> this suggests Gelsinger is confident in the company’s ability to get their 7nm-and-beyond processes back

Or it may suggest that the company wants to say anything to reassure investors that it will change course and stop losing market share. I wouldn't read any particular guarantee into these statements.

That’s a fair point. A comment [0] in a parallel thread points out a third possibility: that Intel believes x86 is on its way out, and they’re attempting to pivot before their only significant revenue source dries up.

I hope for the semiconductor industry’s sake they really are getting 7nm back on track this time, and that this new manufacturing business will be competitive. Perhaps that’s unrealistic to expect given their track record lately, but at least Gelsinger seems to deserve more confidence than Swan.

[0]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26568598

Credibility is an asset. Talk enough shit, and you're out as the CEO.

Rocket Lake is still on 14nm because of issues with their 10nm process and the new guy a week in is talking smack about them shipping 7nm product and compete against the likes of TMSC/Samsung ???.

They don't have to do 10 and 7 on the way to 5, right? I assume they can just skip some of the work, especially if the newer process is totally different anyway.

Yes, they're working on multiple processes. They're working on both 7nm and 5nm, and it's expected that 10nm's yield issues will effectively be solved by releasing 7nm.