Semiconductors
When a major industry slowdown occurs, big companies tend to slowdown their mid-term and long-term capacity related investments. This is exactly what happened to SK hynix's Yongin Semiconductor Cluster, a major project announced in April 2021 and valued at $106 billion. While development of the site has been largely completed, only 35% of the initial shell building has been constructed, according to the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy. "Approximately 35% of Fab 1 has been completed so far and site renovation is in smooth progress," a statement by the Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy reads. "By 2046, over KRW 120 trillion ($90 billion today, $106 billion in 2021) in investment will be poured to complete Fabs 1 through 4, and construction...
GlobalFoundries Mulls IPO Plans for 2022
After a decade of being a privately-held contract maker of semiconductors, GlobalFoundries has revealed that it's mulling going public in 2022. The move will help GF’s current owners to...
9 by Anton Shilov on 10/2/2019TSMC Counter-sues GlobalFoundries: Accuses US Fab of Infringing Patents Across Numerous Process Nodes
In a not-unexpected move, TSMC late on Monday filed a lawsuit against GlobalFoundries, its pure-play foundry rival, accusing the manufacturer of patent infringment. In the suit, a response to...
24 by Anton Shilov on 10/1/2019Arm & TSMC Showcase 7nm Chiplet, Eight A72 at 4GHz on CoWoS Interposer
Arm and TSMC this week unveiled their jointly developed proof-of-concept chip that combines two quad-core Cortex-72-based 7 nm chiplets on TSMC’s Chip-on-Wafer-on-Substrate (CoWoS) interposer. The two chips are connected...
26 by Anton Shilov on 9/27/2019GlobalFoundries Unveils 12LP+ Technology: Massive Performance & Power Improvements
GlobalFoundries has introduced its 12LP+ fabrication process that relies on the groundwork set by its 14LPP and 12LP technologies and provides significant improvements when it comes to performance, power...
41 by Anton Shilov on 9/25/2019TSMC Responds to Lawsuit by GlobalFoundries: Allegations Are Baseless
TSMC has responded to GlobalFoundries accusations of patents infringements. The world’s largest foundry said that it would defend itself in courts and that it considered allegations as baseless. The...
62 by Anton Shilov on 8/27/2019GlobalFoundries Sues TSMC Over Patent Infringement; Apple, Qualcomm, Others Named Defendants
GlobalFoundries has filed a lawsuit against TSMC and its clients in the USA and Germany alleging the world’s largest contract maker of semiconductors of infringing 16 of its patents...
97 by Anton Shilov on 8/26/2019SMIC: 14nm FinFET in Risk Production; China's First FinFET Line To Contribute Revenue by Late 2019
SMIC, the largest contract maker of semiconductors in China, announced this month that it would start commercial production of chips using its 14 nm FinFET manufacturing technology by the...
53 by Anton Shilov on 8/16/2019GlobalFoundries Sells Off Photomask Assets to Toppan
Following its decision to focus on specialized process technologies last August, GlobalFoundries has been consolidating its assets as well as selling off businesses and facilities that are not essential...
20 by Anton Shilov on 8/15/2019Samsung’s Aggressive EUV Plans: 6nm Production in H2, 5nm & 4nm On Track
Samsung Foundry formally started to produce chips using its 7LPP (7 nm low power plus) fabrication process last October and has not slowdown development of its manufacturing technologies since...
42 by Anton Shilov on 7/31/2019TSMC Announces Performance-Enhanced 7nm & 5nm Process Technologies
TSMC has quietly introduced a performance-enhanced version of its 7 nm DUV (N7) and 5 nm EUV (N5) manufacturing process. The company’s N7P and N5P technologies are designed for...
36 by Anton Shilov on 7/30/2019LG Display & SK Hynix Looking to Diversify Industrial Suppliers as Row with Japan Intensifies
South Korean electronics companies reaffirmed this week that production of computer memory and displays could be disrupted because of ongoing trade dispute between the country and Japan. Both SK...
8 by Anton Shilov on 7/26/2019TSMC: 3nm EUV Development Progress Going Well, Early Customers Engaged
Development of new fabrication technologies never stops at leading-edge companies such as TSMC. Therefore, it is not surprising to hear the annoucement that development of TSMC’s 3nm node is...
76 by Anton Shilov on 7/23/2019Samsung’s 5nm EUV Technology Gets Closer: Tools by Cadence & Synopsys Certified
Samsung Foundry has certified full flow tools from Cadence and Synopsys for its 5LPE (5 nm low-power early) process technology that uses extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUV). Full flow design...
13 by Anton Shilov on 7/8/2019Synopsys to Accelerate Samsung’s 7nm Ramp with Yield Explorer Platform
Synopsys has announced an acceleration of development on its yield learning platform designed to speed up ramp up of chips made using Samsung Foundry’s 7LPP (7 nm low power...
16 by Anton Shilov on 7/4/2019Marvell to Acquire Avera Semiconductor from GlobalFoundries
Marvell on Monday announced that it had entered into agreement to buy Avera Semiconductor from GlobalFoundries. The acquisition will bring additional chip design capabilities to Marvell and will enable...
8 by Anton Shilov on 5/20/2019Samsung Announces 3nm GAA MBCFET PDK, Version 0.1
So what comes after 7nm, after 6nm, after 5nm, and after 4nm? That's right: 3nm! At Samsung's Foundry Forum event today, Samsung has announced that the first alpha version...
32 by Dr. Ian Cutress on 5/14/2019Intel Process Technology Update: 10nm Server Products in 1H 2020, Accelerated 7nm in 2021
Intel provided an update regarding its upcoming fabrication technologies at its 2019 Investor Meeting. The company is on track to produce server-class products using its 10 nm manufacturing technology...
74 by Anton Shilov on 5/8/2019TSMC: Most 7nm Clients Will Transition to 6nm
In this week's quarterly earnings conference call, TSMC’s revealed that the company expects most of its 7nm "N7" process customers to eventually transition to its forthcoming 6nm "N6" manufacturing...
39 by Anton Shilov on 5/1/2019Samsung to Invest $115 Billion in Foundry & Chip Businesses by 2030
Being among the largest contract makers of semiconductors and among leading developers of chips for various applications, Samsung Electronics wants to become the world’s leader in these industries. To...
27 by Anton Shilov on 4/24/2019GlobalFoundries to Sell 300mm New York Fab to ON Semiconductor
GlobalFoundries and ON Semiconductor on Monday signed a definitive agreement for the latter to buy GlobalFoundries’ 300-mm fab in East Fishkill, New York. In addition to the production facility...
25 by Anton Shilov on 4/22/2019