Intel's 14A Node to Start at 6,000 Wafers per Month in 2027, Expected to Quadruple by 2028
Intel's 1.4-nanometer-class foundry node, '14A,' is expected to quadruple in a single year, ramping from 6,000 wafers per month in 2027 to 24,000 wafers per month in 2028. The forecast, based on a mid-quarter review of Intel by GF Securities analyst Jeff Pu, measures capacity in wafer starts.
According to Intel's official roadmap, 14A is the next-generation cutting-edge foundry node in development following 18A and the enhanced 18A-P. It is slated to enter risk production for Intel's own products in the second half of 2027, with volume manufacturing beginning in 2028. Analyst Pu's projection of 6,000 wafers per month in 2027 is interpreted as an estimate of the early production stage ahead of full-scale mass production.
Intel is developing 14A with external foundry customers in mind from the outset. The company confirmed investment to complete 14A development by the second quarter of 2026 and said it is aligning performance and design targets so that potential major external customers can evaluate the node. The pace and scale of production capacity expansion will depend on whether external customers commit to firm volumes.
Analyst Pu estimated the yield of Panther Lake (Core Ultra Series 3) laptop chips built on the 18A node, currently in mass production, at around 80%. Yield is a key productivity metric, as higher yields mean more sellable chips per wafer and lower per-chip manufacturing costs. However, the 80% figure has not been officially disclosed by Intel.
Observers note that while the figure suggests progress in process stabilization, the measurement criteria have not been made public, making it important to define its scope. It remains unknown which Panther Lake products were assessed, how the figures reflect results from Fab 52 in Arizona and the Oregon development line, and what was counted as a good die. Because Panther Lake is built by combining multiple tiles, the yield of 18A-manufactured compute tiles does not equal the yield of the final finished CPUs.
Intel has already begun mass production of some Panther Lake products, and in the second quarter of 2026, certain Panther Lake production using ASML's High-NA EUV (extreme ultraviolet lithography) equipment entered volume manufacturing. In its earnings report for the same quarter, Intel said that fab yield improvements and shortened production cycles pushed actual output above expectations, consistent with the trend of 18A production steadily settling in.
