Intel bucks downsizing trend with new investment

Most major technology companies are venturing down the path of major cost-cutting initiatives in response to the worldwide economic slowdown. However, Intel Corp. is coupling cutbacks with new spending.

Intel announced Jan. 21 that it would be closing two assembly test facilities in Penang, Malaysia, and one in Cavite, the Philippines, and halting production at an older fabrication facility in Hillsboro, Ore. But a Feb. 10 announcement detailed plans to pump $7 billion into updated manufacturing facilities geared toward newer chip technology – all in the U.S.

“Seventy-five percent of Intel products today are sold outside the United States,´ said company spokesman…