Foundry model

This article is about the business model for making integrated circuits. For other uses of the term foundry, see foundry (disambiguation).

In microelectronics, the foundry model refers to the separation of a semiconductor fabrication plant operation (foundry) from an integrated circuit design operation, into separate companies or business units.

Overview

Although many companies continue to both design and manufacture integrated circuits (achieving efficiency through vertical integration), these Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) are not alone in the marketplace. Economic forces have led to the existence of many companies that only design devices, known as fabless semiconductor companies, as well as merchant foundries that only manufacture devices under contract by other companies, without designing them.

Integrated circuit production facilities are expensive to build and maintain. Unless they can be kept at nearly full utilization, they will become a drain on the finances of the company that owns them. The foundry model uses two methods to avoid these costs: Fabless companies avoid costs by not owning such facilities. Merchant foundries, on the other hand, find work from the worldwide pool of fabless companies, and by careful scheduling, pricing, and contracting keep their plants at full utilization.

History

Originally, microelectronic devices were manufactured by companies that both designed and produced the devices. This was necessary because manufacturing involved tweaking parameters, precise understanding of the manufacturing processes being used, and the occasional need to redesign. These manufacturers were involved in both the research and development of manufacturing processes and the research and development of microcircuit design.

However, as manufacturing techniques developed, microelectronic devices became more standardised allowing them to be used by more than a single manufacturer. This standardization allowed design to be split from manufacture. A design that obeyed the appropriate design rules could be manufactured by different companies that had compatible manufacturing methods. An important development that allowed this was the introduction of advances in electronic design automation (EDA), which allowed circuit designers to exchange design data with other designers using different foundries.

Because of the separation of manufacture and design, new types of companies were founded. One type of company is called a fabless semiconductor company. These companies do not have any semiconductor manufacturing capability but rather contract production from a manufacturer. This manufacturer is called a merchant foundry. The fabless company concentrates on the research and development of an IC-product; the foundry concentrates on fabricating and testing the physical product. If the foundry does not have any semiconductor design capability, it is called a pure-play semiconductor foundry.

An absolute separation into fabless and foundry companies is not necessary. Some companies continue to exist which perform both operations and benefit from the close coupling of their skills. Some companies manufacture some of their own designs and contract out to have others manufactured or designed, in cases where they see value or seek special skills. The foundry model is a business vision that seeks to optimize productivity.

MOSIS

The very first merchant foundries were part of the MOSIS service. The MOSIS service gave limited production-access to designers with limited means, such as students, researchers at universities, and engineers at small startups.[1] The designer submitted designs and these submissions were manufactured with the commercial company's extra capacity. Manufacturers could insert some wafers for a MOSIS design into a collection of their own wafers when a processing step was compatible with both operations. The commercial company (serving as foundry) was already running the process, so they were effectively being paid by MOSIS for something they were already doing. A factory with excess capacity during slow periods could also run MOSIS designs in order to avoid having expensive capital equipment standing idle.

Under-utilization of an expensive manufacturing plant could lead to the financial ruin of the owner, so selling surplus wafer capacity was a way to maximize the fab's utilization. Hence, economic factors created a climate where fab operators wanted to sell surplus wafer-manufacturing capacity, and designers wanted to purchase manufacturing capacity rather than try to build it.

Although MOSIS opened the doors to some fabless customers, earning additional revenue for the foundry and providing inexpensive service to the customer, running a business around MOSIS production was difficult. The merchant foundries sold wafer capacity on a surplus basis, as a secondary business activity. Services to the customers were secondary to the commercial business, with little guarantee of support. The choice of merchant dictated the design, development flow, and available techniques to the fabless customer. Merchant foundries might require proprietary and non-portable preparation steps. Foundries concerned with protecting what they considered trade secrets of their methodologies might only be willing to release data to designers after an onerous nondisclosure procedure.

