Intel says 18A process yield improves 7% per month, so Panther Lake shouldn’t delay

Intel’s 18A process, which will make its debut in commercial products in Panther Lake generation processors, has improved its performance by 7% per month. The information comes from John Pitzer, an Intel executive, who spoke about the subject at a conference aimed at market investors.

A 7% increase per month in the yield of a new process is not unusual, but it is precisely this standardization that Pitzer celebrates. The executive admits that the technology had “erratic” progress until a few months ago.

“I think it’s important that when Lip-Bu joined in March, he was unhappy with the yields and was unhappy that the progress in yields was kind of erratic,” Pitzer said. “I think one of the things that has changed dramatically in the last 7 or 8 months is that we now have a predictable path to improved performance.”

We will have news about Panther Lake at CES 2026

With growth following industry standards, the Panther Lake generation, based on 18A, should not have any delays in its debut. Therefore, Intel should talk more about these processors at CES 2026.

“We’ve talked about this in the past, that the industry average yield improvement on a new process is about 7% per month. And now we’re on that curve for Panther Lake, which is giving us some confidence as we launch the product this quarter. Like I said, if you go to CES in January, you’ll be able to hear a lot more about this.”

Pitzer’s speech suggests that the improved pace of advances in performance affects all of Intel’s new processes. This includes 14A technology, which is being prepared to come after 18A lithography.

“And what that means is we’re getting more feedback, earlier and better on how we’re doing with these external customers with 14A than we did with 18A, and our PDK maturity is much better.”

The executive also highlights that 18A marks the debut of new technologies, while 14A will apply an improvement to them, which is simpler to do in general.

“I also want to point out that in 18A we are going to switch from FinFET to Gate All Around (GAA). We are also adding backside power. We are making big changes. Already in 14A, it is second generation Gate All Around. It is second generation backside power.

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