Intel Corp. delayed mass production of 14nm chips by nearly a year because of insufficient yields. According to a media report, something similar may happen to its 10nm manufacturing technology. Intel is setting up a small pilot line for 10nm production in D1X development fab in Hillsboro, Oregon, reports SemiconductorEngineering. …
Read More »TSMC’s 10nm goals: higher density and performance at lower power
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this week unveiled first details about its 10nm fabrication process at the TSMC Technology Symposium in the U.S. The official goals are slightly less ambitious than those discussed last year, but the general focus of TSMC’s 10nm manufacturing technology is clear: considerable increase of transistor density compared to …
Read More »TSMC looking at new materials, transistor structures for sub-10nm tech
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. this week confirmed that it has a team of engineers working on a manufacturing process that will succeed 10nm fabrication technology towards the end of the decade. While the company did not reveal details about its sub-10nm process, it said that it considers various options for …
Read More »Mubadala: GlobalFoundries begins to ramp up production of 14nm chips
Mubadala Development Co., the Abu Dhabi-based investment and development company, said this week that GlobalFoundries, which is owned by Mubadala, has already begun to ramp up production of chips using 14nm fabrication process. “GlobalFoundries announced a strategic collaboration with Samsung to deliver capacity at 14nm, one of the industry’s most …
Read More »GlobalFoundries and Samsung to produce Apple’s next A9 SoC together – report
Based on the recent market rumours, Samsung Foundry and GlobalFoundries have landed orders to produce Apple’s A9 system-on-chip that will power the company’s next-generation iPhone and iPad devices. It is unknown whether Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. will also produce the A9 SoC at any point. At present Apple’s A8 application …
Read More »Nvidia starts to use Samsung as a chip manufacturing partner – company
Nvidia Corp. and Samsung Electronics have quietly signed an agreement under which the latter will produce computer chips for the former. At present, it is unknown whether Samsung will manufacture graphics processors or application processors for the chip designer, but it is obvious that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is no …
Read More »TSMC: We will close the gap with Intel at 10nm!
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. believes that its 10nm fabrication process will not only be available around the same time when Intel Corp. starts to use its 10nm technology, but will also offer similar performance and density as Intel’s. In a bid to speed up time-to-market of their manufacturing processes featuring FinFET …
Read More »Samsung: 10nm technology in development, 7nm will require new transistors
Kinam Kim, the president of Samsung Electronics’ semiconductor business, presented his view on the development of chip manufacturing technologies at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference 2015 this week. Samsung is already developing its next-generation 10nm FinFET fabrication process, but in order to continue scaling down structures of chips, new materials …
Read More »TSMC to invest $15.9 billion in expansion of manufacturing capacities
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has announced that it will invest NT$500 billion ($15.9 billion) in expansion of its manufacturing capacities in central Taiwan. The company did not outline details of the upgrade plan, but it looks like the company is getting ready to significantly increase its abilities to produce semiconductors …
Read More »Intel vows to ship 10nm chips in early 2017, retracts its promise
While Intel Corp. has confirmed development of 10nm fabrication process as well as appropriate microprocessors, the company has never revealed exactly when it plans to introduce chips that will succeed its next-generation code-named “Skylake” CPUs. A couple of weeks ago a representative for Intel finally said that its first 10nm …
Read More »Samsung to produce chips for Nvidia, Qualcomm – analyst
Samsung Electronics is expected to significantly improve its contract semiconductor manufacturing business this year thanks to early start of production using 14nm FinFET fabrication process. While Apple, the largest customer of Samsung, now orders chips not only to Samsung, but to TSMC as well, it continues to work with the …
Read More »AMD: We are actively designing 14nm FinFET chips
Advanced Micro Devices on Tuesday confirmed for the first time that it is actively designing several chips that will be made using 14nm FinFET process technology. The announcement from AMD indicates that the company will manufacture its new chips either at GlobalFoundries or Samsung Electronics, not at Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing …
Read More »TSMC to start volume production of 10nm chips in 2017
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has delayed volume production of chips using 16nm FinFET manufacturing technologies by several quarters. As a result, it now has to reconsider plans regarding production of semiconductors using 10nm FinFET fabrication process. Previously it was expected that the company will produce 10nm chips in late 2016, …
Read More »GlobalFoundries denies problems with 14nm: everything is as planned
GlobalFoundries, the world’s second largest contract manufacturer of chips, late on Tuesday denied existence of problems with the ramp up of production using 14nm fabrication process. According to the foundry, it specifically stockpiles manufacturing equipment at a warehouse so that to install it once the fab 8 facility becomes compatible …
Read More »GlobalFoudries stops installations of 14nm tools, could delay production
Although GlobalFoundries has licensed 14nm FinFET manufacturing technology from Samsung Electronics back in May, 2014, it looks like the company may have to delay mass production using the fabrication process. According to a media report, the company has stopped installation of equipment required to make chips using 14nm FinFET technology. …
