Two threads of the same story are converging in the advanced chip world: Intel's manufacturing comeback and the soaring demand for the machines that make cutting-edge chips.
According to Tom's Hardware, Intel has become the first company to ship high-volume logic chips patterned with ASML's High NA EUV tools. Select layers of Intel's upcoming "Panther Lake" processors, built on its 18A process, are now dual-qualified for ASML's 0.55 NA scanners — marking the technology's first use in high-volume production rather than the lab.
That milestone lands alongside encouraging numbers. Tech Times reports that Intel's 18A foundry yield has reached 85%, citing a KeyBanc report, with ASML confirming Intel's status as the first to ship high-volume chips made on High NA EUV lithography. Yield — the share of chips on a wafer that come out working — is a closely watched health check for any new manufacturing process, and 85% signals maturity.
Meanwhile, ASML itself is booming. According to reporting carried by MSN, the Dutch supplier lifted its annual sales guidance for the second time and said it would increase output of its chipmaking machines in the coming years, pointing to "unrelenting" AI demand. A Yahoo Finance piece surfaced via Google News underscores why: ASML remains a critical, near-irreplaceable link in the AI chip supply chain as demand for advanced semiconductors climbs.
Why it matters: Intel has spent years trying to prove its foundry ambitions are real, and shipping the industry's most advanced lithography at high volume — with strong yields — is exactly the credibility it needs to win chip orders in an AI-hungry market.