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The Eu and Intel have been making eyes at each other for a few months now. Intel is interested in expanding its foundry operations and establishing itself as a competitor for TSMC and Samsung Foundry. The Eu, for its part, has been frustrated by the impact of the semiconductor shortage on the automotive business.

Co-ordinate to Reuters, the German state of Bavaria is in talks with Intel to potentially build a leading-border fab. The fab would reportedly be congenital at a disused airbase in Penzing-Landsberg. This appears to exist a reference to the Landsberg-Lech airbase, which was originally ane of the first four airbases built in Germany.

Epitome by the Bavarian Surveying Administration, CC Past-SA 3.0 DE

The airbase was shut down in 2018, then it isn't as if the site has sat fallow for decades. "I strongly support this," said economic system minister Hubert Aiwanger (BMW is headquartered in Bavaria). "The possible location of a big international semiconductor manufacturer in Bavaria is an outstanding opportunity."

It'southward not clear how true this is. The needs of car manufacturers are beingness presented every bit the impetus behind this beak, but auto manufacturers take very picayune use for 7nm silicon. Tesla may be ownership some loftier-terminate semi-custom fries from AMD to build out the game panel inside the Tesla Model S Plaid, but most car companies use legacy fries congenital on older process nodes. Some components are still congenital on 90nm or college, simply fifty-fifty newer chips ofttimes employ 28nm silicon. 28nm was the last major planar node before costs began to increase sharply. After 28nm, high-functioning chip designs moved to FinFET. Some low-power silicon moved to GlobalFoundries 22FDX, but a lot of fries are however congenital on older nodes and equipment.

Virtually of the conversation around the idea of an Intel-European partnership has revolved around the thought of a leading-edge facility, but Reuters doesn't actually use that phrase. EENewsEurope does, merely they don't say if they confirmed this independently. The only manufacturing that Reuters talks about is automotive manufacturing, and carmakers mostly rely on older silicon.

The big question for a European foundry is whether in that location'southward enough demand for leading-edge processes in Europe to justify the expense. Intel could theoretically build a facility specializing in older foundry nodes and processes. In that location'southward precedent for this. Foundry tool manufacturers began building new 200mm wafer tools in the last few years after a long hiatus. When AMD spun off GlobalFoundries, the new company added older manufacturing nodes it hadn't previously supported to address the needs of the customers it wanted to courtroom.

One can see a sure logic to both approaches. On the one paw, building new facilities for leading-edge customers gives Intel the opportunity to market place/compete on its manufacturing prowess. This has historically been a strength for the visitor and its previous problems at 10nm have scarcely erased decades of civilization that came earlier. If Intel wants to aggressively court leading-border customers, information technology's non going to build a foundry devoted to building archaic hardware.

On the other paw, there's a certain logic in skating to where the puck is. Right now, the manufacturers nigh in need of relief are companies that purchase older chips built on nodes Intel retired years or decades agone. These parts don't acquit huge margins and they don't make headline news, but there's something to be said for establishing a reputation for delivering well-built components at a reasonable price, especially when trying to break into a new market. When Intel decided to re-enter the GPU business, the company initially focused on low-end, relatively inexpensive hardware. The upmarket equipment intended to compete with Nvidia and AMD arrives subsequently.

EENewsEurope isn't necessarily wrong to assume Intel would build a leading-border fab in Bavaria, because that's the kind of facility Intel is historically known for edifice and its business organisation model emphasizes remaining on the leading border. Only it's the unique circumstances of the pandemic that accept driven shortages to their current state, and Intel'southward response to those unique circumstances could include a facility to build the types of fries companies rely on today.

Characteristic image: Intel Fab 42 in Arizona, the company'south latest facility. Any leading-edge foundry in Europe would improve on the 10nm lithography technology Intel has already deployed in facilities similar this.

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