Intel

Intel cancelled its planned €30bn megafab in Magdeburg, Germany in September 2024, dealing a significant blow to European semiconductor ambitions. The company cited a sustained slump in demand and its own financial difficulties, having posted a $1.6bn loss in Q2 2024 — its worst quarterly result in decades. The withdrawal triggered a public row with the German government, which had committed €10bn in state aid to attract the plant.

Founded in 1968 in Mountain View, California, Intel grew to dominate the global CPU market with its x86 architecture and remains one of the world's largest chipmakers by revenue, generating $54bn in 2023. Under CEO Lip-Bu Tan, who took over in 2024, the company is attempting to revive its fortunes by refocusing on core manufacturing competitiveness and foundry services. Intel's foundry division, Intel Foundry Services, is a central plank of that strategy, though it has yet to win Major outside customers at scale.

Intel's retreat from Magdeburg exposed the fragility of Europe's semiconductor strategy. The EU Chips Act set an ambition to double Europe's share of global chip production to 20% by 2030; Intel's planned fab was its single largest contributor to that target. Its cancellation handed further leverage to TSMC, which is building a far smaller facility in Dresden through the ESMC joint venture. The episode raised questions about whether European subsidy packages can durably attract US chipmakers facing shareholder pressure to retrench.