The chief executive of Intel Corp told Reuters on Monday the company is discussing with automakers about starting the production of chips for automakers to ease a shortage that has idled automotive factories.
CEO Pat Gelsinger said the company is discussing with companies that design chips for automakers for manufacturing those chips inside Intel’s factory network, with the aim of producing chips within six to nine months.
Gelsinger earlier on Monday he had a meeting with White House officials for discussing the semiconductor supply chain.
Intel is one of the major companies in the semiconductor industry that both designs and manufactures its own chips.
The company last month said it would start its factories up to outside consumers and build factories in the United States and Europe in a bid to challenge the dominance of Asian chip manufacturers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing and Samsung Electronics.
But Gelsinger said Monday that he informed White House officials during the meeting that Intel is going to open its current factory network to automobile chip companies to provide more immediate help in dealing with the shortage that has disrupted assembly lines.
“We’re hoping that some of these things can be alleviated, not requiring a three- or four-year factory build, but maybe six months of new products being certified on some of our existing processes,” Gelsinger said. “We’ve started those engagements already with some of the key component’s providers.”
The chip shortage, which has hit automakers worldwide, emerges from a confluence of factors as automakers, which closed plants for two months during the coronavirus pandemic last year, rival against the sprawling consumer electronics industry for chip supplies.