Read More »GlobalFoundries: Customized and SOI process technologies gain importance
While non-standard fabrication processes are sometimes challenging and make it harder to re-use intellectual property across different product lineups, they are just what the doctor ordered when one needs to achieve certain goals. According to GlobalFoundries, the No. 2 contract maker of chips, many customized process technologies are gaining importance …
Read More »GlobalFoundries to produce 14nm chips in the first half of 2015
GlobalFoundries, the world’s second largest contract maker of semiconductors, plans to start volume production of chips using 14nm fabrication process in the first half of 2015, a little later than Samsung Electronics, but, possibly, earlier than Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. The company does not reveal who will be the first …
Read More »AMD downplays 20nm process tech: only ‘certain’ products will use it
Advanced Micro Devices on Wednesday implied that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s 20nm fabrication process would only be used for select products, whereas the main focus of the chip designer is on more advanced fabrication processes with FinFET transistors. Unfortunately, AMD did not reveal any actual plans. “From an overall standpoint, today …
Read More »AMD: GlobalFoundries makes APUs, CPUs, GPUs and console chips for us
GlobalFoundries, the world’s second largest contract maker of semiconductors, has leading edge process technologies and advanced fabs. However, in the recent years the company had to significantly alter its plans, which affected its performance and relations with customers. Fortunately, according to AMD, a key client of GF, the problems seem …
Read More »Invecas to help GlobalFoundries’ clients to migrate to new technologies
GlobalFoundries, a contract maker of semiconductors, has signed a deal with Invecas, a newly formed design services provider. Under the terms of the agreement, Invecas will help customers of GlobalFoundries to design chips to be made using leading-edge semiconductor process technologies. It is not an easy task to design chips …
Read More »GlobalFoundries to acquire semiconductor business from IBM
IBM and GlobalFoundries on Monday said that they have reached a definitive agreement under which the latter will acquire semiconductor manufacturing business of the former. GlobalFoundries will get intellectual property, world-class technologists and technologies related to IBM Microelectronics. It will also become IBM's exclusive server processor maker for 22nm, 14nm …
Read More »Intel: We will lead the world to 10nm microprocessors
Intel Corp. said on Tuesday that it would be the first company to start volume production of chips using 10nm fabrication technology. The company has already demonstrated the first wafers processed using 10nm tech, now it revealed that it will gradually increase its investments in the forthcoming technology in the coming …
Read More »ARM: 20nm process tech will not be used by mainstream applications
Due to multiple reasons the majority of developers of various system-on-chip devices will skip 20nm process technology of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and will use 14nm and 16nm FinFET fabrication processors of TSMC, GlobalFoundries and Samsung Electronics. Traditionally TSMC and other foundries develop multiple different process technologies for different kinds …
Read More »ARM and TSMC expect first 10nm tape-outs in late 2015
ARM Holdings and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. on Thursday outlined some details regarding transition of chip production to 10nm FinFET manufacturing technology. The company’s reaffirmed that risk production of chips made using 10nm FF fabrication process will start in late 2015. The two companies agreed to work together on 10nm FinFET …
Read More »Samsung to produce 14nm FinFET chips for AMD, Apple, Qualcomm – report
Samsung Electronics has lost exclusive chip manufacturing contract with Apple, but a new report claims that that the company has managed to land orders from Advanced Micro Devices and Qualcomm. ZDNet reports that Samsung is projected to begin producing application processors (APs) for clients such as Apple, AMD and Qualcomm …
Read More »GlobalFoundries could still get IBM’s semiconductor business
Even though earlier this year it was reported that the talks between GlobalFoundries and IBM over the latter’s semiconductor business collapsed, a new media report claims that the two companies have finally come to an agreement. The Big Blue reportedly agreed to pay the contract maker of semiconductors for taking …
Read More »Intel to spend $6 billion on 10nm fab in Israel
The Israeli government announced this week that it has approved a plan submitted by Intel Corp. regarding upgrading its fab in Kiryat Gat. Under the terms of the plan the chip giant intends to significantly modernize its semiconductor manufacturing facility in order to build chips using 10nm process technology there. Intel …
Read More »Intel: Transitions to thinner process tech will get harder
Although Intel Corp. imagines its future many years down the road and has a solid vision, it admits that going forward it will be much harder to achieve certain goals as manufacturing technologies get much more complex. Like other huge companies, Intel Corp. has big plans for the future. Recently …
Read More »Intel: We will not need EUV for 10nm process technology
Intel Corp. officially confirmed on Wednesday that it will not use extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography for its 10nm process technology allegedly due to come online in 2016. Apparently, not only the EUV scanners are not ready, but backbones of certain fabs may not support the new equipment due to its …
Read More »TSMC to make 16nm chips in volume in Q1 2015 – report
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is on-track to start volume production of chips in the first quarter of 2015, according to a media report. The first client to order 16nm chips from TSMC is expected to be Apple, which is a little bit surprising. TSMC has been making test chips using …
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