Intel no longer considering UK chip plant following Brexit

CEO Pat Gelsinger says that around 70 proposals have been submitted for sites across mainland Europe

Trade

Pat Gelsinger, Intel

8 October 2021

Intel has said it has abandoned plans to build a factory in the UK following Brexit, and will instead establish new semiconductor plants elsewhere in mainland Europe.

Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s CEO, said that before the UK left the EU, the country “would have been a site that we would have considered”, as reported by the BBC.

“I have no idea whether we would have had a superior site from the UK,” he said. “But we now have about 70 proposals for sites across Europe from maybe 10 different countries.

“We’re hopeful that we’ll get to agreement on a site, as well as support from the EU… before the end of this year.”

The company is looking to open and upgrade semiconductor plants in Europe over the next 10 years, as part of a $95 billion investment.

Intel is hoping to receive subsidies from the US and Europe to establish chip plants in these regions, to help them rely less on companies in Asia for components. The US produces around 12% of the world’s semiconductors, with Samsung and TSMC making up 70% of global supply.

“It is clearly part of the motivation of a globally balanced supply chain that nobody should be too dependent on somebody else,” said Gelsinger.

The company currently outsources some of its chip-making but is aiming to make most of its products itself.

Even though Intel’s competitors are continuing to expand, with TSMC spending $100 billion on increasing capacity and Samsung investing $205 billion, Gelsinger is confident his company can regain the lead.

“This is an industry that we created in the US, Intel’s the company that puts silicon into Silicon Valley,” he said.

“But we realise these are good companies, they’re well capitalised, they’re investing, they’re innovating together. So we have to re-earn that right of unquestioned leadership.”

The Intel CEO also said that the ongoing chip shortage will continue into Christmas.

“Just everything is short right now. And even as I and my peers in the industry are working like crazy to catch up, it’s going to be a while.”

He expects the situation to improve “incrementally” next year but doesn’t think it will stabilise overall until 2023.

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