Apple, Qualcomm May Consider Intel's Advanced Packaging

With demand for high-performance computing and AI chips surging worldwide, the spotlight is turning to advanced packaging capacity—and the pressure on TSMC's CoWoS platform keeps intensifying. Even as TSMC expands production, it still can't keep pace with the market, creating a new bottleneck that affects the rollout of next-generation HPC and AI processors. This capacity squeeze is prompting some companies to look beyond CoWoS, and Intel's EMIB and Foveros technologies are quickly becoming the leading alternatives.

As reported by wccftech, both Apple and Qualcomm now list experience with Intel's EMIB and Foveros in their new hiring requirements, a clear sign that major chipmakers are preparing for a future where packaging capacity must be diversified. Apple's DRAM packaging engineer role seeks candidates familiar with CoWoS, EMIB, SoIC, and PoP, while Qualcomm's data-center product management role highlights EMIB as a key skill.

As CoWoS capacity remains heavily allocated to NVIDIA, AMD, and major cloud compute providers, other chip companies are re-evaluating their options. Intel's packaging portfolio stands out thanks to its technical depth and readiness for mass production. The company has repeatedly emphasized growing customer interest in both Foveros and EMIB, backed by strong manufacturing maturity.

Intel's roadmap divides its advanced packaging into two pillars: the 2.5D EMIB platform and the 3D Foveros stack. EMIB uses an embedded silicon bridge to link multiple dies horizontally without requiring a full interposer—technology used in Xeon Max and Data Center GPU Max products. Foveros, built on TSV and copper pillar stacking, enables heterogeneous vertical integration and supports flexible die sizing, making it ideal for mobile processors and custom AI accelerators across Intel's Meteor Lake, Arrow Lake, and Lunar Lake families.

TSMC's CoWoS, meanwhile, remains the most mature solution for large AI GPUs, offering robust 2.5D interposer support and the industry's highest HBM stacking capability. Its scale and ecosystem depth keep it as the mainstream choice, but the rapid rise of AI and custom accelerators is pushing the industry toward a more diversified strategy.

As companies prepare for the next wave of compute growth, Apple and Qualcomm's explicit adoption of Intel's packaging technologies is being seen as a pivotal industry shift. The advanced packaging supply chain is gradually moving away from a single-source model, signaling the beginning of a potential "dual-supplier era" for next-generation HPC and AI processors.