Will Intel's "Accelerated" Chipmaking Plans Spell Trouble for TSMC?

Over the past several years, Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) has fallen behind Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM) and Samsung in the "process race" to create smaller and more advanced chips. Intel's R&D and manufacturing issues with the 14nm, 10nm, and 7nm nodes resulted in chip delays and shortages, enabling its rival Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) -- which outsourced is chip production to TSMC's superior foundries -- to expand its market share in the PC and server CPU markets. Last year, many analysts speculated that Intel would also need to go "fabless" and outsource its manufacturing to TSMC to catch up.