---
title: "Intel fell 5% the day TSMC's CEO offered to take its chip packaging customers"
description: "Intel's foundry turnaround rests on EMIB-T packaging orders booked for customers' 2027 ramps; on October 15 the world's largest contract chipmaker named itself the fallback if that ramp falls short, and Intel shares fell more than 5 percent."
publisher: "The Inference"
section: "Silicon"
published: 2026-10-16T14:26:46.284Z
modified: 2026-10-16T14:26:46.284Z
canonical: https://theinference.org/article/intel-fell-5-the-day-tsmc-s-ceo-offered-to-take-its-chip-packaging-customers
language: en
keywords: "Intel, TSMC, Advanced Packaging, Semiconductors, Foundry"
---

# Intel fell 5% the day TSMC's CEO offered to take its chip packaging customers

> Intel's foundry turnaround rests on EMIB-T packaging orders booked for customers' 2027 ramps; on October 15 the world's largest contract chipmaker named itself the fallback if that ramp falls short, and Intel shares fell more than 5 percent.

## Wei said yes, on the record

On Taiwan Semiconductor's [third-quarter earnings call on October 15](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/tsmc-ceo-hints-company-could-151911042.html), [Morgan Stanley](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/morgan-stanley) analyst Charlie Chan asked chief executive C.C. Wei whether [TSMC](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/tsmc) would supply customers that chose [Intel](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/intel)'s EMIB-T packaging and then could not get enough of it [1][2]. EMIB-T is Intel's Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge, the rival to TSMC's CoWoS. "I try to avoid answering it directly, but let me say that, yes, we will be," Wei said, adding that TSMC's first priority is that a customer's "product can be introduced into the market smoothly" [1].

Advanced packaging stitches finished logic dies and high-bandwidth memory into one AI chip, and [a package shortage delays a launch even when the silicon is done](https://theinference.org/article/nvidia-prepays-1-5-billion-to-skip-the-ai-packaging-queue-america-will-relieve-in-2028) [1]. Intel shares (INTC) fell more than 5 percent that morning, inside a chip selloff that took [Samsung Electronics](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/samsung) and [SK Hynix](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/sk-hynix) down more than 10 percent [1][7].

## Intel's growth case is a packaging order book

What Wei is courting is the core of Intel's foundry turnaround. Google has [a reported order for Intel to package more than three million ninth-generation Tensor Processing Units](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/327312/20260911/emib-vs-cowos-google-amazon-back-intel-inference-nvidia-keeps-training-tsmc.htm) in 2028; [Amazon](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/amazon)'s Trainium 3 chip and MediaTek's inference parts are reported on the same platform; [Cisco and SpaceX are confirmed Intel Foundry customers](https://theinference.org/article/musk-says-tesla-and-spacex-will-run-the-16-8-billion-texas-fab-on-intel-s-unproven-14a-process) [3].

Intel chief financial officer [David Zinsner](https://theinference.org/markets/people/david-zinsner) has lifted the external packaging outlook from "a few hundred million dollars" to "several billion dollars per customer" [3]. External foundry revenue was $293 million in the second quarter of 2026, so the packaging book is the near-term growth case [3].

## The backup offer comes from a sold-out supplier

The complication is that TSMC's own packaging is the bottleneck. CoWoS is sold out through 2026 and well into 2027, with lead times of 52 to 78 weeks [3]. TSMC is paying [GlobalFoundries](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/globalfoundries) $2 billion over five years to build silicon interposers, the connecting layer inside a CoWoS package, in Malta, New York from the first half of 2028 [5][6], and is [reported to be developing an EMIB-like program with Kinsus Interconnect](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/322276/20260730/tsmc-copies-intels-packaging-approach-new-emib-like-program-kinsus-shakes-ai-race.htm), a Taiwan substrate maker [4].

Wei pledged backup capacity anyway. TSMC is producing packages five times reticle size, the area a lithography machine can print in a single exposure, at "excellent" yields, with nine times and then fourteen times planned, and is cutting CoWoS costs [1].

*Chart: **TSMC quarterly revenue has nearly doubled in two years, and Q4 is guided higher still** Column chart of TSMC quarterly revenue from Q3 2024 through Q4 2026 guidance, rising from $24 billion to a guided $53.3 billion.*

*Quarterly revenue in USD billions. Q3 2024 to Q2 2026 from TSMC's SEC filings; Q3 2026 as reported on October 15, 2026; Q4 2026 is the midpoint of company guidance of $52.3 billion to $54.3 billion, not a reported figure. [1][7][8][10]*

## Record profits underwrite the promise

The offer is made from strength. Third-quarter net profit was $23.59 billion, up 69 percent and a sixth straight record, on revenue of $46.12 billion [1][7]. TSMC [guided fourth-quarter revenue to $52.3 billion to $54.3 billion](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/tsmc-forecasts-increase-in-q4-revenue-after-posting-sixth-straight-quarter-of-record-profit/ar-AA2egycO), up from the $33.73 billion year-ago base Reuters cites (the chart plots Q4 2025 as filed, $33.45 billion), holding 2026 capital spending at $60 billion to $64 billion on about 44 percent revenue growth [1][7][8].

