Intel invests $2.5bn

Intel Corporation has announced plans to invest $2.5bn in a new 300mm wafer fabrication facility in the coastal Northeast China city of Dalian.

Intel Corporation

has announced plans to build a 300mm wafer fabrication facility (fab) in the coastal Northeast China city of

Dalian

in

Liaoning Province

. The $2.5bn investment for the factory, designated Fab 68, will become Intel's first wafer fab in

Asia

.

Construction on Fab 68 is scheduled to begin later this year with production projected to begin in the first half of 2010. Initial production will be dedicated to chipsets to support Intel's core microprocessor business.

When completed, Fab 68 will become part of Intel's manufacturing network that includes eight 300mm factories with other fabs located in the US, Ireland and Israel.

According to Intel, manufacturing with 300mm wafers increases the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost compared with more commonly used 200mm wafers. The bigger wafers are said to lower production cost per chip while diminishing overall use of resources.