STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Intel on Tuesday picked Germany as the main site for a 17-billion-euro chip factory, the first details of its planned $88 billion investment in Europe, as the region scrambles to boost output and resolve a supply crisis that has dogged the car industry.
The U.S. chipmaker also said it will boost its existing factory in Ireland, a design and research facility in France, and a Packaging and assembly site in Italy.
The plants will help meet surging demand for chips used in computers, cars, smartphones and other gadgets, reduce in the long run the region’s reliance on Asian suppliers and ease the supply crunch which has crippled the car industry.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger in September last year announced plans to spend 80 billion euros ($88 billion) on the continent over the next decade as it seeks to boost the region’s chip manufacturing capacity.
The choice of sites comes after some European Union governments including Italy have offered big incentives to try and woo the chipmaker to invest in their country.
($1 = 0.9098 euros)
(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by Josephine Mason and Niklas Pollard)
