Table of Contents 64q43
O showmetech had the opportunity to speak with Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America since 2011, exclusively. 355032
In the chat, we asked about how the production challenges are going, Brazil's likely potential to have an Intel factory and what partnerships have been made so that the country can advance in this market and we can think about the possible manufacturing of processors in Brazil.
Check out all the expert's comments.
New production challenges 2d6448
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought a major problem to the semiconductor industry in general. Many companies needed to rethink their manufacturing processes and, among them, the Intel was also affected. It was possible to see the impacts of this in practice in 2021: products scheduled to hit the market on a specific date had to have their launch postponed and around three years were needed for everything to get back on track.
Fernando Loureiro mentions that the Intel had to rethink the entire production chain, also called supply chain leaders, in several countries. In fact, the COVID-19 virus only “opened the company’s eyes” to an already emerging need.
A very large dependence on Asia was perceived. To change this, the Intel so it needed to invest in factories outside the Asian continent. The USA and European Union countries began to show interest in having these factories so that the production chain did not depend solely on Asia.
Intel is one of the few companies that carries out the entire process of deg, researching and shipping processors, so end-to-end. So, we decided to invest a lot in this process, but it was necessary to gain scale. We decided to invest heavily in the manufacturing process called Intel Foundry. It becomes an important part of this strategy of having global chains, but which also need to be resilient. It is also important to have the ability to have manufacturing and scale to reduce cost and become competitive again. We are also focused on taking leadership of the product design process.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
It is worth ing that Intel already had an important factory in Ireland, with a 14nm process. This factory gained more importance when it received an expansion. New factories in and Poland were also announced, as well as a series of other partnerships in EU member countries.
In 2021, the company released a pledge to launch five new process technology nodes within four years. In practice, the company wants to fulfill Moore's Law, a prediction made by Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, in 1965. He states that the density of transistors in integrated circuits would double approximately every two years.
This promise is also focused on reaching TSMC, Intel's main competitor in the processor market. This process will allow processors to have fewer and fewer nanometers, giving more space for more transistors to fit in the same area. As a result, the same chip may be capable of performing more operations and also be more efficient in of performance.
At the time of writing this article, two of the five nodes had been delivered: Intel 7 (previously 10nm) and Intel 4 (previously 7nm). Intel has stated that Intel 3, 20A, and 18A will be complete by 2024, but 18A-based nodes are expected to ship only in 2025.
Impact of the US Chip Act 1p721a
In 2021, CEO Pat Gelsinger, when he returned to Intel, also decided that the company would then manufacture processors for itself and other companies. It was at this moment that countries and continents began to look at semiconductor companies with greater respect.
Incentive laws in different parts of the world are changing the processor manufacturing process around the world. Fernando Loureiro commented that the Chip Act, which will bring tax discounts of up to 39 billion dollars, caused the company to invest in the construction of new factories on US soil.
In January 2022, the company announced the construction of two units to manufacture state-of-the-art semiconductors in the state of Ohio, which will involve an investment of US$20 billion. Fernando also mentions that the gain for the chosen locations will be almost immediate.
More than 80 companies are expected to take part in these investments, many of them focused on manufacturing. It is expected that there will be more than 250 billion dollars from the private sector linked to these projects and this should generate another 40 thousand new jobs, in addition to hundreds of thousands of indirect jobs.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
Loureiro also comments that other companies besides Intel are taking advantage of the incentive laws and that, in the next two years, there will be an investment of almost US$200 billion in the sector by 2026. TMSC and Samsung are companies that have similar projects to Intel, with plans to open factories in Arizona and Texasrespectively.
There is a major effort by the United States of Europe in relation to the Chip Act to coordinate the participation of countries in the region in participating in the supply chain.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
A Samsung chose the city of Taylor, in the state of Texas, for the development and manufacturing of advanced chips. The investment for this is US$17 billion and it is expected to create 2 jobs in the high technology area and start production in the second half of 2024.
