Intel To Build Second 1.1M Square Foot Fab in Oregon

The company is building a twin of the $3 billion D1X factory that was announced about two years ago and it's scheduled to be up and running and producing 14 nm processors in 2013.

The new factory will also cover 1.1 billion square feet of floor space and is built to accommodate future lithography technology such as EUV, which will have chip production equipment that is multiple stories high. D1X and its twin will stand 122 feet tall. Intel also said that it is retrofitting its Fab20 in Hillsboro, which was previously closed down.

Given the current macro-economic environment, there may be concerns as to whether Intel can justify spending that much money on extra production capacity. However, investing in fabs and future manufacturing is part of the company history that has given it a position of chip production leadership. There are not many standalone chip makers left that can afford to build production fabs on this massive scale and the fact that Intel's investment comes at this time, is an important and surely motivating sign that Intel is betting on growth for chips - not just smartphone and tablet chips.

The announcement is also a sure sign that Intel will be following through with its aggressive roadmap.

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