Intel, the world's top chipmaker, may be planning to invest in a major new plant in China to make leading-edge chips, its biggest investment in the country to date, according to sources close to the company.
The plant will make 65-nanometre multi-core processors, the sources told Reuters news agency. This would make it Intel's first such manufacturing facility in Asia.
Intel, which has invested about $1 billion in China to date, already has major test and assembly plants in Shanghai and Chengdu.
Intel is in the midst of a major overhaul, including price and job cuts and new product roll-outs, as it works to stave off recent advances by rival Advanced Micro Devices, which has gained market share in the last few years.
Intel, which entered the China market in 1985, has over 6,000 employees working on assembly, testing, research and development and sales and marketing in 16 cities there.
Until now, most foreign chipmakers have used China for lower-technology test and assembly work, with few doing more sophisticated production in the market.
Intel said last month it would make China an independent sales and marketing region from the beginning of 2007, with the country now the second-largest consumer market after the US.
