And I do not worry about intel (nor amd) but I am curious
So, let me help you out a bit here. When a new process is introduced, nobody cares beans about cost. It's basically about getting the process implemented, and the yields up. Money spent doesn't matter beans.
When things are running smoothly.... Process Engineering takes over. Freed from the constraints of implementation, all those Process Improvement and Cost Cutting projects that they've been sitting on since the beginning of ramp, can now be implemented.
Intel's current 0.18u P858 Process has "probably" now been in production for long enough to get the "money wasters" out of the way, and I would "suspect" that during Q4, quite a few of the cost reduction and process improvement ideas from the previous P856 process were implemented in P858. Most likely going for the "Biggest Bang For The Buck"/"Quickest To Implement" Projects available.
"Most Likely", many of the same process engineers that worked on P856, were also working on P858, and trust me.... The second time you implement a cost reduction project, it goes much smoother and faster.
IMO, the "curiosity", mostly comes from the assumption that intel's manufacturing costs in 2H00, were equal to costs in 1H00. I doubt that was the case.
Mystery Solved.... Elementary My Dear Dr. Watson.
:-)
Semi |
