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I'm pretty skeptical that Intel would ever have put a fab in the UK. It would make far far more sense to either locate it in Ireland where they already have a f

I'm pretty skeptical that Intel would ever have put a fab in the UK. It would make far far more sense to either locate it in Ireland where they already have a fab and therefore the expertise, to put in somewhere like Germany where key partners like the car companies are (as well as Munich being a great area for engineering talent), or frankly to stick it whereever they get the biggest subsidies from. Even as part of the EU, there is very little going for the UK as a fab site for Intel.

Loic 5y ago
For semiconductors, Munich is not the best place to be in even if they have some talent. The best place at the moment in Germany[0] would be Dresden. [0]: In France, Grenoble could be a good place. Anyway, everywhere in the EU would be good for the world level balance.
easytiger 5y ago
Intel puts fabs wherever they can get massive tax breaks or incentives. That's how Ireland ended up with one with the long term commitment that gives them the ability to recognise all their EU sales in a low tax location
LatteLazy 5y ago
I agree, though UK governments have been historically very willing to give tax breaks etc to encourage these things (Sony in Wales for instance). I'd assume that would be the counter to your points...
- dogma1138 5y ago
  Yeah Intel has built fabs in Israel and although it does have a very large and arguably very successful development center there it’s also a chicken and the egg so if you build it they will come… I can’t see a situation in which the UK couldn’t have made a sufficiently enticing proposition when it comes to pure commercials. That said I think the main factor here is that Intel is afraid of a protectionist EU policy as far as manufacturing IP goes with ASML being a Dutch company it puts the entire semi industry at the mercy of the EU if they do decide to push for a protectionist regime to bring back manufacturing closer to home. Many other European companies also play a key role in the industry such as Philips (a lot of material engineering and manufacturing techniques) and Carl Zeiss (who makes the extremely specialized lenses and optical assemblies for lithography particularly for UV processes). So whilst the EU doesn’t have manufacturing capacity especially when it comes to leading nodes they are in a better position to half the global production of advanced semi conductors and ICs than anyone else really.
  - cik 5y ago
    Intel's just expanded their investment by $10B in Kiryat Gat. It's even strategically close to the plant in Arad.
- intricatedetail 5y ago
  Currently UK has a massive tax on specialised workforce - you can easily pay more than 50% tax. They changed IR35 so that risk averse companies only hire in scope of rules to avoid potential costly investigation. Current UK market is very hostile.
  - LatteLazy 5y ago
    Very true. I am caught by IR35 myself.
    - Silhouette 5y ago
      I'm really not sure what Sunak was thinking pushing that through in the current climate. A degree of flexible labour in the workforce is helpful anyway and never more so than with the recovery from multiple economic shocks in the past five years. So let's change the rules so lots of the former freelancers and contractors go permanent and lots of the former clients of those freelancers and contractors have to commit to hiring permanent staff, with all the baggage for both sides that comes with under the UK's employment rules, because the new IR35 rules make even less sense than the old ones and everyone from lorry drivers to software developers is questioning whether it makes sense to work under them at all. Full disclosure: I sometimes work in that sort of environment, so I may be personally affected by the changes at some point, but economically I don't see how it makes any sense at all anyway.
      - dogma1138 5y ago
        That it would be a massive boon to Infosys and TCS…
      - Lio 5y ago
        What was Rishi Sunak thinking? Well his father-in-law is N. R. Narayana Murthy so he was probably thinking the IR35 rule changes were pretty good for Unisys. <cough> conflictofinterests <cough> I mean he’d probably deny he was in favour of moving British jobs off shore but that is what his in-law’s family business is all about so…
ksec 5y ago
Exactly. As much as I want an Intel Fab in UK. Strategically speaking there is nothing UK to offer that give them a competitive advantage. Also agree on Ireland and Germany, or even Holland. It also shows Intel is serious about being an IDM. And their expansion plan and OpeX are very aggressive, compare to TSMC which is a conservative company.
- the-dude 5y ago
  The Netherlands, please.
cheschire 5y ago
Germany has significant environmental regulations and oversight groups to overcome. Tesla succeeded by more or less with their “come at me bro” approach to regulatory hurdles. I doubt Intel shares that appetite for risk.
youngtaff 5y ago
UK has quite a good reputation from a silicon design perspective About ten years ago (so may not still be accurate) there were more chip design companies concentrated around Bristol / Bath area than anywhere else outside Silicon Valley Was often cited as a legacy of Transputer being based in Bristol / South Wales

