Intel Foundry VP Joins Qualcomm
Kevin O’Buckley, senior vice president and general manager of IFS, will join Qualcomm
By Mark LaPedus
Kevin O’Buckley, senior vice president and general manager of Intel Foundry Services (IFS), has apparently resigned from the company and will join Qualcomm.
O’Buckley has been named executive vice president of global operations and supply chain at Qualcomm. In this role, he will lead Qualcomm’s global semiconductor operations across manufacturing engineering, foundry and supplier partnerships, supply chain and procurement.
His appointment is effective March 2, and he will report directly to Akash Palkhiwala, executive vice president, chief financial officer (CFO) and chief operating officer at Qualcomm.
Previously, O’Buckley has served in various management roles at IBM, GlobalFoundries and Marvell.
In 2024, O’Buckley was named senior vice president and general manager of IFS, the foundry unit of Intel. O’Buckley was in charge of IFS, reporting to Lip-Bu Tan, Intel’s chief executive.
Later, O’Buckley’s leadership role was assumed by another Intel executive amid a reorganization at the company. Late last year, Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president and chief technology and operations officer of IFS, expanded his role and took charge of the entire foundry unit. At that point, O’Buckley was still senior vice president and general manager of IFS, but he then reported to Chandrasekaran.
In 2021, Intel reentered the foundry business, hoping to take market share away from TSMC, Samsung and others. But Intel has struggled in the foundry business and continues to lose money in the arena.
The company’s troubled foundry unit reported a $2.5 billion operating loss on sales of $4.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025. In 2025, Intel’s foundry unit reported a $10.318 billion operating loss on sales of $17.826 billion. In 2024, Intel’s foundry unit lost $2.249 billion.
On a positive note, Intel’s foundry business is finally making some noticeable progress. The unit has won some foundry business from Apple, according to an analyst.
In addition, Intel recently launched its Core Ultra Series 3 processor line, marking the debut of the company’s first chips built on its new 18A process technology. The 18A process, which is a 2nm-class technology, is optimized for the company’s own chips. Intel is also pushing 18A for the foundry market.
Samsung and TSMC are also ramping up their respective 2nm processes for the foundry market.