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Intel’s major chip plant for Ohio may not start producing processors until 2027, instead of 2025.
The chip giant now expects the Ohio factory to be completed in late 2026, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing sources close to the project. Once construction is done, the company can start installing the manufacturing equipment.
Intel didn’t offer a firm reason for the delay. But the Journal says the two main culprits appear to be declining demand for processors and the slow rollout of federal subsidies from the US CHIPS and Science Act.
Intel announced the factory back in January 2022 when the US market was still facing a major chip shortage. But since then, demand for PCs and semiconductors have largely been on the decline, creating an inventory glut that took a toll on Intel’s earnings last year.
The company indicated to PCMag that the original target of bringing the factory online in 2025 was ambitious. “While we will not meet the aggressive 2025 production goal that we anticipated when we first announced the selection of Ohio in January 2022, construction has been underway since breaking ground in late 2022 and we have not made any recent changes to our pace of construction or anticipated timelines,” a company spokesperson said.
Intel also pointed out: “Typical construction timelines for semiconductor manufacturing facilities are 3-5 years from groundbreaking, depending on a range of factors."
The company plans on investing an initial $20 billion to build the factory, which promises to create 3,000 permanent jobs in the Columbus, Ohio, area. The facility will consist of two semiconductor fabrication plants meant to house Intel’s latest chip-making technologies.
Intel added that 800 to 900 people are currently working on the construction site. But the company plans on adding thousands more by the end of this year.