Intel had one of its steepest one-day share falls in years on Friday. In Penang, the advanced packaging factory it has spent years building, a RM12 billion project reported to be about 99% done, is due to begin operations later this year, the government says.
Quick facts
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- Intel shares fell about 28% on Friday, 30 October, TechCrunch reported.
- TechCrunch reported the fall came after a weak outlook for the current quarter; the chief executive pointed to a PC slowdown and memory prices.
- Intel's advanced packaging factory in Penang is a RM12 billion project and about 99% complete, CRN Asia reported.
- In March, the Prime Minister said the Penang complex's first phase was expected to begin operations later this year.
A 28% drop, and a memory price we have seen here
Intel's shares dropped about 28% on Friday after the company gave a weak sales forecast for the current quarter, TechCrunch reported. Intel guided to revenue of US$15 billion to US$16 billion for the quarter.
Among the reasons chief executive Lip-Bu Tan gave was demand: "Our customers began signalling a PC slowdown based on the memory prices and availability." Memory is something we have been tracking here: this week we found 16GB of DDR5 laptop memory listed at RM1,000 at one Malaysian retailer, a single listing rather than a market-wide price.
One part of the results still grew
Not everything pointed down. The same results showed Intel's data-centre and AI revenue up 78% from a year earlier, TechCrunch reported.
Where the Penang plant stands
Intel's Penang plant is being built to do advanced packaging, joining separate pieces of silicon into one processor using methods Intel calls EMIB and Foveros, TrendForce reported in March. The factory is a RM12 billion project and about 99% complete, CRN Asia reported. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, after a briefing from Mr Tan, said the complex and its assembly operations were expected to begin operations later this year. The country has been pushing to host more of the chip and data-centre supply chain.
What we do not know yet
The 2026 timetable is a government statement from March, made before Friday's weaker outlook, and no exact opening date has been given beyond this year. The thing to watch between now and the new year is whether the Penang factory switches on before 2026 is out, as ministers said in March it would.
