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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rahvin - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
This has nothing to do with easy or hard, it's about economics which is why your sarcasm wasn't a factor in my post.Azethoth - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
No, the stated reason is "economics". It is certainly true that one day there will probably just be the one true fab, so in that sense this is inevitable. But, let's be honest here as well, the article also says they are behind schedule. Which is not not a factor. Worse, they use marketing nm, so they are late behind Intel which is already way late.smilingcrow - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
In this case hard = expensive so it's not exactly irrelevant.rahvin - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
I don't agree in this case, both Samsung and TSMC are in volume production on 7nm. Though I have no doubt it's difficult the logic provided by GloFo for the reason the pulled the plug is convincing IMO, Fab costs continue to rise, well beyond the predictions even 2 years ago. IIRC they were predicting about 8 Billion for a 7nm Fab and now we're looking at close to 20, that's a significant change and dramatically alters the accounting. I think GloFo being a bit behind decided to do a cost analysis and saw how out of wack they were and realized it was time to stop as proceeding could drag them into bankruptcy. This is essentially what they said.ironargonaut - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link
In the manufacturing of silicon technology=economy. I'm sure there are very super expensive processes in a lab somewhere that can produce awesome silicon at an equally awesome price. But, that is not what we are talking about here, either your technology can produce wafers of die at a cheaper cost or your technology is not up to par. Also, if there is not technological reason then they would sell the process rights, correct?FullmetalTitan - Thursday, August 30, 2018 - link
Take it as you will, but no one IN the semicon industry buys the reason GloFlo is selling.While economics are certainly a factor (leading edge is expensive), there are most likely technical issues which tipped the scale solidly towards the decision to kill R&D.
dromoxen - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link
IF THEY only have revenues of $6Beelion , then it becomes very very hard to afford a fab costing $20b. Mubadala didn't want to keep feeding the cashless cow as oil is losing its value. Is this a market that China is going to get into ?(long-term)eastcoast_pete - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
Interesting story, but I believe a bit more skepticism in GloFo's official line is in order. To me, only two scenarios make sense: 1. They just couldn't get their 7 nm process up-and-running at any volume and yield that would be at least somewhat competitive with TSMC and Samsung by Q1 2018, and decided to not throw good money after billions already sunk into this. 2. They could have gotten the process working at yields and volumes that would have made sense in theory, but couldn't find the customers/orders anywhere near the volume to at least break even here.If it's the second reason (tech actually works and is sort-of on target time-wise), then why not try to wrap the IP, the personnel (expertise) and the expensive equipment up in one package and spin the "7 nm subsidiary" off as its own entity, just as they are doing with their ASIC line?
And here a really wild idea, again all based on the tech actually works and is basically ready: Maybe Intel likes to pick GloFo's "7 nm bones" clean and get the goodies (IP, expertise, equipment) for cheap. Chipzilla could really use a below 10 nm process right now, so provided it does work, who knows? Also, that solution would keep at least one 7 nm fab in the US, which might be of interest from a national security POV.
eastcoast_pete - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
Damn typos. I meant 2019 for point 1."1. They just couldn't get their 7 nm process up-and-running at any volume and yield that would be at least somewhat competitive with TSMC and Samsung by Q1 2019,..."
Setout - Monday, August 27, 2018 - link
As the article clearly states, the GloFo 7nm is behind the TSMC 7nm, which itself is equivalent to Intel's 10nm. So the IP might not be very interesting to intel, although they've gone in a slightly different direction.