Intel's head of contract chip manufacturing is stepping down

CEO Randhir Thakur is leaving Intel Corp. He managed a key part of the chip maker's transformation plan and worked to move the company into the contract manufacturing industry.

An email message from Intel says that Thakur is leaving his position to take advantage of opportunities outside the company. He will still be in his position in the first quarter of 2023 to ensure a soft leadership change.

This management shift indicates a change in capital investments of managing director Pat Gelsinger. The company decided to expand its business as it lost its leading role in the microchip industry valued at $580 billion. The company is now making the transition to contract manufacturing. This means that the company is preparing to produce chips for other organizations. The leaders in this field at the moment are Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. These two companies would hardly give up the priority in this market.

The first representative of the modern contract manufacturing model was TSMC company. It worked with companies such as Apple Inc., Qualcomm Inc. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Their collaboration allowed them to innovate and expand without losses to their own multibillion-dollar chip manufacturing factories.

Thakur made plans for Intel to do the same. He considered building new factories in the U.S. and Europe as a tool to win market share of Apple and Qualcomm.