Construction crews have installed the first major structural truss at Intel's chip fabrication plant in New Albany, Ohio, a milestone for a facility now running at least five years behind its original schedule. This progress has coincided with soaring demand for advanced chips, though the company still faces significant hurdles in securing external customers to make the investment viable.
Naga Chandrasekaran, head of Intel Foundry, described the installation as "another significant step toward expanded U.S. leading-edge semiconductor capacity" in a post on the company's website. The structural work signals that the next phase of construction has begun at the site, which is located just northeast of Columbus.
When Intel first announced the Ohio factory in 2022, it projected that the plant would start delivering chips in 2025. The company has since pushed back that timeline, now aiming to finish construction in 2030. A second fab at the same site is also planned for completion in 2031. This recalibration reflects a broader shift in Intel's foundry strategy under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over in 2025 with a more cautious approach than his predecessor, Pat Gelsinger. Tan's turnaround strategy prioritizes waiting for confirmed customer demand before forging ahead with ambitious fab plans.
Despite the delays in Ohio, Intel has made progress in Arizona. By late 2025, the company was in high-volume production at its Arizona chip fab, producing its most advanced 18A chips. Chandrasekaran also announced on Wednesday that operations at Intel's next Arizona fab are expected to begin by the end of 2028. However, Intel has yet to land a major external customer for the 18A chips currently being produced in Arizona; instead, the company is using them to manufacture its own processors for devices.
The path to external adoption remains challenging. After major delays with its 7- and 10-nanometer nodes triggered the stock's worst year ever in 2024, customers have been reluctant to commit to Intel again. That reluctance may be shifting as record demand for AI chips strains the capacity of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the leading global chip manufacturer. Mizuho Securities analyst Jordan Klein noted that competition for space on TSMC's factory lines is "extremely fierce," even for major clients like Nvidia, Advanced Micro Devices, Apple, and Broadcom.
TechInsights analyst Dan Hutcheson suggested that Intel could serve as an alternative source for chip production in this environment. "People want a second source to be able to twist TSMC's arm and keep them honest on pricing," Hutcheson said, adding that all the major chipmakers have been testing at Intel facilities.
Rumors have also emerged regarding potential partnerships to fill capacity in Ohio. In September, reports indicated that SK Hynix, the world's leading maker of high-bandwidth memory, could team up with Intel to lease foundry space at the new site for memory chip production. Neither company has confirmed any such plans.