Intel Unveils Powerful New Chip Made in Greater Portland's Silicon Forest

Intel on Wednesday unveiled its newest processor, dubbed Tiger Lake. The new chip, made specifically for laptops and PCs, enables higher performance and better power management. The microprocessor was made right here in Greater Portland, maintaining our region's reputation as a world leader in the semiconductor industry. 

According to The Oregonian, "Intel crafted Tiger Lake at its Jones Farm campus in Hillsboro (10 miles west of Portland) and the first chips are already coming off the line at the company’s Ronler Acres factory complex nearby. More than 1,000 Oregon employees worked to develop the chip since 2016, an especially big technical leap made possible by the intense collaboration among Hillsboro engineers. 

"'Tiger Lake, what it really shows, is the best transistors in the world still are Intel’s,' said Boyd Phelps, an Oregon engineering vice president who helped lead design of the new processor." 

Although Intel's official headquarters are in Santa Clara, its largest site and R&D nexus is in Hillsboro, the heart of the Silicon Forest, where it employes 21,000. Its Greater Portland location is Intel's most advanced operation, and it's where the company makes each new generation of microprocessor before replicating production at factories in Arizona, Israel and Ireland. (Read the full Oregonian story here.) 

Since establishing its first facilities in Oregon in 1974, Intel's innovation and investment has spurred the development and continued growth of the Silicon Forest, a robust ecosystem of semiconductor supply chain companies, as well as Intel competitors. 

This semiconductor hub continues to grow today. Edwards Vacuum, a global leader in semiconductor vacuum and abatement solutions, recently opened a 75,000-square-foot manufacturing center in Hillsboro. The facility serves as the North American semiconductor headquarters for the U.K. firm. 

And Intel is doubling down on its longstanding investment in Greater Portland, building a multibillion dollar expansion of its massive Hillsboro D1X research factory, where it develops new generations of microprocessors.