Intel Foundry's First External Win Is Fortinet SP6｜On Old Intel 4, Not Flagship 18A
TL;DR
Intel Foundry lands its first external customer — Fortinet SP6 security chip — on the older Intel 4 (7nm) node, not flagship 18A.
Intel announced on July 22 — a strategic partnership with Fortinet to co-develop the next-gen SP6 security chip. This is the first confirmed external customer for Intel Foundry since Lip-Bu Tan took over in March 2025.
The node choice is telling — SP6 is on Intel 4. Compared to Intel's flagship 18A (1.8nm), Intel 4 is essentially 7nm — previous generation, used mainly for cost-sensitive ASICs where absolute performance isn't critical.
In other words — this isn't about finding a customer for 18A. It's about finding volume for legacy capacity. Intel 4 lines in Oregon and Kiryat Gat, Israel, have utilization below 60% per analyst estimates. Fortinet's order fills some idle time.
Fortinet's logic for choosing Intel 4 — Fortinet has long designed dedicated ASICs for security, optimizing for business flow while cutting power. SP6 is the 6th gen SPU family, deployed in firewalls and SASE edge appliances — high volume, low per-unit margin, limited need for cutting-edge nodes. Intel 4's per-wafer cost is 30-40% below TSMC 5nm — Intel's only real price card.
Reading the roadmap — Tan is 4 months in, closes the first deal, and picks a non-flagship node. The signal — Intel Foundry wants to get cash flow running on mature nodes first, then climb toward 18A. Dropping the founding narrative that "our first deal must be on 18A to beat TSMC head-on".
Three months ago Intel cut some data-center headcount (see #400) — a segment with 22% Q1 revenue growth but still shed jobs — meaning cash flow remains tight. Fortinet's order is small but establishes the "first external customer" story for Intel Foundry — next deal is the new watch.
via Cailian Press
The node choice is telling — SP6 is on Intel 4. Compared to Intel's flagship 18A (1.8nm), Intel 4 is essentially 7nm — previous generation, used mainly for cost-sensitive ASICs where absolute performance isn't critical.
In other words — this isn't about finding a customer for 18A. It's about finding volume for legacy capacity. Intel 4 lines in Oregon and Kiryat Gat, Israel, have utilization below 60% per analyst estimates. Fortinet's order fills some idle time.
Fortinet's logic for choosing Intel 4 — Fortinet has long designed dedicated ASICs for security, optimizing for business flow while cutting power. SP6 is the 6th gen SPU family, deployed in firewalls and SASE edge appliances — high volume, low per-unit margin, limited need for cutting-edge nodes. Intel 4's per-wafer cost is 30-40% below TSMC 5nm — Intel's only real price card.
Reading the roadmap — Tan is 4 months in, closes the first deal, and picks a non-flagship node. The signal — Intel Foundry wants to get cash flow running on mature nodes first, then climb toward 18A. Dropping the founding narrative that "our first deal must be on 18A to beat TSMC head-on".
Three months ago Intel cut some data-center headcount (see #400) — a segment with 22% Q1 revenue growth but still shed jobs — meaning cash flow remains tight. Fortinet's order is small but establishes the "first external customer" story for Intel Foundry — next deal is the new watch.
via Cailian Press