Intel Announces ‘Fab 42’ Development in Chandler, Arizona

President Barack Obama last week met with several important Silicon Valley employers and innovators, including Intel’s own Paul Otellini, and afterward, Intel gave him a tour of its semiconductor research and manufacturing site in Hillsboro, Oregon. At the same time, Intel announced its plans to invest over $5 billion into a new facility in Chandler, Arizona.

In 2011, Intel plans to add 4,000 jobs to the US market, many of which are likely to be related to this Arizona fab. Dubbed Fab 42, Intel will be focusing on 300mm wafer development here, with transistors as small as 14nm. Intel states this fab will help develop all types of microchips, from those found in mobile devices to those found in high-end servers.

This past fall, Intel also announced its plans to invest into current factories which again opens up many job opportunities and is likely to result in 1,000 static positions once completed. As the US job economy hasn’t been stellar the past couple of years, Intel sure seems to be doing its part to help improve things; at least in the construction or semiconductor fields.

“This new factory will play a central role in extending Intel’s unquestioned leadership in semiconductor manufacturing,” Otellini said. “The transistors and chips it will produce will be the most dynamic platform for innovation that our company has ever created. Together they will enable more capable computers, the most advanced consumer electronics and mobile devices, the brains inside the next generation of robotics, and thousands of other applications that have yet to be invented.”