UK not under consideration by Intel for chip factory
Intel boss has said the chipmaker is not considering UK anymore for setting up its factories because of Brexit.
The island nation was clearly an option for setting up of chip building units, but post-Brexit the idea was dropped in favour of Europe, Pat Gelsinger said.
“Post-Brexit… we’re looking at EU countries and getting support from the EU,” Gelsinger told BBC.
“I have no idea whether we would have had a superior site from the UK… But we now have about 70 proposals for sites across Europe from maybe 10 different countries.
“We’re hopeful that we’ll get to agreement on a site, as well as support from the EU… before the end of this year,” he added.
Several industries – from cars to electronic appliances — are suffering a massive chip shortage because of a supply crunch and Intel, the pioneer chipmaker, is under pressure to ramp up production owing to a tough competition from its Asian rivals.
The US firm is all set to invest £70m over next 10 years in Europe, as well as increase its domestic output, in a bid to regain its status as a premier semiconductor-making firm.
The current crisis has shown that the west is too reliant on Asia for its chip needs.
US currently accounts for 12 per cent of world’s semiconductor production, while South Korea’s Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) together produce 70 per cent of the world supply.
“It is clearly part of the motivation of a globally balanced supply chain that nobody should be too dependent on somebody else,” Gelsinger said.
He said the situation will improve by next year but not likely to go away till 2023.
Gelsinger acknowledged the current supremacy of his Asian rivals in semiconductor business, but hoped that with expansion in works Intel will gain its leading edge by and by.
“This is an industry that we created in the US, Intel’s the company that puts silicon into Silicon Valley,” he said.