GlobalFoundries and Qualcomm recently announced that the two companies will be more than doubling their current strategic global manufacturing agreement for semiconductors entered into by GlobalFoundries’ and Qualcomm’s subsidiaries. The news comes after the recent passing of the US CHIPS and Science Act, which aids to secure wafer supply and commitments to support US-based manufacturing through capacity expansion at GlobalFoundries’ advanced semiconductor manufacturing facility in Malta, New York.
“With accelerating demand for 5G, Automotive and IoT applications, a robust supply chain is critical for ensuring innovation in these areas remains uninterrupted,” said Dr Roawen Chen, Senior Vice President and Chief Supply Chain and Operations Officer, Qualcomm Technologies. “Our continued collaboration with GF helps us to expand the next generation of wireless innovation as we move toward a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected.”
“GF’s global manufacturing footprint enables us to partner with our customers to meet their capacity needs, where they need it,” said Dr Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GF. “Our collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies delivers differentiation and innovation in mobile and IoT spanning three continents, and this long-term agreement extension provides Qualcomm Technologies with additional U.S. based manufacturing for a more resilient supply chain.”
The announcement was made in Washington at a CEO summit which was co-hosted by GlobalFoundries, Ford and Applied Materials and also included CEOs and top executives from the semiconductor supply chain from tool and wafer manufacturing companies to key suppliers to end users of chips in the US. The current agreement secured 22FDX capacity at GF’s Dresden facility and will now include capacity at GF’s recently announced facility in Crolles, France, making QGT an anchor customer in GF’s leading European proprietary technology. QGT has also secured capacity in GF’s market-leading 8SW radio-frequency silicon-on-insulator (RFSOI) technologies for Sub 6GHz 5G front-end module (FEM) which will be primarily manufactured in GF’s Singapore facilities, where site expansion plans are well underway with full ramp expected in early 2023.
