Intel to make Malaysia assembly hub with $208.1m investment

Intel will invest an additional 860 million ringgit (US$208.12 million) to develop Malaysia as its assembly and test operations hub, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The US chipmaker is also nearing completion of a 12 billion ringgit (US$2.9 billion) advanced packaging facility in Penang.

Intel said it has committed 2.8 million ringgit (US680,000) to support research, development, and education initiatives in Malaysia over the past two years.

The announcement follows a meeting between Prime Minister Anwar and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who discussed the semiconductor sector and investment prospects in the country.

Intel, headquartered in the US, is one of the world’s largest semiconductor manufacturers.

🔗 Source: The Star

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Intel adds Foveros 3D packaging in Penang

Penang will host Intel’s first 3D packaging site outside the US by late 2024 or early 2025, with six Malaysia sites in its plan 1. The site will use Foveros, Intel’s 3D IC packaging that stacks chips vertically to boost performance beyond 2D approaches 1.
Foveros capacity is set to quadruple by 2025 1 2. Meteor Lake uses Foveros in New Mexico, with final Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) packaging in Malaysia, and Intel will add Foveros there 3. EMIB links multiple chiplets on a substrate without a full silicon interposer.
Malaysia rises as an advanced packaging hub as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) capacity stays tight, booked by NVIDIA plus AMD 4, which can push companies to consider Intel’s sites 4.
The Pelican site in Penang and the Falcon site in Kulim are under construction for 2025 to 2026 output 3, opening windows for 3D packaging tool vendors. Pelican and Falcon are internal project names.
Intel Malaysia spans 900,000 square feet, grows to 2 million square feet soon, with total operations reaching 7 million square feet across 16 buildings 3. Suppliers of cleanroom gear, environmental controls, or automated material handling can chase orders.
Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) 2.0 lets customers use Intel packaging without buying Intel wafer foundry orders 1, which can lift volume and spur steady upgrades. Apple plus Qualcomm have explored EMIB and Foveros per job postings, though listings do not confirm adoption 4.