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Does this mean they are going to onshore their fabrication plants based on your experience? It seems like CEOs promise that but still go ahead with building pla

Does this mean they are going to onshore their fabrication plants based on your experience? It seems like CEOs promise that but still go ahead with building plants in countries with cheap labor

sanxiyn 6y ago
My understanding is that fab equipments are so expensive that cheap labor doesn't matter. Note that most of Samsung's fab capacity is in South Korea and it has no plan whatsoever to offshore that. Ditto for TSMC.
- csours 6y ago
  Most of Samsung's fabs may be in SK, but some of it is just down the street from me in Austin.
  - guessbest 6y ago
    I'm near Austin. Where are they?
    - csours 6y ago
      Between Pflugerville and Manor. The address is publicly available with a quick search.
      - guessbest 6y ago
        12100 Samsung Blvd, Austin, TX 78754 ?
- MangoCoffee 6y ago
  modern fab is pretty automated. its doesn't required as much labors as other industries. Samsung fab was shutdown during Texas winter storm. https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/03/30/samsung-austin-fabrication-plant-online-after-texas-freeze-shutdown-losses/7060018002/ https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/03/30/samsung-...
totalZero 6y ago
Dollar for dollar, fab is not as labor intensive as many other forms of manufacturing. Even if it were, the occasional loss of product due to infrastructure problems in underdeveloped areas would offset labor cost. It makes sense to locate in one area where you can count on reliable infrastructure and negotiate good rates due to your massive scale. Fabs use a lot of water and electricity. Samsung announced that it was considering a new investment in Austin, then the Texas storms hit. A few days later, Samsung announced that it was considering a new investment in Austin or somewhere else. Intel already operates several fabs in the US and other first world countries so I don't know what onshore would mean in this context, but Gelsinger has made it pretty clear that he believes our best bet is to make chips at American fabs run by American companies. So I guess that is a yes.
rossdavidh 6y ago
Intel has always (and continues today) had substantial onshore production capacity.

Does this mean they are going to onshore their fabrication plants based on your experience? It seems like CEOs promise that but still go ahead with building plants in countries with cheap labor

sanxiyn 6y ago

My understanding is that fab equipments are so expensive that cheap labor doesn't matter. Note that most of Samsung's fab capacity is in South Korea and it has no plan whatsoever to offshore that. Ditto for TSMC.

csours 6y ago
Most of Samsung's fabs may be in SK, but some of it is just down the street from me in Austin.
- guessbest 6y ago
  I'm near Austin. Where are they?
  - csours 6y ago
    Between Pflugerville and Manor. The address is publicly available with a quick search.
    - guessbest 6y ago
      12100 Samsung Blvd, Austin, TX 78754 ?
MangoCoffee 6y ago
modern fab is pretty automated. its doesn't required as much labors as other industries. Samsung fab was shutdown during Texas winter storm. https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/03/30/samsung-austin-fabrication-plant-online-after-texas-freeze-shutdown-losses/7060018002/ https://www.statesman.com/story/business/2021/03/30/samsung-...

totalZero 6y ago

Dollar for dollar, fab is not as labor intensive as many other forms of manufacturing. Even if it were, the occasional loss of product due to infrastructure problems in underdeveloped areas would offset labor cost. It makes sense to locate in one area where you can count on reliable infrastructure and negotiate good rates due to your massive scale. Fabs use a lot of water and electricity. Samsung announced that it was considering a new investment in Austin, then the Texas storms hit. A few days later, Samsung announced that it was considering a new investment in Austin or somewhere else. Intel already operates several fabs in the US and other first world countries so I don't know what onshore would mean in this context, but Gelsinger has made it pretty clear that he believes our best bet is to make chips at American fabs run by American companies. So I guess that is a yes.

rossdavidh 6y ago

Intel has always (and continues today) had substantial onshore production capacity.