Intel to Expand Its Manufacturing Site Projects in Oregon, Ireland and Israel
Intel is in the early planning phase for manufacturing site expansions in Oregon, Ireland and Israel, with multi-year construction activities expected to begin in 2019.
"Having additional fab space at-the-ready will help us respond more quickly to upticks in the market and enables us to reduce our time to increased supply by up to roughly 60 percent" said Ann B. Kelleher, senior vice president and general manager of Manufacturing and Operations at Intel.
In the weeks and months ahead, Intel will be working through discussions and permitting with local governments and communities. Kelleher sais that site expansion and the related investment will be taken in stages and are always subject to change based on business, economic and other factors.
In addition to expanding Intel’s own manufacturing capability, Intel will continue selective use of foundries for certain technologies where it makes sense for the business. The use of foundries has been an Intel practice for nearly two decades. "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," Kelleher added.
Intel is trying to transform itself from a PC-centric company to a data-centric company — serving the market appetite for solutions that process, analyze, store and share information.
This year, Intel raised its capital expenditures forecast and put that money to work expanding its 14nm manufacturing capacity to increase supply. The comapny also made good progress on the 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 its manufacturing plant in New Mexico.