What would you name a semi firm that makes a speciality of mixed-signal chips produced on trailing edge manufacturing processes? Those acquainted with the trade would say that’s an analog semi firm. By that very same definition, possibly we should always consider GlobalFoundries as simply one other analog chip firm.
An extended-time pal pointed this out and we expect it’s price exploring as a result of it helps us not solely perceive GlobalFoundries’ prospects, but additionally how we take into consideration trade definitions.
At first blush, this equivalence doesn’t make sense. GlobalFoundries is a foundry, manufacturing chips for third events. Analog firms like Texas Instruments design their very own chips and generally manufacture them as nicely.
Editor’s Note:
Guest writer Jonathan Goldberg is the founding father of D2D Advisory, a multi-functional consulting agency. Jonathan has developed progress methods and alliances for firms within the cellular, networking, gaming, and software program industries.
The complete world has spent the previous three years studying the distinction between fabless and foundry firms. When we seem on podcasts, that is often the primary level we make. But dig a bit deeper and the similarities begin to seem.
Both firms truly manufacture comparable chips, or a minimum of chips that find yourself in comparable finish markets – industrial, automotive, wi-fi infrastructure, and many others. And all these chips carry out simply superb on trailing edge processes. GlobalFoundries received off the Moore’s Law treadmill at 16nm, and most of Texas Instruments’ chips use even older processes. This is the analog area and analog alerts don’t scale the best way digital processors do, so mature processes work simply superb more often than not.
People will argue that GlobalFoundries doesn’t have chip designers, a serious capability that’s completely unstaffed. This is true, besides, fabless analog firms are inclined to work way more carefully with their fab operations. There is much more scope for forwards and backwards, so whereas GF just isn’t actually speaking to end-customers, they find yourself doing numerous the design work.
So the 2 firms will not be an identical, however they’re pretty comparable. They manufacture comparable merchandise for comparable finish markets and sit in comparable locations in semis processes. Going ahead, it most likely is smart to think about GlobalFoundries as an analog firm. For GF, that doubtless means its future rests on convincing a few of the smaller analog firms to outsource their manufacturing to GF and forego capability enlargement.
Theoretically, GlobalFoundries might even begin working instantly with finish prospects. We know they signed a cope with Ford in the course of the capability crunch, however from what we are able to inform that’s not precisely a well-reasoned endeavor with clear strategic finish targets. But it isn’t unimaginable for them to go down this path.
We are most likely going to see much more blurring like this. Once upon a time, semis firms all did their very own manufacturing. And whereas there are nonetheless many the explanation why forefront fabs will probably be constructed by foundries ($20 billion causes, per plant), for everybody else the financial case for splitting the 2 must be rethought.
The latest capability shortages woke lots of people as much as that actuality. With Moore’s Law not working at full throttle, many firms will begin to take into account increase manufacturing as a core competency as soon as once more. The pendulum isn’t going to swing again all the best way and eclipse the fabless mannequin, neither is the pendulum standing nonetheless.
