Intel to Spend $80 Billion on European Chip Plants

In Munich, Germany for his first in-person keynote since taking over as Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger said that his firm has big plans for Europe. It will invest up to $80 billion on two new chip-making facilities on the continent as part of its multi-year strategy of ending the world’s silicon manufacturing reliance on China and other East Asia locations.

“This new era of sustained demand for semiconductors needs bold, big thinking,” he said. “As CEO of Intel, I have the great privilege to be in a position to marshal the energies of 116,000 employees and a massive chip-design and manufacturing ecosystem, to meet the demand.”

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Gelsinger intends for Intel to lead the push into ever more efficient chipset designs over the next decade, and he’s already announced dramatic expansions of Intel’s chipmaking capabilities in the United States. For Europe, Intel Foundry Services is already engaged in discussions with several major customers there, including leading automotive players that are currently feeling the pinch when it comes to component supply. He also said that Intel will commit foundry capacity at its Ireland-based fab specifically for advanced automotive chip manufacturing.

As for Intel, all of this work is part of his job of “turning around an icon,” he said.

Tagged with

Share post

Please check our Community Guidelines before commenting

Conversation 17 comments

  • jchampeau

    Premium Member
    07 September, 2021 - 5:25 pm

    <p>The proof is in the pudding, as they say. And this particular batch of pudding won’t be ready for quite some time. Still, it’s hard not to be excited about this!</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      07 September, 2021 - 7:45 pm

      <p>I think it’ll happen because I think these companies see what’s going on with China.</p>

      • bluvg

        07 September, 2021 - 11:30 pm

        <p>Yes, the moves in China even over the past couple weeks are very disconcerting. With a govt that capriciously changes entire industries virtually overnight without recourse and has long mandated technology transfer, it’s a messy and unpredictable business situation for foreign companies. </p>

        • lvthunder

          Premium Member
          07 September, 2021 - 11:34 pm

          <p>What have they done in the last couple of weeks? I’ve been too busy watching the catastrophe in Afghanistan.</p>

  • miamimauler

    07 September, 2021 - 9:14 pm

    <p>Ok, this is obviously a good thing. My only question is why this is article worthy. Tech companies are always opening new plants. How does this announcement deserve special focus?</p>

    • lvthunder

      Premium Member
      07 September, 2021 - 10:02 pm

      <p>Anytime a company spends $80 billion it’s newsworthy.</p>

    • wright_is

      Premium Member
      08 September, 2021 - 3:25 am

      <p>Because those plants cost a lot of money, and they are being opened up outside of China and Asia. Along with the investment in US facilities, this is a huge step forward.</p>

      • MarkPow

        Premium Member
        08 September, 2021 - 4:07 am

        <p>And not in "Global Britain" by the sounds of it….</p>

        • wright_is

          Premium Member
          08 September, 2021 - 4:41 am

          <p>I think somebody probably sent Pat a link to Little Britain instead of Global Britain… :-D</p>

          • MarkPow

            Premium Member
            08 September, 2021 - 4:55 am

            <p>Haha You can imagine the conversation:</p><p><br></p><p>Pat: We would like to make an investment in the UK.</p><p><br></p><p>Government: Piffle paffle wiffle waffle</p><p><br></p><p>Pat: Alrighty then</p>

    • miamimauler

      08 September, 2021 - 2:31 pm

      <p>@miamimauler</p><p><br></p><p>Damn, just reread my comment and it does come off as somewhat salty. This is where we need a ‘delete’ button. </p>

  • blue77star

    07 September, 2021 - 10:14 pm

    <p>Nice. This is very good news to get out of China and Taiwan and have fabs in Arizona (USA) and Europe. The way used to be and the way should be. Some good quality stuff will come out of this. I wish Intel starts making motherboards for their CPUs. That would be awesome!</p>

    • bluvg

      07 September, 2021 - 11:37 pm

      <p>Ugh, let others do the motherboards unless Intel really commits to them. Intel boards of late are just terrible to maintain. Their BIOS updates are for those that love russian roulette but wish it was much more complicated.</p>

  • bluvg

    07 September, 2021 - 11:31 pm

    <p>Go go Gelsinger! It seems that the news is continually better and better with him at the helm.</p>

  • nbplopes

    08 September, 2021 - 3:41 am

    <p>Don’t think this solves the underlying problem. Which is some companies refusing to repair their products right out of the gate. I mean, repair, not replace. </p><p><br></p><p>Battery replacement is not a repair.</p>

  • whistlerpro

    08 September, 2021 - 4:29 am

    <p>What’s the bet the UK misses out on this investment? </p>

  • madthinus

    Premium Member
    08 September, 2021 - 4:41 am

    <p>Intel expansion into custom Fab business is good news. Currently they only make their own chips, but the quantities is small compared to the global all chip needs. Having more scale and more types of products being manufactured leads to economy of scale and also innovation. That is Pat’s gamble. </p>

Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox

Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Thurrott © 2024 Thurrott LLC