Intel to invest US$110mn over 3 years in chipset plant

United States semiconductor manufacturer Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) will spend US$110mn to open up a chipset assembly plant in Costa Rica, alongside its existing microprocessor production plant, an Intel spokesperson told BNamericas. "We will begin running test operations sometime in the second quarter [of 2004], with our first product out of that facility in the third quarter," he said, adding Intel will continue to add further capabilities over the next 2-3 years. Together with microprocessors, chipsets facilitate circulation of information through computers, speeding up graphic, audio, video and wireless functions. Although the company is yet to made a final decision, the spokesperson confirmed press reports that the first product to be produced might be the 856-G chipset, which works with the Pentium 4 microprocessors for desktop PCs. The facility will become Intel's third chipset assembly plant in the world, after others in China and Malaysia, he said. Last year Intel's microprocessor plant in Costa Rica exported US$1bn, accounting for over 15% of Costa Rica's exports.