It doesn’t look like the market is going to be flooded with chips anytime soon, as Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger tells The Washington Post that it will be “a couple of years” before the company will be back to capacity.
The worldwide semiconductor shortage comes as Intel announces plans to build two factories in Arizona, to the tune of US$20 billion.
Intel aims to be at the forefront of a renewed push for American foundry production, with the goal to move U.S. market share of semiconductor manufacturing from its current 12 per cent to over 30 per cent. Gelsinger wants Intel to “become a major provider of foundry capacity in the U.S. and Europe to serve customers globally.”
Joe Biden is clearly behind the move, announcing a US$50 billion plan to subsidise such local production, in order to bolster U.S manufacturing.
In the interim, Intel are turning to automaker production to shore up supply after coronavirus, a move he admits “in no way addresses all of it – but every little bit helps.”
Still, normality is a way off yet.
“I think this is a couple of years until you are totally able to address it,” he said. “It just takes a couple of years to build capacity.”