Already TMSC opted for the state of Arizona, but this factory should only start operating in 2025. The company is experiencing problems finding labor and is having to deal with higher operating costs than expected. A Maricopa Community College will work with the company to train new technicians capable of working with semiconductors. The intention is to ensure that there will be enough workforce so that the new foundry can operate without major obstacles.
Brazil's potential in semiconductor production 5m5l3r
Currently, Brazil is Intel's second largest market. Despite this, the country still goes head to head with Mexico due to its proximity to the USA. The executive explains that the big problem for a country to receive more investment is precisely to activate local forces, which requires a workforce that does not yet exist. He also comments that Brazil is more timid.
Four or five years from now, all these factories across the planet will be 'spitting out processors' and they will all need more critical minerals, equipment, more design, research & development and more. There are several elements of the supply chain that countries like Mexico and Costa Rica are positioning themselves for. This is a great opportunity for Latin America and would be an even greater opportunity for Brazil, as we have large deposits of critical minerals.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
Another comment is that there is a lack of greater participation from the federal government and especially from states when we compare the participation of other countries. He comments that “for example, the Mexican government is in with Intel in Washington almost every week, including through its state governors, looking for a presence in the sector. Brazil doesn’t do that.”
Fernando mentions that the big turning point was the Information Technology Law, sanctioned in 1991. It grants tax incentives to companies in the technology sector (hardware and automation areas), which have the practice of investing in Research and Development, focusing on investment by companies in the country. He also comments that there is great potential, but greater government participation is needed.
The ecosystem that Brazil has is incredible. Almost all players related to the technology market have a presence here, thanks to the incentives of the 90s. If we take the ecosystem of design studios and research and development centers, this is even more incredible. But what was the big problem? Precisely for more than 30 years without changes and giving greater focus to the domestic market instead of focusing on the global market.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
Going back a little further, we that Brazil was placed on the list of possible countries that would receive an Intel factory in Latin America, alongside Argentina, Chile, Mexico, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Porto Rico, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.
As we already talked about in the article about our visit to the factory in Cósta Rica, the local government at the time did not give full importance to Brazil and was removed from the list of options. And he mentions that, even after so much time, it is still necessary for governments to be more aggressive so that investments can happen here.
Either Brazil takes advantage of this short-term opportunity, or, again, we will be left behind, as has happened in other historical moments. I would say that, eventually, the chance of other factories opening elsewhere is low, due to the investments being very high. Nowadays, looking at the technological capacity, only TSMC, Samsung and Intel can do this and these companies have already made their choices.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
However, not everything went wrong: Rio Grande do Sul, also in the 1990s, managed to be a choice for Dell. The factory still operates today, but moved its operations to Hortolândia, in São Paulo. The action of the state government was essential for the company to choose the location and to be in the country for more than 20 years, facilitating the process of arriving new models in Brazil and also lowering the final price for consumers.
São Paulo is a great opportunity, as it has an ecosystem already in place. But companies only look too much at the domestic market, when they should value exports. SP is a state that already has many factories and naturally, it should be a great place for the development of semiconductors. If they are not already investing in reducing taxes, governments should do so, as there is great potential.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America.
Brazilian stocks 6u1t4a
An interesting initiative is the program New Industry Brazil, which was launched in January 2024 and will have an investment of R$300 billion by 2026, part of which will be aimed at digitalizing 90% of Brazilian industries and tripling the share of national production in the new technology segment. An investment will be made in artificial intelligence, robotics and semiconductor chips. Until February 23, 2024, NIB has already released R$5,3 billion for industrial projects.
already the program RS Semiconductors, launched in September 2023, arrives to make the state of Rio Grande do Sul a true reference in the manufacturing of processors. R$70 million was allocated for investment in innovation and technology focused on the development of the semiconductor chain in Rio Grande do Sul, with tax incentives and investments.
The estimate is that this amount will be spent by 2026 and the program was developed to promote the attraction of new investments, the training of qualified labor and the research and development of new technologies and solutions.
