Since TSMC-controlled VIS took over GlobalFoundries' MEMS-type facilities this year, rumors have repeatedly attributed the owners of the remaining assets to optimizing their structure. Various kinds of speculation were mentioned about Chinese semiconductor manufacturers, and about the South Korean giant Samsung, and the head of TSMC last week even a vague statement that the company is not considering buying other people's businesses outside of Taiwan.
This week started with exciting news for all those who follow the semiconductor industry. Company GlobalFoundries on the conclusion of an agreement with ON Semiconductor, under which the latter by 2022 will receive full control over the Fab 10 enterprise in New York State, which GlobalFoundries itself received in 2014 as a result of a deal with IBM.
Immediately after the signing of the agreement, GlobalFoundries receives $100 million in its hands, another $330 million will be paid before the end of 2022. It is by this time that ON Semiconductor will have full control over Fab 10, and the company's staff will be transferred to the staff of the new employer. The lengthy transition process, GlobalFoundries explains, will allow the company to distribute Fab 10 orders to its other 300mm silicon wafer facilities.
The first orders for ON Semiconductor will be released at Fab 10 in 2020. Until the transition of the enterprise under the control of new owners, GlobalFoundries will fulfill the relevant orders. Along the way, the buyer receives a license to use technologies and the right to engage in specialized development. It is mentioned that ON Semiconductor will have access to the 45nm and 65nm technology standards immediately. Based on them, new products of this brand will be developed, although Fab 10 is also capable of producing 14-nm products.
Heritage IBM - what's next?
2014 deal between IBM and GlobalFoundries industry with its unusual terms: in fact, the buyer received $1,5 billion from the seller as an application to two IBM enterprises in the United States, for which he paid nothing. One of them, Fab 9, is located in Vermont and processes 200 mm silicon wafers. Fab 10 is located in New York State and processes 300mm inserts. It is Fab 10 that is now coming under the control of ON Semiconductor.
The buyer, represented by GlobalFoundries, undertook to supply IBM with processors for ten years, which would be produced at its former enterprises. Note that ten years have not yet passed since the conclusion of the transaction, and GlobalFoundries is already selling one of the enterprises that could be involved in the fulfillment of the terms of the contract. It cannot be ruled out that now all responsibility will fall on Fab 9, or IBM orders will be carried out at other GlobalFoundries enterprises.
Last year, the company admitted that it was refusing to master the 7nm process due to the high cost of such a migration. AMD had to limit its cooperation with GlobalFoundries to more mature technological norms. How the interaction between IBM and GlobalFoundries will develop in the increasingly difficult conditions will become clear as we approach the announcement of the new processors of the Power family. Based on 14-nm technology, the IBM Power9 processor family is being produced. Several presentations made public last year pointed to IBM's commitment to introducing Power10 processors after 2020 with PCI Express 5.0 support, a new microarchitecture, and inevitably a new manufacturing process.
Fab 8 does not change owners
It should be understood that another well-known GlobalFoundries facility in New York State, Fab 8, is not included in this deal and will continue to produce processors for AMD. This enterprise was erected shortly after the transfer of AMD production facilities under the control of GlobalFoundries. Nearby IBM specialists played an important role in the development of Fab 8, and at some stage in its development, this enterprise had an advanced technological arsenal by AMD standards. Now it produces 28-nm, 14-nm and 12-nm products, GlobalFoundries abandoned plans to develop 7-nm technology last year. This forced AMD to rely entirely on TSMC for 7nm CPUs and GPUs. However, some industry experts expect that Samsung's contract division may receive part of AMD's orders in the future.
Portrait of the new owner
ON Semiconductor is headquartered in Arizona and employs approximately 1000 people. The total number of employees exceeds 34 thousand people, divisions of ON Semiconductor are located in North America, Europe and Asia. Manufacturing facilities are located in China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines and Japan. In the United States, only two divisions of the company are engaged in production: in Oregon and Pennsylvania.
ON Semiconductor's revenue for 2018 amounted to $5,9 billion. The company manufactures products for the automotive, telecommunications, medical and defense sectors, is interested in industrial automation, the Internet of Things, and to a lesser extent in the consumer sector.
Source: 3dnews.ru