It’s the story of a $5 billion investment. It takes place in Chandler, Arizona and it features one of the biggest plants in the world. Completed last year and touted in a speech by President Obama as a symbol of the future and the appeal of the American manufacturing sector, Intel’s Fab 42 will remain empty, without machines and without staff, for some time to come.

How is this possible? Designed to manufacture the next 14-nm components, the plant has become the collateral damage of Intel’s recent production overcapacity, as the company preferred to use the existing capability of its other plant, also located in Chandler, for efficiency and profitability reasons. Intel’s local business manager wants to be reassuring, maintaining that this facility will indeed be used, “probably in the near future.” The alternative would be unfortunate indeed…