Loic 5y ago

For semiconductors, Munich is not the best place to be in even if they have some talent. The best place at the moment in Germany[0] would be Dresden. [0]: In France, Grenoble could be a good place. Anyway, everywhere in the EU would be good for the world level balance.

easytiger 5y ago

Intel puts fabs wherever they can get massive tax breaks or incentives. That's how Ireland ended up with one with the long term commitment that gives them the ability to recognise all their EU sales in a low tax location

LatteLazy 5y ago

I agree, though UK governments have been historically very willing to give tax breaks etc to encourage these things (Sony in Wales for instance). I'd assume that would be the counter to your points...

dogma1138 5y ago
Yeah Intel has built fabs in Israel and although it does have a very large and arguably very successful development center there it’s also a chicken and the egg so if you build it they will come… I can’t see a situation in which the UK couldn’t have made a sufficiently enticing proposition when it comes to pure commercials. That said I think the main factor here is that Intel is afraid of a protectionist EU policy as far as manufacturing IP goes with ASML being a Dutch company it puts the entire semi industry at the mercy of the EU if they do decide to push for a protectionist regime to bring back manufacturing closer to home. Many other European companies also play a key role in the industry such as Philips (a lot of material engineering and manufacturing techniques) and Carl Zeiss (who makes the extremely specialized lenses and optical assemblies for lithography particularly for UV processes). So whilst the EU doesn’t have manufacturing capacity especially when it comes to leading nodes they are in a better position to half the global production of advanced semi conductors and ICs than anyone else really.
- cik 5y ago
  Intel's just expanded their investment by $10B in Kiryat Gat. It's even strategically close to the plant in Arad.
intricatedetail 5y ago
Currently UK has a massive tax on specialised workforce - you can easily pay more than 50% tax. They changed IR35 so that risk averse companies only hire in scope of rules to avoid potential costly investigation. Current UK market is very hostile.
- LatteLazy 5y ago
  Very true. I am caught by IR35 myself.
  - Silhouette 5y ago
    I'm really not sure what Sunak was thinking pushing that through in the current climate. A degree of flexible labour in the workforce is helpful anyway and never more so than with the recovery from multiple economic shocks in the past five years. So let's change the rules so lots of the former freelancers and contractors go permanent and lots of the former clients of those freelancers and contractors have to commit to hiring permanent staff, with all the baggage for both sides that comes with under the UK's employment rules, because the new IR35 rules make even less sense than the old ones and everyone from lorry drivers to software developers is questioning whether it makes sense to work under them at all. Full disclosure: I sometimes work in that sort of environment, so I may be personally affected by the changes at some point, but economically I don't see how it makes any sense at all anyway.
    - dogma1138 5y ago
      That it would be a massive boon to Infosys and TCS…
    - Lio 5y ago
      What was Rishi Sunak thinking? Well his father-in-law is N. R. Narayana Murthy so he was probably thinking the IR35 rule changes were pretty good for Unisys. <cough> conflictofinterests <cough> I mean he’d probably deny he was in favour of moving British jobs off shore but that is what his in-law’s family business is all about so…

ksec 5y ago

Exactly. As much as I want an Intel Fab in UK. Strategically speaking there is nothing UK to offer that give them a competitive advantage. Also agree on Ireland and Germany, or even Holland. It also shows Intel is serious about being an IDM. And their expansion plan and OpeX are very aggressive, compare to TSMC which is a conservative company.

the-dude 5y ago
The Netherlands, please.

cheschire 5y ago

Germany has significant environmental regulations and oversight groups to overcome. Tesla succeeded by more or less with their “come at me bro” approach to regulatory hurdles. I doubt Intel shares that appetite for risk.

youngtaff 5y ago

UK has quite a good reputation from a silicon design perspective About ten years ago (so may not still be accurate) there were more chip design companies concentrated around Bristol / Bath area than anywhere else outside Silicon Valley Was often cited as a legacy of Transputer being based in Bristol / South Wales