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DMcCunney
Intel has two fabs set for US production, and already has a presence in ...
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Although the property bubble and "creative" banking have left the Irish with a ...
Intel confirms Ireland for 14-nm silicon
Peter Clarke
5/27/2012 12:02 PM EDT
LONDON – The Intel wafer fab complex in Leixlip, Ireland, is set to receive investment to allow it to manufacture 14-nm silicon and beyond, the company revealed in a presentation to analysts on May 10. The investment is expected to be more than $1 billion.
The presentation, given by Intel CEO Paul Otellini, included a slide that detailed three Intel fabs set for investment for 14-nm and beyond. These are fab D1X in Oregon, Fab 42 in Arizona and Fab 24 in Leixlip near Dublin, Ireland.
"We're in the process of construction and initial deployment of equipment into 14-nm and beyond in Oregon, Arizona and Ireland," Otellini said in a presentation that was also capturesd as a webcast. The 14-nm process technology is expected to start being used in 2013.
Intel was reported to have chosen Ireland over Israel for the 14-nm investment back in September 2011. Intel is bringing up 22-nm production at Fab 28 in Kiryat Gat, Israel.
Intel closed down its Fab 14 in Leixlip near Dublin in the summer of 2009 reducing the number of fabs it operates on the campus to three, labeled Fabs 10, 24 and 24-2. In January 2011 Intel committed to spend about $500 million rebuilding the shell and infrastructure of the old Fab 14 building, but without saying what plans it had for manufacturing process technologies in the reconditioned shell.
Click on image to enlarge.
RTE News has reported that Intel Ireland has confirmed that it is now set to produce future generations of chips but would not indicate the level of investment or how soon it would take place. the investment is expected to be more than $1.25 billion.
Related links and articles:
Intel to spend $40 million on university research
Intel sets up 'green' lab in Ireland
Report: Intel chooses Ireland over Israel
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hm
5/27/2012 12:26 PM EDT
Good news for Ireland. Also, this is sound strategy for Intel to distribute risk over wider geographical area.
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resistion
5/27/2012 12:51 PM EDT
"and beyond" is a new qualification here, used more than once. As if there will be no more equipment changes.
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peter.clarke
5/28/2012 10:08 AM EDT
I am not sure how you draw the conclusion about equipment changes.
To me it merely means that these factories will be used to produce silicon at 14-nm and node(s) beyond 14-nm, such as 11-nm.
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resistion
5/28/2012 10:42 AM EDT
Previously, the new fabs were viewed one node at a time, like just 32 nm, or just 22 nm. How can you plan its use for N+2, when the modules have not even been defined yet.
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KB3001
5/28/2012 11:18 AM EDT
It's just talk resistion. By then things could change of course.
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KB3001
5/27/2012 8:45 PM EDT
Good news for Ireland and Europe.
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goafrit
5/30/2012 7:29 AM EDT
You know the Irish government has shown that governments can influence the decision of firms to allocate global resources. They have provided a good tax model. With good schools, they have the future in their hands. Intel and other firms are going to Ireland.
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wilber_xbox
5/27/2012 11:09 PM EDT
Ireland and Europe are struggling with their economy so Intel has more chips in its hand for investment negotiation.
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KB3001
5/28/2012 11:16 AM EDT
Not sure the Irish Government can do a lot on this front these days :-) It's a logical decision considering the alternatives. They needed the fab to be in Europe and Ireland is the logical conclusion given their existing infrastucture there.
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agk
5/28/2012 9:58 AM EDT
The government and the Industrial Development Agency offer competitive financial and tax incentives.Also quality educated people are there. So Intel is in Ireland.
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kinnar
5/28/2012 3:13 PM EDT
1 billion US$ is a very huge amount Intel has invested in Ireland. It is a great luck for the people of Ireland that they will be able to participate in Research and Development with a great company.
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lfascian
5/29/2012 2:06 PM EDT
Nothing compared to UMC,
http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-news/4373757/Photo-Gallery--UMC-breaks-ground-on-new-fab
The taiwanese company will invest $8 billion in a new fab in Tainan.
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lenny79
5/30/2012 4:47 AM EDT
Nothing compares to intel, they are in the process of building 2 new fabs in Arizona and Oregon, each costing around 6 billion plus the investment in Ireland retrofitting for the new process. Intel will always lead the industy.
Nice one F24 see you soon for some installs.
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resistion
5/28/2012 9:22 PM EDT
Yes, my other impression was that Ireland had tough breaks in previous bids for 22 nm, 32 nm, and 45 nm, losing to Israel and US sites. And IIRC, they were downsized? So maybe now, there can be hirebacks.
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daleste
5/28/2012 10:11 PM EDT
I understand outsourcing, but I'm not sure i understand why this would go to Ireland and not the US or Asia.
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cdhmanning
5/30/2012 9:33 PM EDT
Tax breaks.
"Made in EU" also goes a long way to getting preferential treatment through Europe.
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DMcCunney
6/1/2012 3:51 PM EDT
Intel has two fabs set for US production, and already has a presence in Ireland.
Why Ireland? Existing relationships, existing infrastructure, an investment friendly government that wants the business and a depressed economy that needs it, a pool of educated workers to draw from, production in an EU country, and a place that speaks English as the native language.
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m00nshine
5/28/2012 11:25 PM EDT
"Outsourcing" makes it sound like intel Ireland is not part of intel Corp (not true). That being said 14nm is already slated for 2 US fabs...
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seaEE
5/28/2012 11:52 PM EDT
Luck O' the Irish! ;)
It didn't seem many years ago when the term "sub-micron" was used. And now we are working on 14nm...
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resistion
5/29/2012 9:06 PM EDT
Who will be next to 14 nm?
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peter.clarke
5/30/2012 2:40 AM EDT
Intel aren't there yet.
But assuming they make it, it looks like Samsung would be second.
Samsung might even be first with 14-nm for a memory process?
And then TSMC?
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resistion
5/30/2012 8:35 PM EDT
Good picks. Interestingly, IBM and Samsung already showed off 14 nm silicon, but we still haven't seen the Intel 14 nm SRAM yet.
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docdivakar
5/31/2012 8:40 PM EDT
Would any one care to guess what the yield numbers will be for the first year or two for such advanced nodes?! There were enough hiccups even for the 28nm node that TSMC was not divulging that number (not sure if they do now)...
MP Divakar
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fabsurplus.com
6/1/2012 12:11 PM EDT
Although the property bubble and "creative" banking have left the Irish with a huge hole in their budget, the fact is that the "real" economy, especially the industrial one, is going very well, thanks to the low tax rates Irish business enjoys. It looks like Irish Engineers and Scientists stand a good chance of trading their way out of the financial disaster created for them by the banks.
Stephen Howe
www.fabsurplus.com
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Contact us now to buy and sell used equipment
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