Dedicated foundry

In 1987, the world's first dedicated merchant foundry opened its doors: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).[2] The distinction of 'dedicated' is in reference to the typical merchant foundry of the era, whose primary business activity was building and selling of its own IC-products. The dedicated foundry offers several key advantages to its customers: First, it does not sell finished IC-products into the supply channel; thus a dedicated foundry will never compete directly with its fabless customers (obviating a common concern of fabless companies). Second, the dedicated foundry can scale production capacity to a customer's needs, offering low-quantity shuttle services in addition to full-scale production lines. Finally, the dedicated foundry offers a "COT-flow" (customer owned tooling) based on industry-standard EDA systems, whereas many IDM merchants required its customers to use proprietary (non-portable) development tools. The COT advantage gave the customer complete control over the design process, from concept to final design.

Foundry sales leaders by year

2013

As of 2013, the top 13 semiconductor foundries were:[3]
2013 Rank 2012 Rank Company Foundry Type Country of origin Revenue (million $USD)
1 1 TSMC Pure-play  Taiwan 19,850
2 2 Globalfoundries Pure-play  United States 4,261
3 3 UMC Pure-play  Taiwan 3,959
4 4 Samsung Electronics IDM  South Korea 3,950
5 5 SMIC Pure-play  China 1,973
6 8 PowerChip Pure-play  Taiwan 1,175
7 9 Vanguard (VIS) Pure-play  Taiwan 713
8 6 Huahong Grace Pure-play  China 710
9 10 Dongbu Pure-play  South Korea 570
10 7 TowerJazz Pure-play  Israel 509
11 11 IBM IDM  United States 485
12 12 MagnaChip IDM  South Korea 411
13 13 Win Semiconductors Pure-play  Taiwan 354

2011

As of 2011, the top 14 semiconductor foundries were:[4]
Rank Company Foundry Type Country of origin Revenue (million $USD)
1 TSMC Pure-play  Taiwan 14,600
2 UMC Pure-play  Taiwan 3,760
3 Globalfoundries Pure-play  United States 3,580
4 Samsung Semiconductor IDM  South Korea 1,975
5 SMIC Pure-play  China 1,315
6 TowerJazz Pure-play  Israel 610
7 Vanguard (VIS) Pure-play  Taiwan 519
8 Dongbu HiTek Pure-play  South Korea 500
9 IBM IDM  United States 445
10 MagnaChip IDM  South Korea 350
11 SSMC Pure-play  Singapore 345
12 Hua Hong NEC Pure-play  China 335
13 Win Semiconductors Pure-play  Taiwan 300
14 X-Fab Pure-play  Germany 285

2010

As of 2010, the top 10 semiconductor foundries were:[5]
Rank Company Foundry Type Country of origin Revenue (million $USD)
1 TSMC Pure-play  Taiwan 13,332
2 UMC Pure-play  Taiwan 3,824
3 Globalfoundries Pure-play  United States 3,520
4 SMIC Pure-play  China 1,554
5 Dongbu HiTek Pure-play  South Korea 512
6 TowerJazz Pure-play  Israel 509
7 Vanguard (VIS) Pure-play  Taiwan 505
8 IBM IDM  United States 500
9 MagnaChip IDM  South Korea 410
10 Samsung Semiconductor IDM  South Korea 390

2009~2007

As of 2009, the top 17 semiconductor foundries were:[6]

Rank Company Foundry Type Country of origin Revenue (million $USD)
2009 2009 2008 2007
1TSMC Pure-play TaiwanTaiwan8,98910,5569,813
2UMC Pure-play TaiwanTaiwan2,8153,0703,430
3Chartered(1) Pure-play SingaporeSingapore1,5401,7431,458
4GlobalFoundries Pure-play United StatesUSA1,10100
5SMIC Pure-play ChinaChina1,0751,3531,550
6Dongbu Pure-play South KoreaSouth Korea395490510
7Vanguard Pure-play TaiwanTaiwan382511486
8IBM IDM United StatesUSA335400570
9Samsung IDM South KoreaSouth Korea325370355
10Grace Pure-play ChinaChina310335310
11He Jian Pure-play ChinaChina305345330
12Tower Semiconductor Pure-play IsraelIsrael292252231
13HHNEC Pure-play ChinaChina290350335
14SSMC Pure-play SingaporeSingapore280340359
15Texas Instruments IDM United StatesUSA250315450
16X-Fab Pure-play GermanyGermany223368410
17MagnaChip IDM South KoreaSouth Korea220290322

