Items tagged with Fab
Intel is planning a massive expansion to its D1X research and manufacturing site in Oregon as it sets the pieces in the place for a transition to 7-nanometer production. The project is expected to take at least 18 months and cost billions of dollars, and represents a long term outlook for a market that Intel estimates is worth hundreds of billions of dollars. "We are now competing to win in an estimated $300 billion total addressable market for silicon—making a more diverse array of products at ever-higher volumes for a broader set of customers. Intel is not just the CPU inside your personal computer," Intel stated last month when announcing plans to expand its D1X facility Intel said it...
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With much of the performance computing market sitting on top of 14nm (or similar) nodes, it's time to look to the future. GlobalFoundries is looking past 10nm, as it sees 7nm as the next major step in process technology, and it's not alone. In a new announcement, the semiconductor foundry said that it will be able to deliver 7nm production soon, based on FinFET designs. Complementing that, it'll be able to "significantly" re-use much of the same equipment that was used for 14nm, which is currently being used at its Fab 8 campus in New York. Jim McGregor, founder and principal analyst at TIRIAS Research, said that this was a good move for the foundry. According to McGregor, the move to 10nm simply...
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Following the philosophy that it takes spending money to make money, Samsung Electronics announced plans to invest around 15.6 trillion won (around $14.7 billion in U.S. currency) to build a new chip manufacturing plant in South Korea. This qualifies as Samsung's biggest investment ever into a single semiconductor plant. Construction of the new facility will begin in the first half of next year in Pyeongtaek, located about 47 miles south of Seoul, and is expected to generate 150,000 jobs, according to Reuters. That's equivalent to around a third of the city's total population. If all goes to plan, the plant will open for business in 2017. Samsung is still deciding whether to use the upcoming...
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Late last month, the Wall Street Journal leaked news of a partnership with TSMC, in an agreement that put a formal signature on what sources have previously implied was years of behind-the-scenes collaboration. Apple has explored its options with foundry partners that aren't Samsung for several years as its relationship with that company has grown sour. Last year, Apple reportedly attempted to buy a significant stake in a particular fab for a billion dollars, but CEO Morris Chang rebuffed the idea (or at least, the price tag), saying that TSMC preferred to retain flexibility and control of its own technology roadmap. Now there are reports that Apple is considering a similar alliance with GlobalFoundries,...
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When news broke earlier this week that Apple had finally inked a deal with TSMC to produce processors with the company beginning in 2014, the first round of chatter was on what this might mean for Samsung. Apple, after all, has been by far Samsung's single largest customer. With that topic out of the way, talk has turned to Intel. Once again, the tired rumor that Intel walked away from the manufacturing equivalent of Cibola is being floated across the Internet. At first glance, it makes sense. Intel currently enjoys a hefty lead over every other country in terms of its processor technology. The company has admitted that its fab utilization is as low as 50%, which may be a record. With PC demand...
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There has been a gas leak at Intel’s plant in Chandler, Arizona, leaving at least 11 people hospitalized with nausea, breathing difficulties, and eye irritation, and a total of 43 that were ill enough to need on-scene treatment. Battalion Chief Tom Dwiggins of the local fire department identified the leak as nitrogen triflouride. Intel shut down the tool that caused the leak, and there is no further danger, according to Intel spokesman Chuck Mulloy. Further, the area neighborhoods were not affected, and the plant has resumed operations as normal. "They monitored the air inside and outside the structure and in all cases the air was clean," said Mulloy. Intel's Chandler, AZ campus The Chandler...
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It's been obvious for weeks that Intel's earnings call this afternoon wasn't going to have much good news in it. With total PC shipments falling 13% quarter-on-quarter -- the worst decline in nearly 20 years -- there was no way Intel would escape being hit by that drop. Today, Santa Clara reported that its Q1 profits fell 25%, to $2B, down from $2.7B in the first quarter of 2012. Gross margins took a hammering, as well, falling to 56.2% from 64% in Q1 2012. Despite these problems, Otellini was upbeat. "“Amidst market softness, Intel performed well in the first quarter and I’m excited about what lies ahead for the company,” said Paul Otellini, Intel president and CEO. “We...
