According to semiconductor industry insiders, Globalfoundries, the world's second-largest pure-wafer foundry, sold about 1,000 units of its German factory to TSMC two months ago. The production capacity has dropped from 60,000 pieces per month to about 35,000 pieces.
Prior to this year, including the fab11 plant in Chengdu, China, Globalfoundries has 11 wafer fabrication facilities worldwide. Among them, the fab1 plant in Dresden, Germany, plays an important role in the company and the entire European semiconductor industry. As the most mature plant of Globalfoundries technology, the fab1 plant in Dresden has been established for the longest time and has the most stable development. It also provides new technologies and products for the development of Globalfoundries. In recent years, the fab1 plant has been continuously investing in research and development of new products and technologies.
However, insiders revealed that about two months ago, TSMC sent a team to the Globalfoundries fab1 factory to review, evaluate and select equipment. Finally, Globalfoundries sold 1,000 units to TSMC.
When Globalfoundries sold the Fab10 in New York in April, its CEO had said it no longer intended to sell any additional production facilities. Now that it sell fab1 equipment and cut production capacity, it seems that the dilemma of Globalfoundries is even more serious.
