Intel To Invest $2 Billion To Build A New Wafer Manufacturing Facility In Ireland

Fab 24 to Include 135,000 Square Feet of Cleanroom on 0.13-Micron Technology

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 19, 2000 -- Intel Corporation today announced it will invest $2 billion to expand manufacturing operations by adding a new wafer fabrication facility at its European manufacturing operations in Leixlip, County Kildare, Ireland. Designated Fab 24, the new fab will include 135,000 square feet of cleanroom with slightly more than 1 million square feet of space for the total facility. Construction will begin immediately with first production expected in the second half of 2001. When the new facility is completed, Intel's cumulative investment in manufacturing facilities in Ireland will total approximately $4.5 billion.

The expansion will incorporate Intel's new 0.13-micron process technology (a micron is approximately 1/100th the width of a typical human hair) with copper metalization. The new factory will initially manufacture on 200 mm silicon wafers, but will be capable of moving at a later date to 300 mm wafers, the next generation of manufacturing technology.

The investment announcement was made at Intel's Leixlip campus by Craig Barrett, president and CEO of Intel Corporation, accompanied by the Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mary Harney TD.

"Today's announcement of Fab 24 -- together with our recent announcement of a major expansion project at our site in New Mexico in the United States -- is reflective of our commitment to invest in manufacturing capacity to help us meet the growing future demand for our products," Barrett said. "The additional manufacturing capacity will help us maintain our leadership in the extremely competitive world of semiconductors. It is a tribute to the quality of our team of managers and employees in Leixlip that Ireland has once again been chosen as the site for a major expansion project."

The Tánaiste said, "This new investment will bring Intel Ireland to the summit of manufacturing technology in the semiconductor sector globally, making it the most advanced wafer fabrication site in Europe. Intel's arrival in Ireland in 1989 created a sea change in the perception of this country as a technology center in Europe and generated a very significant and substantial chain effect in the industrial development process."

When completed, the project is expected to create over 1,000 new jobs by the year 2004. There are currently 3,000 Intel employees in Leixlip. During construction, Fab 24 will be the largest single construction project in Ireland during that time.

The Leixlip site produces high performance Pentium® III processors, Intel® Celeron® processors and supporting chipsets to optimize computing performance.

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