- 23,000-square meter fab could create about 1,000 “high-value” jobs in Singapore
- GlobalFoundries is the world’s third-largest foundry behind TSMC and Samsung
GlobalFoundries has opened its $4 billion expansion fabrication plant in Singapore. The 23,000-square-meter fab facility will expand the company’s global manufacturing footprint and boost its ability to serve customers across its manufacturing sites in three continents.
The company has contracts with several major brands like- Qualcomm, MediaTek and NXP Semiconductors. These companies are dependent on GlobalFoundries to manufacture chips. It serves approximately 200 customers globally.
GlobalFoundries’ chips can be found in smartphones, laptops, automobiles, virtual reality systems, video game consoles, smart speakers, and they are also used in AI and 5G. According to the Singapore Semiconductor Industry Association, Singapore supplies 11% of the world’s semiconductors.
In terms of revenue, GlobalFoundries is the world’s third-largest foundry behind TSMC and Samsung, says a report by TrendForce.
“I’m confident that over the next decade, this industry will double again,” Thomas Caulfield, president and CEO of GlobalFoundries, told to a news portal.
“As Singapore’s most advanced semiconductor facility to date, the expansion fab will produce an additional 450,000 wafers (300mm) annually, raising GlobalFoundries Singapore’s overall capacity to approximately 1.5 million wafers (300mm) each year,” he added.
In 2010, GlobalFoundries acquired Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and took over its fabs. Currently, its manufacturing capacity is 720,000 (300mm) wafers and 692,000 (200mm) wafers a year.
GlobalFoundries claims that the new facility will create about 1,000 “high-value” jobs in Singapore, of which 95% will include equipment technicians, process technicians and engineers. The company currently hires roughly 4,500 employees at the Singapore site.
