Intel foundry lands Fortinet as first customer for security chips
Intel has secured Fortinet as a customer for its foundry services to produce security chips using the Intel 4 process. This deal marks a step forward for Intel's strategy to compete in the contract chip manufacturing market.
Why it matters
Securing external foundry customers is critical for Intel's financial recovery and its goal to justify massive capital investments in manufacturing infrastructure.
While Intel continues to pursue a marquee customer for its foundry services, the chipmaker has landed a notable client from the cybersecurity space.
Fortinet will use Intel's foundry to produce its next-generation security chip, the two companies announced Tuesday, marking a win for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over the company in March 2025. Fortinet's chip, SP6, will be manufactured on the Intel 4 process, an Intel representative told CNBC.
Intel said in a filing in April that it's still trying to secure a "significant" customer for the company's most advanced manufacturing technology, as it tries to justify the large capital expenditures needed to build factories in the U.S. and overseas.
The company's leading processes designed to manufacture computer processors are known as 14A and 18A. Intel 4 is older manufacturing technology that's less advanced and was established for simpler chips called ASICs for networking.
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