U.S. semiconductor corporations Intel has begun pilot production of a cutting-edge chip manufacturing process.
Intel said on the 16th (local time) at the VLSI Symposium, a semiconductor society meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii, that it started pilot production of its 18A-P process node technology.
Intel said 18A-P is an improved version of 18A (1.8 nm) that delivers 9% better performance than 18A or uses 18% less power at the same performance.
It added that it is fully compatible with 18A process production facilities.
Intel began the 18A process at its Arizona plant in Dec. 2025.
U.S. business network CNBC reported that Intel moved a step closer to a device chip supply deal with Apple.
Intel Foundry institutional sector head Naga Chandrasekaran said in a statement, "There is more work ahead, but we are pleased to share the progress we have made so far," adding, "This development milestone is a sign that Intel Foundry is committed to long-term, leading-edge process innovation for our customers and partners."
18A-P is currently in the "pilot production (risk production)" stage. In this phase, Intel gathers practical data on the chip's Production yield, performance variation, and process variability to fine-tune the process.
Intel introduced the 18A process in PC chip production in Jan. 2026 but has yet to secure major external customers. The industry expects 18A-P to open more opportunities.
Neil Shah, a semiconductor analyst at Counterpoint Research, said, "Production yield is the most important metric," adding, "If Intel can achieve over 90% Production yield in the first month, it could attract more customers."
Shah added, "Right now, Taiwan's TSMC has a major bottleneck in packaging," noting, "That is a very big opportunity for Intel and could be addressed easily."