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Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

reuters.com

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Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#61

Post by duxup »

bee_rider wrote: post #3

Good luck to them! Always nice to get as much semiconducter talent in-country as possible, fabs are a pretty crucial supply line after all. I'd imagine most people would want a pretty significant pay raise to move to somewhere like Ohio, but they are nearby Ohio State University, so maybe they'll get local talent.

I also assumed tOSU and the Columbus area would be a draw.

Having a big university in a more urban setting is very nice (posting from the Twin Cities with the University of Minnesota centrally located).

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#62

Post by vmception »

justin66 wrote: post #24
bee_rider wrote: post #3

Good luck to them! Always nice to get as much semiconducter talent in-country as possible, fabs are a pretty crucial supply line after all. I'd imagine most people would want a pretty significant pay raise to move to somewhere like Ohio, but they are nearby Ohio State University, so maybe they'll get local talent.

> I'd imagine most people would want a pretty significant pay raise to move to somewhere like Ohio Cost of living is low relative to the west coast and high relative to a lot of places in Asia, so it really depends on who you're talking about.

For now.

I’ve travelled to enough cities that it is basically an amusing part of my checklist to hear why Area Man is mad about housing prices going up.

I could procedurally generate possible scapegoats at this point.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#64

Post by brewdad »

devwastaken wrote: post #30

Quoted post unavailable.

Ohio is the 7th largest state by population and 10th in population density. It's also continuing to grow in population, especially around Columbus, unlike some other Rust Belt states. Whether they "want to" or not, LOTS of people live in Ohio and Columbus is arguably it's most vibrant city thanks to being the capital and home of its flagship university.

I'm a UMich grad, so am not allowed to live in Ohio, but I can see its appeal for some.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#65

Post by vgeek »

onepointsixC wrote: post #29
jimbob45 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gratuitous subsidies from the US government. Also this is a great move in my eyes. Intel's HQ is on the West Coast and I imagine that they lose out on at least some portion of East Coast talent as a result. Hopefully this allows them to have the best of both worlds.

The US gov is seriously under investing compared to it's peers. South Korea is spending nearly 9 times more with their $450Bn pledged gov investment into Semiconductors[0] compared to America's investment of $52Bn with the CHIPS Act[1] [0]: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/South-K... [1]: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/2022/01/14/heres-what-yo...

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1032019.Bad_Samaritans

This is a good book that goes through how economies develop and the role of State Owned/sponsored Enterprises are helpful in developing a nation's technology competencies. The author uses South Korea as a few of his examples, too.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#66

Post by lotsofpulp »

ensan wrote: post #58

When it comes to proximity research institutions, the choice of location is strange to me. Somewhere in the northern Indiana/Illinois/Michigan (i.e. "Greater Michiana") would have made a lot more sense. That way, you would be close to, UIUC, Northwestern, UChicago, UMichigan, Purdue, Notre Dame, UIndiana, Argonne National Lab, etc.

Do the people that need to work at the fabs come from those schools?

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#67

Post by qsmi »

Does anyone know why Intel would want to build a "mega-site" in the city of Columbus Ohio? Why not choose Cleveland Ohio where one has port access with an existing route to Europe? Fabs are international affairs, no matter where they're rooted, because just to keep the place running one needs a constant stream of parts from everywhere. It seems like being in a sea/rail/truck hub would be a logistics advantage.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_of_Cleveland

Edit: On second thought, Arizona doesn't have port access either so I guess it's not really a significant consideration.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#68

Post by spaetzleesser »

brewdad wrote: post #44
missedthecue wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ohio is situated on the great lakes and therefore has a lot of cheaply available water, while Arizona does not. Chip production is water intensive. Not to mention the vast expanses of cheap land, and their electricity costs are pretty low as well. These could be reasons.

Water in AZ is some of the cheapest in the country. At least until Lake Powell runs dry. Not a bad idea to spread the risks around however.

When you look at Lake Mead and Lake Powell lately it seems they are well on the path to running dry.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#69

Post by vasili111 »

ksec wrote: post #50
missedthecue wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ohio is situated on the great lakes and therefore has a lot of cheaply available water, while Arizona does not. Chip production is water intensive. Not to mention the vast expanses of cheap land, and their electricity costs are pretty low as well. These could be reasons.

Modern Fabs can recycle its water usage by up to 90%. Electricity cost for Business in both state seems to be about the same. Land are cheap as well ( From what I have been told ). You do get operational efficiency from having Fabs all located within one place. And that is a quote from TSMC's ex-CEO Morris Chang. That is why I wonder if there is something missing. Or is it the simplest explanation Not to put all eggs…

> Or is it the simplest explanation Not to put all eggs in one basket.

I think this is important part. If something happens to one site (problem with electricity, etc) other will work.

Also, it maybe easier to find workforce that way.

Also it will be good for development for that regions.

Re: Intel's $20B Ohio factory could become world's largest chip plant

#70

Post by xyst »

its a shame we didn't see this type of investment after the rust belt area crashed in 2008. if we had more domestic chip plants, we probably wouldn't be in the current chip shortage rn

chip fab/manufacturing process probably doesn't generate as many jobs as the auto industry (the process is automated heavily from what I have seen) at its peak but at least they will be very high paying.

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