Intel may use Irish base to boost chip recovery

Semiconductor giant may use one of its sites in Ireland to alleviate the chip shortage threatening the world car industry

Intel's global chief executive Pat Gelsinger said the company was considering locations including the US, Israel, or Ireland — in Leixlip, Co Kildare— to make chips for the car manufacturing industry that are in short supply. File photo

Ireland could be used as one of the main manufacturing bases in the push to alleviate a global computer chip shortage that is threatening the international car-making industry.

Intel global chief executive Pat Gelsinger suggested the technology giant could manufacture much-needed semiconductor parts from its facilities in Co Kildare.

Mr Gelsinger said Intel is in talks to start producing chips for carmakers to alleviate a shortage that has idled car factories.

He said Intel is specifically talking to companies that design chips for carmakers about manufacturing those chips inside Intel’s factory network, with the goal of producing chips within six to nine months.

Production possible within six months

Mr Gelsinger said work could take place at Intel’s factories in the US states of Oregon, Arizona, or New Mexico; or in its facilities in Ireland or Israel.

“We’re hoping that some of these things can be alleviated, not requiring a three-or four-year factory build, but maybe six months of new products being certified on some of our existing processes,” Mr Gelsinger said.

He was speaking after meeting US president Joe Biden and White House officials to discuss the semiconductor supply chain and the need for a solution to a shortage that has disrupted various car makers’ assembly lines.

Intel investing €6bn more in Ireland  

Intel is in the midst of a three-year $7bn (€6bn) investment in its Irish business, which will see it significantly expand its manufacturing capabilities at its base in Leixlip, Co Kildare.

Last month, the company confirmed the addition of a further 1,600 jobs at Leixlip and a more than doubling of manufacturing space at the site.

Intel is one of the last companies in the semiconductor industry that both designs and manufactures its own chips. 

The company, last month, said it would open its factories up to outside customers and build factories in the US and Europe in a bid to counter the dominance of Asian chip manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung.

World semiconductor shortage

Mr Biden, this week, told companies vying with each other for a sharply constrained global supply of semiconductors that he has bipartisan support for US government funding to address the shortage that has affected car makers worldwide.

During the meeting with more than a dozen chief executives, Mr Biden read from a letter from 23 senators and 42 House members backing his proposal for $50bn for semiconductor manufacturing and research.

The White House said the meeting showed that the Biden administration is serious about addressing supply-chain constraints and softening the blow for affected companies and workers.

The administration intended to highlight elements of the president’s proposed $2.25 trillion infrastructure-focused plan that they believe would improve supply-chain resilience, a White House official said. 

The agenda also included discussions about the car industry’s transition to clean energy, job creation and ensuring US economic competitiveness.

• Additional reporting Reuters and Bloomberg