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Last month, TSMC's CEO Morris Chang made waves when he suggested that it could make sense for the company to dedicate fabs to particular customers. Fresh reports today, however, suggest that both Apple and TSMC made major bids for exclusivity on future TSMC production facilities, and both were rejected. Does this mean Chang's earlier comments were misinterpreted? No -- but it does demonstrate the difference between what Chang/TSMC is willing to contemplate and what companies like Qualcomm and Apple want. TSMC may be willing to commit full fabs to customer-specific production, but the company isn't going to sign a piece of paper that gives a customer direct control over what happens to those fabs...
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To celebrate its third anniversary as a chip manufacturing foundry, Globalfoundries over the weekend announced an agreement with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to buy out all remaining shares to achieve full independence. Under the amended agreement, AMD will continue to be one of Globalfoundries' "primary and strategic customers," only without a stake in the foundry, which is now wholly owned by the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC). "Today marks the start of a new era for Globalfoundries as it becomes a truly independent foundry," said Globalfoundries CEO Ajit Manocha. "Globalfoundries has a clear vision to be the leading semiconductor foundry partner to AMD and one of the world's...
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TSMC officially began building its next-generation Fab 15 foundry on Friday. The facility, or 'gigafab' in TSMC parlance, will begin coming online in 2012, long-term capacity is said to be upwards of 100,000 wafer starts a month. In contrast, GlobalFoundries New York facility currently under construction is targeting 60,000 wafer starts / month once in full production. According to TSMC, the new fab has a price tag of some $9.4 billion and will come online with both 40nm and 28nm production nodes. We're guessing TSMC's goal here is to further extend its glowing record as a leading edge node provider—after the company's stellar 40nm rollout and ramp, it'll be a challenge to shaft customers...
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You know, it's not often we get to bestow upon you words of pure wisdom. Sure, we provide detailed, timely news, product and technology analysis but really, we're not in the business of covering your backside. That's what Moms are for or your personal Wingman or Wingwoman, as the case may be. That said, we'll give you a bit of advice for this fine Friday... If you see a dude dressed up like this and looking seriously pleased about it, coming your way, we'd suggest you run (don't walk) the other way. Let's see if your instincts are in proper attenuation tonight. Can you tell us, who is the MAN in the middle of this fab tour shot?They're like Gangstas but geekier......
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AMD-derived GlobalFoundries broke ground today on what will become the company's leading-edge manufacturing facility and (according to it, at least) the largest and most technically-advanced fab in the United States. The $4.2 billion facility should start production within two years, and is expected to begin volume production in 2012. Currently, GlobalFoundries predicts the plant will debut using 300mm wafers and 28nm process technology, only to transition to 22nm as it enters volume production. Those numbers frankly seem optimistic. Over the last nine years, it's taken AMD two years or more to launch products at any given node. There were a number of technological issues that had to be overcome...
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Global Foundries Takes Final Steps Towards Fab 2 Groundbreaking SUNNYVALE, Calif. – June 9, 2009 – GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced it has issued the formal commitment letter to the State of New York for the construction of the Fab 2 project at the Luther Forest Technology Campus (LFTC). The letter officially initiates the construction phase of the Fab 2 project and triggers the State of New York to begin the process of issuing bonds for the payment of reimbursements and incentives to the company for the development of the estimated $4.2 billion semiconductor wafer fabrication facility, or “fab.”“It was three years ago this month that we announced plans to build and operate the most advanced...
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Early last week, we spent a day or so with a number of representatives from Global Foundries, learning about the company's plans for a new fab that will be built in upstate New York. The name Global Foundries may be unfamiliar to many of you, but the company's origins may not. If you remember back to October 2008, AMD and the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) of Abu Dhabi announced the creation of a leading-edge global semiconductor manufacturing company, born from AMD's existing fabrication infrastructure. That company officially became Global Foundries on March 2 of this year.While touring the area in Upstate New York where Global Foundries plans to build its cutting edge fab, we...
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