Intel hires Samsung veteran
Intel has recruited a long‑tenured Samsung executive to lead its Foundry Services business, signaling a stronger push to win external chip customers rather than only serving internal teams. The hire was framed publicly as a commercial bet to close the customer gap for Intel Foundry. (tomshardware.com)
Intel has hired Samsung executive Shawn Han to run Foundry Services, the unit that sells Intel’s chipmaking capacity to outside customers. (bloomberg.com) Han will join Intel in May 2026 as senior vice president and general manager of Foundry Services, reporting to Naga Chandrasekaran, who leads Intel’s foundry division. Bloomberg reported the move on April 16, citing an Intel statement. (bloomberg.com) Intel’s foundry business is its contract manufacturing arm: instead of making only Intel-designed chips, it also tries to make chips for other companies. Intel said in May 2024 that Foundry Services covers customer service and ecosystem operations for the broader Intel Foundry business. (intel.com) That customer-facing job has become more central as Intel tries to prove it can compete with established contract manufacturers. At Intel Foundry Direct Connect in San Jose on April 29, 2025, the company gathered more than 1,000 customers and partners to pitch its manufacturing roadmap and packaging services. (intel.com) The hire also extends a leadership reshuffle under Chief Executive Lip-Bu Tan, who took the top job in March 2025. Intel said in September 2025 that its new appointments were meant to strengthen core products, grow foundry, and rebuild execution. (intel.com, intel.com) Intel’s foundry push is expensive. In its January 22, 2026 results, Intel said full-year 2025 revenue was $52.9 billion and flagged the ramp of Intel 18A, its next manufacturing process, as a key milestone for products and supply. (intc.com) Foundry Services itself has already changed hands recently. Intel named Kevin O’Buckley to lead the group on May 13, 2024, after Stuart Pann’s retirement, and Han now takes the commercial post under Chandrasekaran as Intel keeps reorganizing the business around external customers. (intel.com, bloomberg.com) Han’s background is the point of the hire. Intel is bringing in a longtime Samsung foundry executive from a rival that already sells manufacturing services to outside chip designers, and Intel is betting that experience can help fill its order book faster. (bloomberg.com, tomshardware.com)
