Intel To Build 300mm Wafer Fabrication Facility In China

Intel Corp. announced Monday plans to build a $2.5 billion, 300-millimeter (mm) wafer fabrication facility (fab) in the coastal Northeast China city of Dalian in the Liaoning Province.
The $2.5 billion investment for the factory designated “Fab 68” will become Intel’s first wafer fab in Asia.
Construction on Fab 68 is scheduled to begin later this year with production projected to begin in the first half of 2010. Initial production will be dedicated to chipsets to support Intel’s core microprocessor business.
Use of 300mm wafers increases the ability to produce semiconductors at a lower cost compared with more commonly used 200mm (eight-inch) wafers. Using 300mm manufacturing technology consumes 40 percent less energy and water per chip than a 200mm wafer factory.