Intel Ireland or Intel Israel- where will the money go?
Intel Ireland-Whats New? For Intel Ireland the last major new project was the $2 Billion Fab 24-2 announced in May 2004 running 64 nanometer process technology (the size of wafer fab that chips are run from) . The next project announcement for investment on new semiconductor fabrication technology will likely be announced in March.
Up for competition against Ireland for this investment decision will be Israel with their FAB 28 Kiryat Gat facility located close to the border with Gaza and likely to be competing heavily both politically and financially for this project which will involve use of the latest 22 nanometer process technology.
To do so at Kiryat Gat will require almost $3 Billion in additional investment at a site that is within 15 miles (or missile range) of Gaza. This it appears is not the only concsideration given concerns over Iranian Nuclear proliferation and a possible 2nd incursion into Gaza in early summer following on from a very recent assasination of a major Hamas figure head which has led to charges of MOSAD involvement using stolen EU passports.
Yet Israel is a major contender for this investment and given Irelands current economic woes we are not flavor of the month when it comes to high labor and utility costs which threaten still to undermine our international competitiveness. So the question that is on everyones minds in Ireland and Israel is when it comes down to the wire-which location will Intel choose?
To date Intel has invested over $8billion at their Leixlip site in Kildare. Will they continue to invest or is this the end of the line? What do our readers think?
