The delay was done in part ‘to manage our capital responsibly and adapt to the needs of our customers,’ says Intel executive Naga Chandrasekaran.
Intel has delayed its $28 billion semiconductor factory project in Ohio, saying that the first plant will complete construction in 2030 and start operations that year or the next, and the second factory will finish construction in 2031 and start operations the next year.
Production was originally meant to start in 2025, but the Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker announced a delay last year.
In an online post Friday, Naga Chandrasekaran—executive vice president, chief global operations officer and general manager of Intel foundry manufacturing—said the delay was done in part “to manage our capital responsibly and adapt to the needs of our customers.”
[RELATED: Intel To Invest $20B To Start Factory ‘Mega-Site’ In Ohio]
Intel Ohio Factory
CRN has reached out to Intel for comment.
Intel completed the basement level of the fab last quarter, Chandrasekaran said. Intel is now working on the above-ground structure.
“In no way does this diminish our long-term commitment to Ohio,” he said. “We have already started hiring Ohioans who are training at our fabs in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon, and we 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.”
Intel selected New Albany, Ohio, as the site of a new fab operation in 2022 and received an award for federal funding under the Biden administration’s Chips and Science Act. Last year, Intel delayed the expected construction completion date to 2026.
“Most of all, we are appreciative of all of you and the work you are doing to build this site. Projects of this scale and complexity always come with twists and turns along the way, but the end state is one we will all be proud of for decades to come,” Chandrasekaran said.
The vendor is using federal funds as part of buildouts of previously announced chip manufacturing and advanced packaging plants in Arizona, New Mexico and Oregon, which are also backed by more than $100 billion in investments by the company.
Multiple news reports have cast doubt on the Trump administration continuing Biden’s Chips Act in its current form, and Trump’s plan to enact tariffs to encourage semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S. could cause further disruption for the market.
Intel’s latest quarterly earnings report in January beat Wall Street’s expectations for fourth-quarter 2024 revenue, but the semiconductor giant warned that sales could plummet by as much as 18 percent in this year’s first quarter due to a few major factors, including economic uncertainty and competition from other companies.
During the call, Intel interim co-CEO, Executive Vice President and CFO Dave Zinsner said that the company’s leadership “will be meeting fairly regularly with the Trump administration officials to go make their goals a reality for the U.S.”
