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Electronics Production |
Oregon, Ireland and Israel on Intel’s Map for Manufacturing Site Expansion
In an effort to evolve from a PC- to data-centric company and deliver solutions that process, analyze, store and share information, Intel is readying to significantly expand its manufacturing site network.
The company recently claimed to now be competing to win in an estimated USD 300 billion total addressable market for silicon. In addition to providing more than 80% of the world’s home computer processors, Intel’s product range enables safety features in automobiles, wireless connections for cell phones, cloud intelligence and more. Senior Vice President and General Manager of Manufacturing and Operations Dr. Ann B. Kelleher explained the expanded focus in a recent editorial released in December:
“With the biggest market opportunity in Intel’s history ahead of us, we will take the necessary steps to prepare our global manufacturing network for flexibility and responsiveness to changes in demand.
“This year [2018], we raised our capital expenditures forecast and put that money to work expanding our 14nm manufacturing capacity to increase supply. We also made good progress on the previously announced schedule for Fab 42 fit-out in Arizona and made the decision to locate development of a new generation of storage and memory technology at our manufacturing plant in New Mexico. Looking ahead, we are now in the early planning phase for manufacturing site expansions in Oregon, Ireland and Israel, with multi-year construction activities expected to begin in 2019.”
According to Kelleher, having additional fab space will improve response to upticks in the market and reduce time to increased supply by up to roughly 60%. In the weeks and months ahead, Intel will approach the expansion and related investment in incremental stages, including necessary discussions and permitting with local governments and communities.
Concurrent with the expansion, Intel will continue its two-decade practice of selective use of foundries for certain applicable technologies. Said Kelleher, “As we invent more products for a broader set of customers, you can expect us to be strategic about the application of Intel’s differentiated manufacturing capability and the selective use of foundries.”