INTEL's Vietnamese Fab Is Getting Bigger

INTEL is in a complete updating process. First, you have the new Core CPUs, quite a big hit for INTEL these days. Then there's the manufacturing process, with INTEL almost being able to produce 45 nm samples. One might wonder how in the world INTEL has the power and facilities to keep working at this infernal speed. It's a question that some of them have already asked themselves. But I guess they finally figured out the answer.

In order to maintain a fast pace in a complex and growing market, you need, besides the appropriate fabs, large testing facilities. And since testing is everything, INTEL has recently announced that it will increase the size of its testing site in Vietnam from 150,000 square feet to 500,000 square feet making it the largest single factory belonging to INTEL's portfolio. The result will also empty some pockets since the projected costs have upped from $300 million to a whopping $1 billion.

When completed, the test location will be added to INTEL's test facilities, being the 7th in a test ring that also contains the following test locations: Penang and Kulim, Malaysia; Cavite, Philippines; Chengdu and Shanghai, China; and San Jose, Costa Rica. INTEL has also reported that it will hire almost 4,000 people in 2009, when the testing facility will be finished.