Intel to Invest in Three U.S. Fabs in the Next Two Years

The announcement that Intel will invest $7 billion to expand and transform three U.S. manufacturing plants should be good news for Korean electronics companies.  Business Week reports  that, as early as this fall, the company plans to start shipping the world's first microprocessors created at the atomic 32 nanometer level--transistors so small that 4 million of them could fit in the period at the end of this sentence.  Intel CEO Paul Otellini said in a speech that "the chips produced by the new fabs will become the basic building blocks of the digital world, generating economic returns far beyond our industry."  By shifting to a more advanced manufacturing process, Intel hopes to make inroads into selling chips not only for PCs, but for consumer electronics, cell phones and other internet-connected devices.  Such chips could substantially lower development costs for Samsung, LG and their international competitors.