According to reports, three people familiar with the matter said today that the Italian government is drafting an offer in an attempt to persuadeIntelBillions of euros have been invested in Italy to build a semiconductor factory.
IntelCEO Pat Kilsinger (Pat Gelsinger) said at the end of April that Intel Corp was seeking 8 billion euros ($9.7 billion) in public subsidies to build an advanced semiconductor manufacturing plant in Europe.
Italy has begun talks with Intel Corp about potential investment, according to people familiar with the talks. According to preliminary estimates, the value of the investment will exceed 4 billion euros (4.7 billion U.S. dollars). Depending on Intel Corp's plan, the investment could reach up to about 8 billion euros, another person familiar with the matter said.
People familiar with the matter also said that Italy was prepared to use public funds to partially fund the overall investment and to offer preferential terms to Intel Corp, including in terms of labor and energy costs. It is estimated that the factory will create more than 1000 direct jobs in Italy.
Another person familiar with the matter said: "the Italian government is preparing a very detailed offer with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of the year." Negotiations with Intel Corp are at an advanced stage and no agreement has yet been reached, but if the government makes more efforts, it is likely to move the factory to Italy. "
As for the location of the factory, potential locations include Mirafiori in Turin, the Italian headquarters of carmaker Stellantis, and Catania in Sicily, according to people familiar with the matter. The latter is home to Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroElectronics.
Intel Corp declined to comment.
In addition to the semiconductor factory, Intel Corp's biggest project in Europe is another giant factory. Germany's Dresden is in a dominant position and is expected to win the project, according to people familiar with the matter.
But at present, Intel Corp has not yet made a decision. In addition to Germany, France is also a strong competitor to the giant factory. Poland is also a strong rival to the chip factory that Italy is competing for.
The Italian plant will be an "advanced packaging" plant, using new technology to assemble parts made by Intel Corp and other chipmakers into complete chips, according to people familiar with the matter. Intel Corp is using this technology to attract new customers, such asAmazonCloud computing department.
Intel Corp CEO Kilsinger said last month that Intel Corp would announce the location of the two European plants before the end of the year. In addition, Intel Corp hopes to invest 80 billion euros in continental Europe in the next decade.
In addition to European factories, Kilsinger announced in March the launch of the IDM2.0 strategy, which plans to build two plants in Arizona at a cost of up to $20 billion and open contract manufacturing to outside customers to regain its leading position in chip manufacturing.
In the field of semiconductor chips, Intel Corp has dominated the industry for decades, but in recent years, due to the continuous delay in the research and development of new processes, it has gradually lost its advantage in the field of chip manufacturing.