GlobalFoundries Stops All 7nm Development: Opts To Focus on Specialized Processes
by Anton Shilov & Ian Cutress on August 27, 2018 4:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Semiconductors
- CPUs
- AMD
- GlobalFoundries
- 7nm
- 7LP
GlobalFoundries Press Release
GlobalFoundries Reshapes Technology Portfolio to Intensify Focus on Growing Demand for Differentiated Offerings
Semiconductor manufacturer realigns leading-edge roadmap to meet client need and establishes wholly-owned subsidiary to design custom ASICs.
Santa Clara, Calif., August 27, 2018 – GLOBALFOUNDRIES today announced an important step in its transformation, continuing the trajectory launched with the appointment of Tom Caulfield as CEO earlier this year. In line with the strategic direction Caulfield has articulated, GF is reshaping its technology portfolio to intensify its focus on delivering truly differentiated offerings for clients in high-growth markets.
GF is realigning its leading-edge FinFET roadmap to serve the next wave of clients that will adopt the technology in the coming years. The company will shift development resources to make its 14/12nm FinFET platform more relevant to these clients, delivering a range of innovative IP and features including RF, embedded memory, low power and more. To support this transition, GF is putting its 7nm FinFET program on hold indefinitely and restructuring its research and development teams to support its enhanced portfolio initiatives. This will require a workforce reduction, however a significant number of top technologists will be redeployed on 14/12nm FinFET derivatives and other differentiated offerings.
“Demand for semiconductors has never been higher, and clients are asking us to play an ever-increasing role in enabling tomorrow’s technology innovations,” Caulfield said. “The vast majority of today’s fabless customers are looking to get more value out of each technology generation to leverage the substantial investments required to design into each technology node. Essentially, these nodes are transitioning to design platforms serving multiple waves of applications, giving each node greater longevity. This industry dynamic has resulted in fewer fabless clients designing into the outer limits of Moore’s Law. We are shifting our resources and focus by doubling down on our investments in differentiated technologies across our entire portfolio that are most relevant to our clients in growing market segments.”
In addition, to better leverage GF’s strong heritage and significant investments in ASIC design and IP, the company is establishing its ASIC business as a wholly-owned subsidiary, independent from the foundry business. A relevant ASIC business requires continued access to leading-edge technology. This independent ASIC entity will provide clients with access to alternative foundry options at 7nm and beyond, while allowing the ASIC business to engage with a broader set of clients, especially the growing number of systems companies that need ASIC capabilities and more manufacturing scale than GF can provide alone.
GF is intensifying investment in areas where it has clear differentiation and adds true value for clients, with an emphasis on delivering feature-rich offerings across its portfolio. This includes continued focus on its FDXTM platform, leading RF offerings (including RF SOI and high-performance SiGe), analog/mixed signal, and other technologies designed for a growing number of applications that require low power, real-time connectivity, and on-board intelligence. GF is uniquely positioned to serve this burgeoning market for “connected intelligence,” with strong demand in new areas such as autonomous driving, IoT and the global transition to 5G.
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Crazyguy9 - Thursday, August 30, 2018 - link
Now I get it. Brilliant strategy by Global. Instead of having to announce that they didn’t execute on 7nm development and have no technology or customers or both, and they wasted billions of dollars of NY taxpayer, IBM, and oil money...they shift the focus to the endless debate “is Moore’s law over”. Brilliant diversion and spin on the story. Based on comments on the article it worked on many people.bobhumplick - Friday, August 31, 2018 - link
so that stupid interview about glofo's 7nm and chips at 5ghz (which people were assuming meant ryzen instead of ibm's upcoming chips) was just hot air. do you know how many fanboys have been citing that stupid thing. and it was all nothing. and where are all those people now?YoloPascual - Sunday, September 2, 2018 - link
OMG! TSMC gonna have it all for the next 2-3 years??s.yu - Monday, September 3, 2018 - link
There's still Samsung right behind them.The Free Agent - Thursday, September 6, 2018 - link
GF has suffered since the beginning from the luck of good leadership. The actual CEO and his team had no vision at all. how did they invest billions on 7nm and then they find out they have no capacity to manufacture 7nm devices even if the production was ready. Wasted over $500 millions on EUV tools that now GF will sell back to ASML for penny on a dollar. GF management was playing with the house money (Mubadala), When Mubadala said enough is enough...the party is over. Malta site will shutdown in 2 years max when AMD move 100% to 7nm at TSMC and stop ordering 14nm products.GF Milking UAE - Friday, September 21, 2018 - link
A GF EVP I worked with overseas years earlier asked if I would look at their brand new FAB 8 = very disappointing at best. They tried to hire me after my assessment of FAB 8 (6+ years ago). I met with CEO & CFO, FAB 8 (ex-AMD) Manager, FAB 8 (ex-GE) HR Director, personality profiling, 80 emails, etc. and finally got an offer 3 months later which I turned down the next day. I saw no opportunity for a successful money making operation, no profit sharing, no IPO, just a pay check and politics. Way to many people having influence without any accountability for the companies success. Some of these people have been milking the UAE for 10 years. Too many losers milking the UAE investors that could careless if the company ever made a profit. Instead of purging these milk UAE for a paycheck people, GF promoted these people like the HR director. History = UAE (ATI) buys AMD (cannot compete in a 2 horse race). Then buys Chartered (company that lost money for Singapore Gov for 20+ years) I worked next door to Chartered for 7 years watching Chartered never make profit while the gov financed more fabs. Then the straw that broke the camels back GF gets paid a Billion+ Dollars to take over money losing IBM. Next put a bunch of money losing IBM people in charge of making a profit. Promote ex-IBMer to CEO and now the camels back if finally broken after 10 years of losers padding their pockets with oil money. What ever happened to building that FAB in UAE to employee the people at home??? UAE still has the $$$$$$$$$$$$ to listen to BS = break up and sell off the assets for the least loss. Nothing like paying people to convince you to Buy High and Sell Low so you will lose less of your countries money. Chinese have a saying the Cow who drinks its own milk will not thrive. UAE should have told everyone in management you have 3 years to make a profit or your terminated (period), especially the original FAB 8 HR Director.ClickFunnels - Tuesday, January 1, 2019 - link
It may be because of the demand and supply. No one would shut down a profitable venture. Right?https://linkedin.com/company/click-funnels-discoun...