Intel Delays $28 Billion Ohio Chip Factory To 2030

According to The Columbia Dispatch, Intel's promised $28 billion semiconductor project in central Ohio has been delayed again until 2030, with operations beginning sometime shortly thereafter in either 2030 or 2031. From the report: By the time it opens, Intel's first factory will have faced at least five or six years of delays, as it was originally scheduled to begin operating in 2025. Intel's second Ohio factory won't be completed until at least 2031 and will begin running in 2032, according to the company. The new timeline comes as Intel continues to struggle financially, which was a key factor in the latest delay for the company's Ohio factories. The company was alerting its employees of the delays in a message Friday.

The changes were made so Intel can align its factory operation with market demand and better "manage our capital responsibly," Naga Chandrasekaran, executive vice president, chief global operations officer and general manager of Intel Foundry Manufacturing wrote in a message to workers. The changes will ensure Intel's Ohio fabs will be finished in a "financially responsible manner that sets up Ohio One for success," Chandrasekaran wrote. "I wanted to be upfront and transparent with you all about our current plan. In no way does this diminish our long-term commitment to Ohio," Chandrasekaran wrote. "(W)e will continue to scale our hiring as we approach our operational dates. Intel is proud to call Ohio home, and we remain excited about our future here."

Such a surprise

[gweihir]

Well, 2030, or never.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

All work paused from 2025-2028. Work expected to restart in 2029 (unless Trump gets a third term). The plant should be operational in 2030.

Re:

[arglebargle_xiv]

Assuming Intel is still around in 2030. Sort of like a builder who's two years from retirement promising to come back and fix your leaning wall five years from now.

Thats the same year as fusion

[zawarski]

And Tesla FSD. Noice.

Re:

[tiananmen tank man]

>> And Tesla FSD. Noice.

are you implying tesla's cars are going to need a software & hardware upgrade to get FSD?

Re:

[evanh]

I'd say fusion has a much better outlook.

Re: Thats the same year as fusion

[RazorSharp]

Current Teslas will be classic cars by the time FSD exists.

Re:

[excelsior_gr]

Also carbon neutrality and the year of Linux on the desktop.

Also...

[dskoll]

Also, I suspect there's a little bit of "maybe we should wait for the shit-show in the United States to calm down" given that the political chaos is really causing companies to become risk-averse.

Re:

[gweihir]

Only a "little bit"?

Re:

[alvinrod]

Intel has had the majority of their fabs in the U.S. throughout the history of the company. It seems rather unlikely that they'd decide to move them offshore at a time when most other countries would result in additional tariffs. This just seems more like the usual incompetence that's plaguing the company. My take is that they know they're screwed on designs for at least the next four years and adding additional fabs isn't useful if they're sitting unused because you can't make a product that people will wa

Re:

[dskoll]

Not move them offshore so much as wait until there's less economic uncertainty from the clown convoy currently in charge of the USA.

Re: Also...

[NagrothAgain]

They're probably worried about the $7.8 billion from CHIPS showing up without a bunch of nonsense from the Whitehouse. Letting the date slide out a bit to make sure they can still finish without outside $ is a pretty smart move given the current political climate.

Re:

[dskoll]

How do tariffs even remotely begin to address trade disruptions from COVID-19, the Suez Canal, etc? They only make things worse.

Re:

[MacMann]

POTUS has only so many tools in his toolbox to influence leaders in other nations, adjusting tariffs is one such tool. When the Colombian government turned back flights carrying Colombian citizens to be repatriated President Trump was clearly not happy and so announced that tariffs would be imposed on Colombia. Because so much of the Colombian economy relies on trade with the USA that was a powerful lever to pull to get Colombia to allow their own citizens to return. After the message got out Colombia an

Re:

[Slayer]

There is certainly chaos in international trade but I see more than a "political shit show" in the USA as a cause. I see COVID-19 as something that caused a considerable disruption in trade, which was then further disrupted with Russia invading Ukraine. I believe that things are getting more chaotic now because it's finally dawning on people that there isn't going to be an easy fix for all the smaller disruptions that have piled up. Maybe the war in Ukraine and drought in Panama will end in the next year, but that still leaves us with trade issues from Suez Canal, Strait of Malacca, and other routes.

There are lots of minor disruptions in this market, some of which are outside the POTUS' control, but he and his clown car aren't helping one bit. I was ready to upgrade my 5yo PC in the last few months, this idea has been shelved now. My potential 4 digit purchases by themselves probably won't matter much to Intel, AMD and the others, but I somehow have the impression, that I'm not the only one ...

This company is circling the drain.

[supabeast!]

"The changes were made so Intel can align its factory operation with market demand"

Nobody wants to buy our chips anymore.

"The changes will ensure Intel's Ohio fabs will be finished in a "financially responsible manner that sets up Ohio One for success,""

We can’t actually afford to expand because nobody wants to buy our chips.

It’s sad to see what’s happened to Intel. I know they were shitty monopolistic bastards in the past, but they still made great chips.

Re:

[retrobunnies]

lol Intel still has the majority market share across many segments. This is one the most misinformed takes I've read in a long time.

Re:

[Dragonslicer]

Not that long ago, Intel had 80-90% market share in every segment, not just a majority in many segments. Intel's revenue [macrotrends.net] the past couple years has been the same as it was 10-15 years ago, and profit has been lower than any time in the past 15 years.

Typo?

[sgunhouse]

Wouldn't that be the Columbus Dispatch?

$94 billion in stock buy-backs

[laughingskeptic]

Intel spent $94 billion in stock buybacks between 2008 and 2021 ... only to have a market cap today of less than $103 billion. Maybe if they had invested that money rather than using it to protect their executive's bonuses they wouldn't be on the verge of bankruptcy.

Re:

[bill_mcgonigle]

Quite so.

Weren't they given $4B in the CHIPS Act to build this factory?

That's on the taxpayers' timeline.

Re:

[tlhIngan]

Weren't they given $4B in the CHIPS Act to build this factory?

Given Elmo has stopped all Treasury payments, Intel probably didn't get paid the money they were owed. And since Trump has promised to cancel the CHIPS act, it doesn't make sense to continue investing in a new fab now that the money stopped.

Ohio's new fab is as real as South Carolina's new Apple facility.

Of course, they're expecting 2030 because that's when the new president comes in and hopefully resurrects the CHIPS act.

Re:

[tfranzese]

They aren't owed money they're not meeting milestones for.

Engineers Build The Ship. Leech E Hoes Sink it.

[zenlessyank]

You cannot let this kind of leeching fuckery continue to do this shit.

Never trust an engineer in a suit.

Re:

[retrobunnies]

Never trust -anyone- in a suit. There fixed it for you.

Re:

[zenlessyank]

I approve the correction.

Columbia Dispatch?

[DexPleiadian]

I know the timeline diverged but I refuse to bend to this forced Mandela effect.

Columbus Dispatch