Intel to invest $7 billion in 32nm plants

Intel's Paul Otellini has today announced that the company will spend $7 billion (4.74 billion) over the next two years to build manufacturing facilities, in a heavy investment programme that the company said is its largest ever.

The move is likely to please the US government, as Intel said the move will create 7,000 high-wage' jobs. The facilities will be located at its existing plants in Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico and will be used to build micro-processors based on its newest 32nm manufacturing process.

A smaller manufacturing process enables processors to feature more transistors in a given space, increasing performance and lowering power draw, while being less expensive to produce.

Intel said the first parts to be produced will be its Westmere' processors, which will combine its Nehalem' architecture, used in the current Core i7, with an internal graphics core.

The move follows last month's announcement from Intel that it would close five factories based on older technology.

Benny Har-Even is a twenty-year stalwart of technology journalism who is passionate about all areas of the industry, but telecoms and mobile and home entertainment are among his chief interests. He has written for many of the leading tech publications in the UK, such as PC Pro and Wired, and previously held the position of technology editor at ITPro before regularly contributing as a freelancer.

Known affectionately as a ‘geek’ to his friends, his passion has seen him land opportunities to speak about technology on BBC television broadcasts, as well as a number of speaking engagements at industry events.