(1) Now acquired by GlobalFoundries

2008~2006

As of 2008, the top 18 pure-play semiconductor foundries were:[7]

Rank Company Country of origin Revenue (million $USD)
2008 2008 2007 2006
1TSMC TaiwanTaiwan10,5569,8139,748
2UMCTaiwanTaiwan3,4003,7553,670
3CharteredSingaporeSingapore1,7431,4581,527
4SMICChinaChina1,3541,5501,465
5VanguardTaiwanTaiwan511486398
6DongbuSouth KoreaSouth Korea490510456
7X-FabGermanyGermany400410290
8HHNECChinaChina350335315
9He JianChinaChina345330290
10SSMCSingaporeSingapore340350325
11GraceChinaChina335310227
12Tower SemiconductorIsraelIsrael252231187
13Jazz SemiconductorUnited StatesUnited States190182213
14SilterraMalaysiaMalaysia175180155
15ASMCChinaChina149155170
16Polar SemiconductorJapanJapan11010595
17Mosel-VitelicTaiwanTaiwan100105155
18CR Micro (1)ChinaChina-143114
Others140167180
Total20,98020,57519,940

(1) Merged with CR Logic in 2008, reclassified as an IDM foundry

2007~2005

As of 2007, the top 14 semiconductor foundries include:[8]

Rank Company Foundry type Country of origin Revenue (million $USD)
2007 2007 2006 2005
1TSMC Pure-PlayTaiwanTaiwan9,8139,7488,217
2UMCPure-PlayTaiwanTaiwan3,7553,6703,259
3SMICPure-PlayChinaChina1,5501,4651,171
4CharteredPure-PlaySingaporeSingapore1,4581,5271,132
5Texas InstrumentsIDMUnited StatesUnited States610585540
6IBMIDMUnited StatesUnited States570600665
7DongbuPure-PlaySouth KoreaSouth Korea510456347
8VanguardPure-PlayTaiwanTaiwan486398353
9X-FabPure-PlayGermanyGermany410290202
10SamsungIDMSouth KoreaSouth Korea38575-
11SSMCPure-PlaySingaporeSingapore350325280
12HHNECPure-PlayChinaChina335315313
13He JianPure-PlayChinaChina330290250
14MagnaChipIDMSouth KoreaSouth Korea322342345

For ranking in worldwide Semiconductor sales leaders by year:[9]

Rank Company Country of origin Revenue (million $USD) 2006/2005 changes
2006 2005 2006 2005
67TSMCTaiwanTaiwan9,7488,217+19%
2122UMCTaiwanTaiwan3,6703,259+13%

2004

As of 2004, the top 10 pure-play semiconductor foundries were:

Rank 2004 Company Country of origin
1TSMCTaiwanTaiwan
2UMCTaiwanTaiwan
3CharteredSingaporeSingapore
4SMICChinaChina
5Dongbu/AnamSouth KoreaSouth Korea
6SSMCSingaporeSingapore
7HHNECChinaChina
8Jazz SemiconductorUnited StatesUnited States
9SilterraMalaysiaMalaysia
10X-FabGermanyGermany

Financial and IP issues

Like all industries, the semiconductor industry faces upcoming challenges and obstacles.

The cost to stay on the leading edge has steadily increased with each generation of chips. The financial strain is being felt by both large merchant foundries and their fabless customers. The cost of a new foundry exceeds $1 billion. These costs must be passed on to customers. Many merchant foundries have entered into joint ventures with their competitors in an effort to split research and design expenditures and fab-maintenance expenses.

Chip design companies sometimes avoid other companies' patents simply by purchasing the products from a licensed foundry with broad cross-license agreements with the patent owner.[10]

Stolen design data is also a concern; data is rarely directly copied, because blatant copies are easily identified by distinctive features in the chip,[11] placed there either for this purpose or as a byproduct of the design process. However, the data including any procedure, process system, method of operation or concept may be sold to a competitor, who may save months or years of tedious reverse engineering.

See also

References

External links

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