High-performance computing has driven demand far beyond what simple node shrinkage can deliver. AMD and Nvidia answered that by cramming multiple chips into a single package, making advanced packaging the beating heart of modern silicon. TSMC has ruled that turf for years, but the ground is beginning to shift.

Fresh job ads from the Fruity Cargo Cult Apple suggest it wants people versed in CoWoS, EMIB, SoIC and PoP, which is another way of saying it is eyeing Chipzilla’s toys. Qualcomm is sniffing around too. The firm is hiring a director for its data centre business who must already be familiar with EMIB.

Intel's EMIB lets chiplets talk to each other through a tiny silicon bridge rather than requiring a giant interposer like TSMC’s CoWoS, which keeps costs tidier. Foveros offers three-dimensional stacking through TSVs and has become one of the industry’s more respected approaches. Engineers say nice things about it, which remains unsettling.

The reason this is taking off is not due to excellent Intel tech. TSMC’s advanced packaging lines are jammed because Nvidia and AMD keep shovelling orders at them. New customers inevitably get shunted down the queue, which is why firms such as Broadcom, Qualcomm and Apple are starting to look at Chipzilla as a second source with a pulse.

Even Nvidia’s Jensen Huang has said kind things about Foveros, which is rare praise from someone who typically treats suppliers as mildly disappointing interns. None of this guarantees adoption, but the industry’s rising interest suggests that Chipzilla’s packaging division might finally have a lane it can win in after years spent face-planting.