If two weeks ago it was Samsung offering a mega-deal with several industry players to create new FABs to create chips, TSMC responded with its expansion plan, leaving the Koreans almost an anecdote. Now those of the blue team and the hand of the United States in the plan CHIPS FOR AMERICA they show muscle with what will be the largest FAB complex ever created by man.
Loss of supremacy and injured pride
When first world countries saw Asia as the partial solution to the problems of cost overruns, they ignored their explosion. China and Taiwan dominate the industry for the creation, manufacture and almost the implementation of computer and electronic components, but especially that of chips and wafers.
With Europe dominating scanners and Asia doing as described, the United States has been lagging behind so far. The Americans, hand in hand with Intel, will make every effort to reverse the situation and the masterstroke is already on the ground. The first step was to catch up to its direct rival in CPU and compete in GPU, the second will be to defeat at least one of them and predictably both.
The third is to do it at a dizzying pace and with so many products that no one overshadows them, something very American. Well, the backdrop to this scenario is the FABs, specifically the hyper FAB that will be created in Columbus, Ohio, where Intel has already purchased a huge 404 hectares of land.
Intel FAB Ohio: 20 billion, 3,000 employees, 2025
The mega complex is practically a small city of dimensions (4Km2) and it’s already the largest investment ever made in Ohio, above what General Motors made at the time. The investment of 20 billion has a goal according to Pat Gelsinger:
“We hope this will become the largest silicon manufacturing site on the planet. The business has the option of eventually expanding to 2,000 acres (808 hectares, just over 8Km2) and up to eight factories. We helped establish Silicon Valley, now do The heart of silicon in Ohio”.
While it will already be the largest ever, the expansions will double the size, which is a very defining move of what Intel wants to mine, produce and create chips on American soil.
Let’s not forget that the silicon sand used by Intel is mined in the United States, in the south more precisely, so after Ohio, Arizona will be the second largest FAB in a process that aims to never again depend of Asia, also realizing world dominance losses.
