The sparrows have been whistling from the rooftops for weeks, now it's official: Magdeburg will be the site of an Intel factory. At the minute, both Intel's CEO Pat Gelsinger and subsequently the Saxony-Anhalt state government are providing information in a stream about the location of the chip factory in Germany.
Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff stormed ahead in the morning with the confirmation for the Intel factory in Magdeburg. Intel will spend 17 billion euros on this. 3,000 employees are said to work directly at Intel, previously 7,000 workers were employed on the construction site. Two factories with an as yet unknown capacity are to be built for this purpose. Intel does not yet want to reveal the last adjustments to the latest high-NA EUV tools, which should then be used. However, at least 20,000 wafer starts per month per factory should be targeted.
Thousands of jobs in the supply industry are expected to develop in the area in the years to come. It will be the largest investment not only in Saxony-Anhalt. Construction is scheduled to start in 2023, and from 2027 the two factories are to produce chips in series – for both Intel and foundry customers. The target is chips straight out of Intel's Ångstrom era manufacturing stage with Intel 20A, Intel 18A and beyond. That's a little surprising, in Germany there were hopes in many areas for a supplier factory for the automotive industry, which usually doesn't manufacture in the smallest nanometer steps.
In a conversation in the afternoon, however, Intel explained that the automotive industry would develop significantly by 2027 and once again referred to the point that around 20 percent of the price of a car should go back to semiconductor chips by 2030.
Intel is also expanding strongly in other countries. In Ireland, the Leixlip site will receive a cash injection of up to EUR 12 billion and will double the site's capacity. The Intel 4 stage is next on the books here on a large scale. Intel is currently expanding capacity in Ireland, and the total volume that Intel will ultimately invest in Ireland will be over 30 billion euros.
But France, Italy, Spain and Poland are also to receive part of Intel's 33 billion euro investment. Research and development will be bundled to a large extent in France, while packaging and design are to be brought back into focus in Europe. In Italy, for example, another 4.5 billion investment is to flow into a back-end factory – but negotiations are still ongoing here. These plans complement the innovation and growth opportunities in contract manufacturing that Intel is pursuing with its proposed acquisition of Tower Semiconductor. Tower Semiconductor operates a factory in Agrate Brianza, Italy in partnership with ST Microelectronics.
Other Intel locations in Europe (Image: Intel)In the afternoon conversation, Intel also explained that foundry customers are definitely given priority at the factories. However, not every production step is available for these anyway: Intel 16, behind which the well-known 22 nm FinFET production is hidden, will be the entry-level model for foundry customers, followed by Intel 3 and Intel 20A/18A.
Update 03/15/2022 4:18 p.m.The report was expanded and supplemented on various points in the course of the afternoon with new information including a conversation with Randhir Thakur, President of Intel Foundry Services.
Update 08/01/2022 10:30 a.m.
As Intel's head of HR for Germany, Bernd Holthaus, who told dpa, the group plans to start construction work in Magdeburg in the first half of the year to begin in 2023. This is reported, among other things, by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. When the location decision was announced in March, only the year 2023 was mentioned.
Intel is optimistic, Holthaus continues, that the EU Chips Act will have been passed by then, which will also The basis for the subsidies granted at the location is.