AMD names its foundry business as Globalfoundries

Advanced Micro Devices named its foundry business as Globalfoundries. Globalfoundries is a joint venture between AMD and Abu Dhabi based Advanced Technology Investment Company, which was initiated few months back after AMD decided to spin off its fab facility into a separate foundry business. With AMD itself as its first and big customer, Globalfoundries headed by Doug Grose as CEO and Hector Ruiz as chairman of board will have approximately 3,000 employees worldwide with headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Globalfoundries also plans to begin construction of another $4.2B fab for 32nm and smaller features at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, NY, in 2009. This new facility will be named as Fab 2 and is expected to create approximately 1,400 new direct jobs and more than 5,000 indirect jobs in the region.

With this announcement it looks like the microprocessor business is heading towards a different business model. There are processor IP companies like ARM and MIPS who provide nearly readymade solutions for chip making businesses. And here is this global foundry, which can make any advanced microprocessor.
With this foundry announcement, many new semiconductor companies can take shape, where they only need to select right processor IP and pass over to fabs like these for ready chips. With this trend, technology may take little backseat with volumes and investment taking the front seat.

Read here the comments from Simon Segars, Executive Vice President and General Manager, ARM.
"As consumers move to increasingly smaller and more power-efficient devices we need to remain aggressive in our technology development and ensure we have the right foundry partners to get those products to market,"
"Through the integration of our own processor and physical IP and our industry collaboration activities we continue to facilitate the adoption of next-generation consumer electronics. We look forward to working with Globalfoundries as we explore their advanced technology capabilities on the ARM platform to support the growing needs of our customers around the world."

Here's what Dirk Meyer, president and CEO of AMD has said.
"With the launch of a new global player in leading-edge manufacturing and AMD's transformation into a processing design leader, we are creating two synergistic companies poised to bring significant innovation and impact to the global technology industry,"

"GLOBALFOUNDRIES is the only partner with the capabilities to extend AMD's heritage of manufacturing excellence and scale capacity to benefit the whole industry. This is a game-changing event, and we are excited about the possibilities."