*Chart: **Net income has set a record for six straight quarters** Line chart of TSMC quarterly net income from Q3 2023 to Q3 2026, climbing from $6.5 billion to a record $23.59 billion.*

*Quarterly net income in USD billions. Q3 2023 to Q2 2026 from TSMC's SEC filings; Q3 2026 as reported on October 15, 2026. [1][11]*

## The counter-case, and the October 29 test

Wei's promise costs TSMC nothing if Intel delivers. Intel chief executive Lip-Bu Tan said on the July call that EMIB-T orders were growing and yield and reliability targets were met, with production scaling for customers' 2027 ramps [1]. Supply-chain checks by KeyBanc, a US broker, put EMIB-T yield near 98 percent in mid-July [3].

TSMC's [reported 3 to 6 percent wafer price rise](https://squawknews.com/news/496194-tsmc-raises-2026-revenue-growth-outlook-to-about-44) from January 2027 gives Intel room to raise its own prices [8]. And when the Kinsus program surfaced on July 30, TSMC rose 7.6 percent and Intel rose about 13 percent, on a read that packaging is big enough for two [4].

Intel [reports third-quarter results on October 29](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intel-report-third-quarter-2026-200100414.html) [9], where the external foundry revenue line and any EMIB-T order update give the packaging book its next reading. The question that reading now carries is whether the order book keeps its scarcity value once the largest foundry has offered to take the overflow.

## Takeaway

TSMC's on-record pledge to backstop customers waiting on Intel's EMIB-T packaging costs it nothing if Intel delivers, but it erodes the scarcity value of the order book Intel's foundry turnaround rests on. Intel's October 29 results give the book its next reading.

## Sources

1. [Stocktwits via Yahoo Finance, "TSMC CEO Hints Company Could Back Up Customers If Intel's Advanced Packaging Ramp-Up Falls Short", 15 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/tsmc-ceo-hints-company-could-151911042.html)
2. [Stocktwits via TradingView, "TSMC CEO Hints Company Could Back Up Customers If Intel's Advanced Packaging Ramp-Up Falls Short", 16 October 2026](https://www.tradingview.com/news/stocktwits:4bf5752f8094b:0-tsmc-ceo-hints-company-could-back-up-customers-if-intel-s-advanced-packaging-ramp-up-falls-short/)
3. [TechTimes, "EMIB vs. CoWoS: Google, Amazon Back Intel for Inference as Nvidia Keeps Training on TSMC", 11 September 2026](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/327312/20260911/emib-vs-cowos-google-amazon-back-intel-inference-nvidia-keeps-training-tsmc.htm)
4. [TechTimes, "TSMC Copies Intel's Packaging Approach: New EMIB-Like Program With Kinsus Shakes Up AI Race", 30 July 2026](https://www.techtimes.com/articles/322276/20260730/tsmc-copies-intels-packaging-approach-new-emib-like-program-kinsus-shakes-ai-race.htm)
5. [Proactive via Yahoo Finance, "GlobalFoundries shares rise on $2 billion TSMC agreement", 8 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/articles/globalfoundries-shares-rise-2-billion-141200037.html)
6. [GlobalFoundries press release via Markets Insider, "GlobalFoundries reaches agreement to establish U.S.-based supply of silicon interposers for advanced AI packaging", 8 October 2026](https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/globalfoundries-reaches-agreement-to-establish-u-s--based-supply-of-silicon-interposers-for-advanced-ai-packaging-1036608518)
7. [Reuters via MSN, "TSMC forecasts increase in Q4 revenue after posting sixth straight quarter of record profit", 15 October 2026](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/tsmc-forecasts-increase-in-q4-revenue-after-posting-sixth-straight-quarter-of-record-profit/ar-AA2egycO)
8. [SquawkNews, "TSMC Raises 2026 Revenue Growth Outlook to About 44%", 16 October 2026](https://squawknews.com/news/496194-tsmc-raises-2026-revenue-growth-outlook-to-about-44)
9. [Intel Corporation via Business Wire and Yahoo Finance, "Intel to Report Third-Quarter 2026 Financial Results", 6 October 2026](https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/intel-report-third-quarter-2026-200100414.html)
10. [TSMC quarterly figures from its SEC filings (EDGAR), retrieved 16 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001046179)
11. [TSMC, quarterly figures from its SEC filings, retrieved 16 October 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001046179)


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Intel fell 5% the day TSMC's CEO offered to take its chip packaging customers — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/intel-fell-5-the-day-tsmc-s-ceo-offered-to-take-its-chip-packaging-customers