It does not consider itself a direct competitor to TSMC.
Intel CFO David Zinsner, at the Morgan Stanley technology conference, touched on the topic of relations with TSMC, which remains the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, but with which Intel plans to join the ranking of the two largest players in this market by the end of the year.
Image Source: TSMC
Firstly, Zinsner clarified that Intel is unlikely to ever become a direct competitor to TSMC, but for many clients it is ready to become an alternative to a Taiwanese contractor or simply a company capable of producing chips outside of Taiwan. Secondly, the CEOs of Intel and TSMC communicate on a regular basis, and the first of the companies is not only a client and partner for the second, but also a supplier of photo masks. Thirdly, Intel's CFO emphasized that the company will always use the services of third-party contract chip manufacturers if this allows them to ensure acceptable production costs. Intel is not in such a mood that it will abandon TSMC's services as soon as it increases its own production capacity.