semiconductors

TowerJazz to Invest $100 Million in Capacity Building

Posted on by Techtime

TowerJazz announced a capacity expansion plan for the Uozu fab in Japan, with total investments of approximately $100 million. The company will add capacity for the 300mm RF SOI process, the 65nm BCD Power Management and the CMOS image sensor platforms. Capacity is targeted to be installed during the first half of 2020. Russell Ellwanger, Chief Executive Officer of TowerJazz, explained: “Our 300mm activities have resulted in strong demand and forecasted excess demand for which we are now investing to fulfill.”

During second quarter of 2019 (ended June 30, 2019),  revenues had reached $306 million, reflecting 11% quarter over quarter organic growth (defined as total revenue excluding revenues from Panasonic in the TPSCo fabs and revenues from Maxim in the San Antonio fab). This organic growth of $20 million is offsetting to a great extent the $22 million Panasonic revenue reduction per the revised terms of the contract and a Maxim revenue reduction per the San Antonio fab acquisition agreement.

TowerJazz expects revenues for the third quarter of 2019 to grow to approximately $312 million. Revenues for 2018 were $1.3 billion compared to $1.39 billion in 2017. TowerJazz is a manufacturing services provider of integrated circuits (ICs). Its technology is comprised of SiGe, BiCMOS, mixed-signal/CMOS, RF CMOS, CMOS image sensor, integrated power management (BCD and 700V), and MEMS. TowerJazz operates two manufacturing facilities in Israel (150mm and 200mm), two in the U.S. (200mm) and three facilities in Japan (two 200mm and one 300mm).

GlobalFoundreis aborts 7nm Development

Posted on by Techtime

Photo above: GlobalFoundries’ Fab-1 in Dresden, Germany

The second largest semiconductor’s foundry (The first is TSMC), GlobalFoundries, announced a departure from the race to achieve smaller transistor nodes.  The company said it is putting its 7nm FinFET program on hold indefinitely and restructuring its research and development teams to support its enhanced portfolio initiatives. Mainly shifting the development resources to make its 14/12nm FinFET platform more relevant to the clients, and to add innovative IP and features including RF, embedded memory, low power and more. “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.”

The newly appointed CEO of GlobalFoundries, Tom Caulfield, mentioned that the demand for semiconductors has never been higher. But, “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. This industry dynamic has resulted in fewer fabless clients designing into the outer limits of Moore’s Law.”

The ASIC Business will be Independent Company

saicIn addition, GF is establishing its ASIC business as a wholly-owned subsidiary, independent from the foundry business. 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.

“Lifting the burden of investing at the leading edge will allow GF to make more targeted investments in technologies that really matter to the majority of chip designers in fast-growing markets such as RF, IoT, 5G, industrial and automotive,” said Samuel Wang, research vice president at Gartner. “While the leading edge gets most of the headlines, fewer customers can afford the transition to 7nm and finer geometries. 14nm and above technologies will continue to be the important demand driver for the foundry business for many years to come.”