Intel to inaugurate $1b factory in Vietnam

The US Intel Group will put into operation a chip assembly and test facility worth $1 billion in Vietnam by the end this month, Wall Street Journal citing the group’s managing official said.

In addition, Intel will also open a semiconductor manufactory valued at $2.5 billion in Dalian, China.

The purpose of the investment in factories in Vietnam and China is to help the world’s largest computer chip manufacturer capture growth opportunities in emerging Asian countries.

“We estimate in the next few years, the personal computer (PC) market in Asia will continue to grow over 20 percent per year. We continue to invest in Asia, where we see growing impetus, “Navin Shenoy, Intel’s general director in Asia – Pacific said.

Currently, the global semiconductor industry is facing unbalance between supply and demand thus price is going down.

The demand of PC worldwide in Q3 will also be lower than expected, due to pressure from consumer demand. Market research firm, IDC, said that sales of PC worldwide has increased 11 percent in Q3, but much slower than the same period last year.

However, Intel Group is still optimistic about growth prospects of this sector. Shenoy said that although his firm sees weak demand in the US and Europe, consumers and businesses in Asia continue to buy computers.

“Asia has a young population and the universalisation rate of computer remains low. China, India and other Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam and Indonesia, are important markets” Shenoy said.

Intel has announced its investment plans to open factory in Vietnam since 2006 and started construction in 2007. The company said the plant will create jobs for about 4,000 locals.

Factory in Vietnam is the Intel’s seventh chip assembly and test facility. The group’s other factories are located in Penang and Kulim (Malaysia), Cavite (Philippines), Chengdu and Shanghai (China) and San Jose (Costa Rica).

The plant in Dalian, China, will produce chips using 300 mm soles generation. The chip production plants using this type of sole can cut costs about 30 percent compared to plants using older-generation of 200 mm sole.

Plant in Dalian will produce groups of integrated circuits for the CPU of laptops and desktops computer. As estimated, the number of workers of the factory would be 1,500 people when running full capacity.

Apart from PC, according to Shenoy, Intel also sees opportunities from consumer electronics markets, including Internet linked television and smart mobile phones.

Sales of Internet linked TV market will increase by 217 percent to 430 million units in 2014, from about 135 million units this year, research firm iSuppli said last month.

On October 13, Intel announced its profits rose 59 percent to $2.96 billion in Q3.

Intel group received investment licence to build semiconductor chip Assembly and Test Manufacturing – ATM in Saigon high-tech part (SHTP) on February 28, 2006. – TBKTVN

Tags: Intel Chip Plant, Intel Vietnam