Intel's new CEO Pat Gelsinger has announced plans to invest USD 20 billion to build new factories in the US. In addition, the company plans to start offering foundry services, making chips for other customers in the US and Europe. The new strategy is expected to help relieve the shortage of capacity in the semiconductor sector and reduce reliance on manufacturing in Asia.
The new plan unveiled in an online presentation is called IDM 2.0 and is billed as a "major evolution" of Intel’s integrated device manufacturing (IDM) model. Gelsinger confirmed that Intel will continue to manufacture much of its products internally. Its next 7nm production stage is expected to get started in Q2. In addition, the company expects to expand production with its existing third-party foundry partners. They will also produce core Intel computer and data centre chips from 2023, helping the company optimise its costs and production performance.
What's new is Intel will become a competitor of the foundries, offering contract manufacturing services from the US and Europe to help meet the growing global demand for semiconductors. The company is setting up the new standalone business unit Intel Foundry Services (IFS), led by Randhir Thakur, to manage the business. The key differentiators of IFS are seen as its leading-edge process technology and packaging, committed capacity in the US and Europe, and an extensive IP portfolio, including x86 cores as well as ARM and RISC-V platforms.
The new strategy will be supported by two new fabs at its Ocotillo campus in Arizona, which will serve both Intel's needs and the new foundry business. The USD 20 billion investment is expected to create over 3,000 permanent jobs. The next phase of capacity expansions in the US, Europe and other global locations will be announced within the year.
IBM research collaboration in US
On the research side, Intel also announced a new collaboration with IBM. The companies will work on creating next-generation logic and packaging technologies, from their research sites in Hillsboro, Oregon and Albany, New York. This collaboration aims to accelerate semiconductor manufacturing innovation across the ecosystem, enhance the competitiveness of the US semiconductor industry and support key US government initiatives, Intel said.
Finally, Intel is bringing back the Intel Developer Forum event this year with the launch of Intel On, a new industry event series. The event is planned for October in San Francisco.
