Intel Plans China Chip Factory

Mar 27, 04:50 AM

Current Headlines: BEIJING -- Intel Corp. announced today it will build a $2.5 billion chip factory in China, giving the U.S. company a bigger presence in the booming Chinese market and boosting Beijing's efforts to attract high-tech investment.

The factory will supply chipsets to customers in China, which Intel expects to be the largest information technology market by the time the facility opens in 2010, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said at a news conference in the Great Hall of the People. Chipsets are computer chips that connect a microprocessor to other system components.

The facility in the northeastern city of Dalian will be Intel's first factory in Asia that will fabricate wafers, the thin silicon platters on which dozens of chips are etched, reflecting China's growing importance as a market for high-tech goods. It will boost the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's investments in China to $4 billion.

"This project confirms and further enhances the strategic importance of China in our global strategy and in the IT industry around the world," Otellini said.

"Our goal in China is to support a transition from 'manufactured in China' to 'innovated in China,' " he said.

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