I think Intel should just be bypassed entirely. Each node is such a leap in process it requires entirely new fabs. At that point going with the poorly run incumbent is pointless.
A few facts about intel. Wages have been stagnant there for over 20years now. Just recently they had wage reductions across the company and there’s been layoffs for those 20years of stock declines. Tsmc in Taiwan literally pays double on a ppp basis (it’s not even that far off on a direct dollar to dollar basis). Even china has been poaching from intel. Look up the Chinese government funded Lianqiu Lake R&D Center, they are offering more for talent in raw $ terms in a custom built luxury city. And yes I get that if you were born in the USA you probably want to stay there but there’s no hope of intel poaching international talent anymore.
Do you know what the current boards plan is? More layoffs and lower wages. Like how the fuck can they compete without talent which they haven’t had for over 20years now. Everyone there knows it’s a stepping stone job. Do the bare minimum in hire and jump as soon as the next opportunity arises. And the government wants to give funding to this short sighted turd.
If you add AMD (design) + TSMC (fab) it's not that far off from Intel (who does both, and sells >3x AMD by units). Clearly there are struggles at Intel but the simple math doesn't explain it.