Globalfoundries succeeds in landing 28nm orders from MediaTek, say Taiwan makers

Globalfoundries has beaten out Taiwan-based United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) to land orders for 28nm foundry services from Taiwan-based IC design house MediaTek, according to industry sources.

IC design houses normally want to maintain two to three foundry service providers to minimize pricing and risks. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was the only provider of 28nm foundry services in 2012, but its capacity was far short of demand, the sources indicated.

Globalfoundries succeeded in hiking yield rates for its 28nm foundry process to a commercial level in late 2012, and TSMC expanded its 28nm foundry capacity to a monthly level of 70,000 12-inch wafers at the beginning of 2013. As 28nm foundry capacity is no longer in tight supply, Qualcomm has chosen Globalfoundries as its second provider in addition to TSMC, the sources.

In the same period, UMC has been making efforts to hike 28nm yields but has not yet scored points, the sources noted. Therefore, UMC has failed in competition with Globalfoundries for 28nm foundry orders from MediaTek, the sources explained. However, UMC on March 7 asserted that it has significantly progressed in hiking 28nm yields.