Intel Resumes Building Fab

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corporation today announced it will resume construction on Fab 24 in Leixlip, County Kildare, Ireland. The $2 billion manufacturing facility will produce advanced semiconductor components on 300 mm wafers and initially use 90-nanometer process technology. The new fab will contain 160,000 square feet of cleanroom with slightly more than one million square feet of space for the total facility. Operations are expected to begin in the first half of 2004. When the new facility is completed the company will have four 300 mm wafer fabrication facilities in operation. "In order to provide customers with the benefits of leading-edge products, we must continue to invest in the newest technologies and capacity," said Bob Baker, vice president and general manager of Intel's Technology and Manufacturing Group. "As computing and communications devices converge, the need for higher performance components will grow. This facility will help us meet that growing demand. The combination of the 300 mm wafers and 90-nanometer process technology will also reduce the costs of manufacturing, increase productivity and improve the availability of the world's most advanced semiconductor products." Construction on Fab 24 was originally begun in June 2000 but was halted during last year's worldwide economic downturn. Intel Corp.