Intel to build two new factories and become a contract semiconductor manufacturer
Intel has begun the construction of two new chip factories in Ocotillo, Arizona. Thus, its own products’ strategy remains unchanged: it will continue to focus on manufacturing them independently. Simultaneously, the expansion of production meets the increased ambitions of the processor giant – Intel announced its intention to become a major player in the market for contract manufacturing of semiconductors.
At the Intel Unleashed: Engineering The Future event, CEO Pat Gelsinger said, ” Intel is and will continue to be a leading process designer, a major semiconductor manufacturer, and a leading silicon supplier worldwide .”
At the event, it was announced that Intel would begin to actively promote its services as a manufacturer of semiconductor devices for external customers who do not have their own manufacturing facilities. To serve these customers, Intel will create a subsidiary of Intel Foundry Services (IFS), headed by Randhir Thakur, the company’s current senior vice president.
It is with an eye on IFS that the construction of two new factories in Arizona has begun, which are needed so that Intel can meet the growing demand for silicon chips from the company itself and external customers. Intel plans to invest $ 20 billion in the construction of these factories. According to the plan, they will start working in 2024. The factories will be equipped with advanced production equipment focused on the most modern technological processes and EUV lithography.
Gelsinger promised that IFS would become an important player in the market, the total capacity of which will grow to $ 100 billion by 2025. At the same time, the company will be ready to provide external customers with access to the most advanced technological processes and packaging methods and to produce a wide variety of chips for them, including processors with ARM and RISC-V architectures, even though such products can compete with the promoted Intel x86 architecture. As follows from the slide shown at the event, such companies as Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm can become Intel clients.
Intel currently owns four manufacturing facilities in the United States. In addition to the Arizona complex being expanded, the company also has facilities in Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Oregon. It also manufactures chips in Ireland, Israel and has a factory in China. This list is not limited to. Intel has promised to announce the next round of expansion in the US, Europe, and other world regions during the year. Thus, the IFS enterprise has every chance of becoming an American or European alternative to Asian contract manufacturers. This is directly in line with the course outlined by President Biden, one of whose priorities are the development of domestic semiconductor production.
Along the way, it was announced that Intel is entering into a partnership with IBM to improve technologies related to the manufacture and packaging of chips. In the long term, it is assumed that this will help the company and increase the “competitiveness of the American semiconductor industry” as a whole.
