At an online briefing held on the 24th, Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s CEO (pictured right), declared, “We will invest 20 billion dollars to build two fabs (factory) in Arizona and enter the foundry business.” The photo on the left is a view of the Ocotillo campus, Arizona, where Intel’s foundry fab is scheduled to be built. Provided by intel
The United States has triggered the global semiconductor war for supremacy. Pride of the US semiconductor industry By borrowing the words of Intel, he clearly expressed his willingness to “lower dependence on Asia and expand domestic production facilities.” It is an evaluation that the United States has taken full-scale action to strengthen the competitiveness of semiconductors, which are called’oil of the 21st century’ and’strategic weapons’.
Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor company, announced at an online media briefing on the 24th that he will enter the foundry market. Intel plans to invest 20 billion dollars (about 22.500 trillion won) to build two new fabs (factory) in Arizona. The operation period is expected in 2024.
After Intel’s announcement, there is an analysis that there is a US government. Gelsinger said on the day, “Most semiconductor production facilities are concentrated in Asia. It is important to secure manufacturing capabilities in the US and Europe.” Seoul National University Chair Professor Hwang Chul-sung said, “It should be noted that the US government’s core initiative (action plan) to increase the competitiveness of the US semiconductor industry is being materialized rather than the apparent incident of Intel’s entry into the foundry.”
As major powers’ policies to foster the semiconductor industry poured out, Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics, which were pushed to the forefront of the competition for semiconductor hegemony, continued to struggle. Right now, Samsung Electronics is under pressure from the US and the European Union to “build a semiconductor factory in its own country.” It is not easy to decide on a large-scale investment due to the lack of a total number of people who have to consider mid- and long-term business strategies. Experts are making a diagnosis that “Korean semiconductor companies are at the crossroads of life and death.”
In case of customer alliance such as Amazon and MS based on Intel know-how, perception changes are notified
Samsung is ahead of the ultra-fine process, but the emergence of a’scary competitor’ feels a sense of crisis
‘80%, 15%, 5%.’
These are the numbers that Pat Gelsinger, Intel’s CEO, emphasized at a business strategy presentation held online on the 24th. This is a figure showing the share of Asia, the United States, and Europe, respectively, in global semiconductor production. “Most semiconductor manufacturing facilities are concentrated in Asia,” said Gelsinger’s CEO, displaying a world map and numbers on the background. I emphasized.
○ Intel at the forefront of US semiconductor hegemony
It is unusual for the CEO of a private company, Intel, to mention the geopolitical balance between national security and semiconductor production. According to industry analysis, there is US President Joe Biden after his announcement. During the election campaign, President Biden emphasized the’Made in USA’ of core industries such as semiconductors, and after taking office, he is putting the development of the domestic semiconductor industry as’first priority’.
Gelsinger’s CEO devoted much of the presentation to the construction of a fab in Arizona, USA. He said, “It is important to secure manufacturing capabilities in the United States,” saying, “Intel is working with the US government to invest $20 billion (about 22 trillion won), create more than 3,000 high-wage jobs, and employ 15,000 long-term employees. We are pleased to work with the Arizona state government.” An official in the semiconductor industry said, “In fact, Intel is at the forefront of the US semiconductor hegemony strategy.”
Intel announced that it will enter the foundry (consignment production of semiconductors) on this day, and the justification posed is’the development of the US semiconductor industry. Foundry is a business that manufactures semiconductors by receiving orders from fabless (semiconductor design companies) that do not have production facilities. The main customers of the global foundry market, divided between TSMC and Samsung Electronics in Taiwan, are US companies. Representatives include US fabless companies such as Nvidia and Qualcomm, and information and communication technology (ICT) companies that are promoting’self-production of semiconductors’ such as Google and Amazon.
Gelsinger expressed confidence that it will settle in the foundry business with the support of US clients. “It is supported by potential (US) clients such as Amazon, Cisco, Ericsson, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Qualcomm, etc.,” he stressed.
○ Particularly threatened to Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics did not make an official position on Intel’s announcement. However, considering the know-how that Intel has accumulated through the design and production of the central processing unit (CPU), the analysis that it will become a’scary competitor’ is dominant. It is said that it will be frighteningly hit in the foundry business by utilizing the financial power and talent pool of the world’s No. 1 semiconductor sales company. Lee Jong-ho, head of the Seoul National University Semiconductor Research Institute, said, “It will be a threat to Samsung Electronics, given the advantages of Intel’s design assets and’American company’.”
There is also not a small voice that it is necessary to be wary of the movement of the US government controlled behind the scenes than Intel. It is said that since the United States, the world’s most powerful country, has started to foster domestic companies in earnest, Korean companies such as Samsung Electronics must take into account the relative damage. Another variable is the absence of the total number to decide the direction of the semiconductor business of Samsung Electronics. In order for Samsung Electronics to not be pushed by the’speed battle’, it must maintain the’super gap’ through additional investments, but there are concerns that decision-making may be delayed due to vice chairman Lee Jae-yong’s arrest.
Hwang Cheol-seong, a chairman at Seoul National University, said, “It is the indifference of the US government that was able to bring the supremacy of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing technology to Korea and Taiwan.” Analyzed.
Fortunately, there is still time left. In terms of technology, the evaluation that Intel’s level is lower than Samsung Electronics and TSMC, which are producing products in the 5nm (1nm = 1 billionth of a meter) process, is dominant. Intel stays on the 10nm process, where the technology gap is estimated to be around two years. Some say that there is “time to spare” because the Arizona fab, which Intel will spend 20 billion dollars to build, will be operational from 2024.
Professor Park Jae-geun of the Department of Convergence Electronics Engineering at Hanyang University said, “Samsung and TSMC are ahead of the competition for ultra-fine processes under 5 nm.” Forecast.
Reporter Hwang Jung-soo/Lee Soo-bin [email protected]