Form 10-K. The substantial difference between intersegment and external revenue means the total foundry figure should not be read as evidence that outside customers had adopted Intel at TSMC-like scale.
Intel’s own product groups also use third-party manufacturing for some components, and Intel has acknowledged that future products beyond 18A may use external foundries. That hybrid approach can be practical, but it means Intel’s recovery is not simply a story of replacing outside suppliers with internal nodes. Foundry customers must also believe that Intel can support their designs consistently, rather than just demonstrate that its own product teams can use a process.
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A comparison based on the numeral in a node name is misleading. Intel 4, TSMC N4 and Samsung 4nm do not share a common naming standard, and Intel 4’s first EUV deployment was a catch-up milestone relative to TSMC’s prior EUV experience. Intel lists TSMC, Samsung, GlobalFoundries, UMC and SMIC among its foundry competitors in its 2024 annual filing.
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A serious comparison would need like-for-like data that is not established by Intel’s headline process claims alone. Relevant measures include:
- Density and performance per watt: assessed using comparable design rules, cells and test conditions—not marketing node labels.
- Yield, cost and cycle time: a leading process must produce usable chips consistently and economically.
- Capacity and packaging: customers need sufficient wafer supply and advanced packaging options, not just a promising transistor design.
- Design ecosystem: mature PDKs, EDA flows, IP and engineering support reduce the time and risk of moving a design to a foundry.
- Customer adoption and returns: sustained orders and profitable operations are stronger evidence of commercial leadership than roadmap targets.
The available evidence supports calling Intel 4 a meaningful advance for Intel. It does not support a definitive claim that it beat TSMC N4 or Samsung’s 4nm process, or that Intel’s overall manufacturing position had returned to dominance.
Intel 4 scorecard
| Question | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Did Intel introduce EUV into production process technology? | Yes. Intel identifies Intel 4 as its first EUV node. |
| Did it reach manufacturing and ship in a product? | Yes. Intel reports high-volume manufacturing in 2023 and use in Core Ultra Series 1. |
| Did it establish clear industry-wide process leadership? | Not established by comparable public performance, yield, cost and scale data. |
| Did it demonstrate a path to follow-on nodes? | Evidence improved: Intel 3 and then 18A reached reported manufacturing milestones. |
| Did it restore external foundry credibility? | Not by itself. External customer adoption and economics remained separate challenges. |
| Did it restore semiconductor dominance? | No. That is broader than a single process node and is not demonstrated by Intel 4. |
Verdict: a necessary step, not a completed comeback
Intel 4’s importance lies in restarting Intel’s advanced-process execution: it brought EUV into production, supported a commercial compute tile and helped create a bridge to derivative and later nodes. Intel 3 and 18A provide stronger evidence that the company continued to advance beyond that first step. But Intel 4 did not establish leadership over competitors, solve foundry economics or prove lasting product superiority. The fairest judgment is that Intel 4 materially improved the odds of a manufacturing recovery; whether that recovery becomes broader semiconductor leadership depends on the scale, competitiveness and financial results of the nodes and products that followed.
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