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Intel planning to close chip plants

by on22 January 2009

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As many as 6,000 employees to be affected

Intel announced that the company is planning on closing chip plans to reflect the current changes in market conditions. The decrease in manufacturing capacity will affect as many as four plants, according to the latest information that we have.

Both assembly and test facilities in Penang, Malaysia and Cavite, Philippines are slated to be closed. Hillsboro, Oregon fab facility, which is better known as Fab 20, will stop production of the older 200mm wafers. The Santa Clara, California plant, which is known as the D2 facility, will also end wafer production operations, as well. The timetable for the closings and production changes are said to be taking place between now and the end of 2009.

As for the effected employees, Intel is estimating that between 5,000 and 6,000 workers could be affected. The company says, however, that not all employees will be victims of a layoff; instead, many are expected to be offered jobs at other Intel facilities. However, some will be let go during this process.

Intel’s strategy is to move away from the old technologies and shift to the new 45nm and 32nm manufacturing processes. The move will see deployment of additional capacity in facilities that are already manufacturing chips using the 45nm and 32nm process.

As the move to the smaller manufacturing process continues, older facilities are normally slated to be closed or revamped to handle the new manufacturing process. These affected facilities were already being looked at, and the current financial situation has forced the company to move ahead sooner than they had originally planned.

Last modified on 22 January 2009
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