A Needle is one of the companies that should be talked about the most in the coming years. The company obtained financing from BNDES (National Development Bank) of R$290 million for the production of three new processors in Brazil. The focus is for these chips to be used in notebooks, desktops, servers, televisions, cars and cell phones. The total investment in this action is R$374 million.
Finally, the industrial policy of the Action Plan for the Neoindustrialization of Brazil released R$180 million in non-refundable resources for design development, semiconductor manufacturing (front-end) and packaging and testing (back-end). The intention is to allow Brazilian industry to be more noticed by international companies.
And another R$260 million for the development of disruptive digital technologies, which talk about business arrangements that involve scientific, technological and innovation institutions (ICTs), companies and startups, will also be released.
Partnerships with the Brazilian government 6g4z2n
Initiatives with universities and small businesses are a great way for companies to invest their capital, which also generates more specialized labor. Fernando re that this is more than essential for the market to evolve.
I believe this is great, actually, for both Brazil and the USA. The big bottleneck in the United States these days is in the talent pool. One of the big plans we have is the program focused on artificial intelligence, as we believe this is the next big thing in technology.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
One of the biggest examples is the Digital Port of Recife, founded in 2000 with the dual objective of retaining qualified professionals in the city and revitalizing the Recife Antigo neighborhood. At the time, the place received an initial contribution of 33 million from Pernambuco Energy Company.
The Digital Port of Recife is one of the points that evolved the most with the sanction of the Information Technology Law in 1991. It exists as a result of this law, when companies were forced to invest in Research & Development centers, mainly due to regionalization.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
In 2010, the magazine BusinessWeek elected the site, which is one of the country's important technological university hubs, as “one of the ten places in the world where the future is being thought”, while the consulting company AT Kearney classified the park as “the largest and most profitable in the world”. Brazil".
Free training programs 50541w
A Intel has the desire to provide training to everyone who is interested in technology and has several programs focused on different audiences. They all offer content and digital infrastructure so that residents of Brazil and countries around the world have the necessary knowledge to go further.
We have initiatives for people who are already in the market and will understand the need to improve as technologies in the job market advance, with a focus on AI. We also have programs for those who are yet to enter the market, providing knowledge and providing applications that will help in the development of new things that can do good for all of humanity.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
The company also holds periodic meetings with government leaders (AI For Leaders) before even placing products on the market. Fernando states that these workshops are developed so that government officials understand all the details even before regularization is carried out. This allows AI rules to be developed with greater assertiveness.
This conversation with leaders helps states and countries choose their role in the artificial intelligence market. By knowing comprehensively about a subject, they decide whether they will be s, developers, ers, etc. It is important to state principles and talk more about the subject in an accessible way. We have already carried out programs in several countries and Costa Rica, for example, wants to develop a center just for talent development.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
See the programs aimed at each audience:
- AI for Citizens (AI for Citizens)
- AI for young students (AI for Youth)
- AI for Today's Workforce (AI for Current Workforce)
- AI for Future Workforce (AI for Future Workforce)
- AI for leaders (AI for Leaders)
Conclusion 60664y
The executive ends the conversation with the showmetech highlighting the great power of development in the semiconductor market production chain. He re that it is important for leaders to map out and come together to bring in investments from outside.
Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Ceará and other states have very advanced research and development centers, so Brazil needs to map and focus on investments from foreign companies. We have no idea the power we have in our hands.
Fernando Loureiro, Executive Director of Government Relations at Intel in Latin America
“Show Brazil’s potential to the world!” Says, Loureiro, about how Brazil can attract and create a presence in the semiconductor market. “The opportunities exist, but the window is short, 4 to 5 years,” he explains.
See also other features
President of Intel talks about Siliconomy and the Brazilian potential for the semiconductor market
With some info: Intel l Gov Agency l Tiin Inside l Hot Hardware l Renesas l intel pressroom l Agency Brazil
reviewed by Glaucon Vital in 14 / 3 / 24.
