Intel has announced a massive €80 billion (around $88 billion) semiconductor investment plan in Europe. The American chip biggie will invest the amount into establishing new factories and R&D (research and development) centers and expanding its existing locations across six European countries over the next decade. The initial spending will include a €17 billion (~$19 billion) chip fabrication facility in Magdeburg, Germany.
Intel will construct two “first-of-their-kind” chip factories in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt. The construction is expected to begin in the first half of 2023. If everything goes as planned, the company hopes to make these factories operational in 2027. It will manufacture cutting-edge chips using “Angstrom-era transistor technologies” at these factories.
Calling Germany the ideal location for advanced chipmaking, Intel says this investment will create thousands of jobs in the country. It is estimating 7,000 construction jobs, 3,000 permanent high-tech jobs, and thousands more across its partners and suppliers. The Silicon Junction, as the company calls its planned chip facility in Magdeburg, will be the connection point for its other hubs in the region.
In addition to this, Intel will invest €12 billion (~$13 billion) to expand the production capacity of its existing chip plant in Leixlip, Ireland. It plans to double the manufacturing space to make room for Intel 4 process technology. The company will also expand foundry services at this location.
Italy is another European country where Intel plans to invest a big amount of money in the coming years. The investment, which could total up to €4.5 billion (~$4.9 billion), would be used to establish a “state-of-the-art back-end manufacturing facility” with new and innovative technologies. This facility is expected to be operational by 2027. It will create 1,500 Intel jobs as well as 3,500 jobs across suppliers and partners.
Intel will also invest huge sums of money in France, Spain, and Poland
In addition to this €33 billion (~$36 billion) investment in manufacturing facilities across three European countries, Intel plans to strengthen its R&D infrastructure with a new hub near Plateau de Saclay, France. It will create 1,000 permanent high-tech jobs at the company, 450 of which will be open by 2024.
With the construction of this hub, Intel sees France as its European headquarters for “high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) design capabilities”. The company will also establish its main European foundry design center in the country.
Intel’s massive semiconductor investment will also see it expanding its lab space in Gdansk, Poland by 50 percent. The expansion could complete as early as next year. The company develops cutting-edge solutions in the fields of “deep neural networks, audio, graphics, data center, and cloud computing” here.
Last but not least, Intel announced that it will establish advanced computing labs in Barcelona, Spain in collaboration with the Barcelona Supercomputing Center. The two firms have collaborated in the past as well.
According to Intel, its ambitious investment plan in Europe will “rebalance silicon supply globally”. The semiconductor industry witnessed an unprecedented component shortage recently. All big stakeholders of the industry, including Intel, are now doing their bits to prevent such shortages in the future.
2022-03-17 15:07:53