Confident Intel "Vehicle Semiconductor Production Within 6 to 9 Months"

US Declares Resolution to Semiconductor Shortage Crisis
Strategic Move to Lead Future Semiconductor Industry Restructuring
Gelsinger CEO Announces $20 Billion Investment
Also Declares External Foundry Production
"Let's Raise Global Semiconductor US Production Share Above 30%" Claim

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] Pat Gelsinger, CEO of Intel, announced that the company will enter the manufacturing of automotive semiconductors, which are currently facing a supply shortage. Following its previous announcement of investment in semiconductor production plants, Intel has also expressed the opinion that one-third of the world's semiconductors should be produced in the United States, showcasing a bold strategy to resolve the semiconductor shortage crisis.

In recent years, Intel has lagged behind competitors, lost major client Apple, and fallen behind Samsung Electronics and Taiwan's TSMC in advanced fine process technology. This move is interpreted as a strong determination by Intel to lead the restructuring of the U.S. semiconductor industry.

In an interview with a major foreign media outlet on the 12th (local time), CEO Gelsinger stated, "We are in discussions with automotive semiconductor design companies to begin production of automotive semiconductors within 6 to 9 months." Intel is a comprehensive semiconductor company capable of both design and manufacturing. While Intel mainly produces chips for PCs and servers, it has expressed willingness to participate in the production of automotive semiconductors, which require a lower level of technology. He said, "We have started the transition work with key suppliers," indicating that the process conversion has already begun. This means that Intel's existing semiconductor manufacturing facilities are being converted to produce automotive semiconductors.

As a semiconductor expert, CEO Gelsinger, who recently returned to Intel, has declared his intention to restore Intel's industry leadership and is pursuing an ambitious plan to resolve the crisis in the U.S. semiconductor supply chain.

Intel, which had fallen behind in fine process technology, had until recently planned to outsource semiconductor manufacturing to Taiwan's TSMC or Samsung Electronics. However, the situation changed after Gelsinger took office. Intel announced it will invest $20 billion to build new foundry plants and accept contract manufacturing orders from external customers. This is essentially a declaration that semiconductors designed by U.S. companies will be produced by Intel itself. This stance is clearly different from companies like AMD and Apple, which have had their self-designed semiconductors manufactured externally. It also aligns with the strong semiconductor investment intentions of the Joe Biden U.S. administration.

In an interview with CNBC on the same day, Gelsinger also expressed the opinion that the U.S. should produce one-third of the world's semiconductors. Currently, the U.S. accounts for only 12% of global semiconductor production.

This is because, although U.S. companies still hold nearly 50% of semiconductor market share, they focus only on design and leave the capital-intensive manufacturing to overseas companies. As a result, if production issues arise abroad, semiconductors designed in the U.S. cannot be supplied on time.

He also argued that the U.S. should lead not only semiconductor manufacturing but also the expansion of research and development to secure intellectual property rights necessary for semiconductor production.

However, Intel suffered an unexpected blow on the same day. Nvidia, which had surpassed Intel's market capitalization, announced a server chip, causing Intel's stock price to plunge by 4%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.