Thursday, February 9th 2023
Intel Asking Germany for More Money, Set to Potentially Invest in Vietnam
To date, Intel has been promised almost €6.8 billion in subsidies from the federal German government, but apparently this isn't enough for Intel, as the company is now asking for an additional €3.2 billion, for a total of €10 billion is subsidies for its Magdeburg fab. The total investment in the fab in Magdeburg—which was announced back in March 2022—is said to be around €33 billion. In other words, Intel is asking Germany to pitch in almost a third of the cost for its shiny new fab. According to an Intel spokesperson quoted by the Register, Intel is worried about the current geopolitical situation and that the demand for semiconductors has declined, plus the fact that inflation has made everything much more expensive. Intel's Arizona fabs ended up costing an extra US$5 billion, which is about a third extra compared to the original cost estimate, so it's not hard to see why Intel is asking for more money here.
At the same time, the Vietnamese government jumped the gun and announced that Intel is looking at investing US$3.3 billion in the country, as part of an announcement of investments of a total of US$7.4 billion in Ho Chi Minh, by foreign companies. The additional US$4.1 billion investments apparently hinges on Intel's investment in the country, more specifically in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park. The official stance from Intel is that "Vietnam is an important part of our global manufacturing network, but we have not announced any new investments." It's unclear what the exact plans are, but Intel is said to have met up with government officials in Vietnam, according to Bloomberg. It's likely that it would be some kind of chip packaging facility, much like what Intel and AMD already has in Malaysia and China, among other places.
Sources:
The Register (Magdeburg), The Register (Vietnam)
At the same time, the Vietnamese government jumped the gun and announced that Intel is looking at investing US$3.3 billion in the country, as part of an announcement of investments of a total of US$7.4 billion in Ho Chi Minh, by foreign companies. The additional US$4.1 billion investments apparently hinges on Intel's investment in the country, more specifically in the Saigon Hi-Tech Park. The official stance from Intel is that "Vietnam is an important part of our global manufacturing network, but we have not announced any new investments." It's unclear what the exact plans are, but Intel is said to have met up with government officials in Vietnam, according to Bloomberg. It's likely that it would be some kind of chip packaging facility, much like what Intel and AMD already has in Malaysia and China, among other places.
43 Comments on Intel Asking Germany for More Money, Set to Potentially Invest in Vietnam
The main thing here is not revenue, it's keeping a know how and and a manufacturing capacity in Europe. It's done for strategic reasons, not purely for economic reasons, otherwise it would be cheaper to buy from Qualcomm, TSMC etc.
I think the biggest ones left are STMicro and I think they don't even have competitive fabs.
issues in one country and the world can no longer get certain medications.
But indeed they are far behind Intel TSMC in transistor density, maybe catching up with Global Foundries.
The problem is not globalization but how capitalism takes advantage of it to increase profits without any though or regard for the consequences.
Yeah I just had to laugh ransom Peter to pay Paul seems like to me and hope nobody notices it :laugh: