Foundry is a business model in the semiconductor industry, which refers to accepting the commission of other fabless semiconductor companies (Fabless) and specializing in the processing of finished wafers to manufacture integrated circuits, but not engaging in product design and back-end sales. The following is a list of the top 10 global wafer foundries reviewed by professionals.
TSMC
Established time | 1987 |
Headquarters | Taiwan, China |
Company website | tsmc.com |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. TSMC has a global capacity of about thirteen million 300 mm-equivalent wafers per year as of 2020 and makes chips for customers with process nodes from 2 microns to 5 nanometres. TSMC was the first foundry to market 7-nanometre and 5-nanometre (used by the 2020 Apple A14 and M1 SoCs and the MediaTek Dimensity 8100) production capabilities, and the first to commercialize extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology in high-volume. TSMC is also one of the top 100 Integrated Circuits (IC) manufacturers in the world.
Main services:
- Manufacture of integrated circuits
- Mask services
- Integrated circuits
- Packaging
- Multi-wafer foundry services
Samsung
Established time | 1938 |
Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea |
Company website | www.samsung.com |
Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. Samsung’s business cover a lot of fields. Samsung industrial affiliates include Samsung Electronics (the world’s largest information technology company, consumer electronics maker and chipmaker measured by 2017 revenues), Samsung Heavy Industries (the world’s second-largest shipbuilder measured by 2010 revenues), and Samsung Engineering and Samsung C&T Corporation (respectively the world’s 13th and 36th largest construction companies).
Main services:
- Advertising, construction, entertainment, financial services;
- Hospitality, information and communications technology;
- Medical and health care services, retail, shipbuilding;
- Semiconductor foundry
GlobalFoundries
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Established time | 2009 |
Headquarters | New York, U.S. |
Company website | gf.com |
GlobalFoundries Inc. (GF or GloFo) is a multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. The company manufactures integrated circuits on wafers designed for markets such as mobility, automotive, computing and wired connectivity, consumer internet of things (IoT) and other industrial applications.
As of 2021, GlobalFoundries is the fourth-largest semiconductor manufacturer.
Main services: Manufacture of Integrated circuits and related services
UMC
Established time | 1980 |
Headquarters | Taiwan, China |
Company website | https://www.umc.com/ |
UMC is a leading global semiconductor foundry company. The company provides high-quality IC fabrication services, focusing on logic and various specialty technologies to serve all major sectors of the electronics industry. UMC’s comprehensive IC processing technologies and manufacturing solutions include Logic/Mixed-Signal, embedded High-Voltage, embedded Non-Volatile-Memory, RFSOI and BCD, etc.
Most of UMC’s 12-in & 8-in fabs with its core R&D are located in Taiwan, with additional ones throughout Asia. UMC has total of 12 fabs in production with a combined capacity close to 850,000 wafers per month (8-in equivalent), and all of them are certified with IATF-16949 automotive quality standards.
Main services:
IC fabrication services, eHV, low-power platforms, eFlash, and BCD, etc
SMIC
Established time | 2000 |
Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
Company website | smics.com |
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) is one of the leading foundries in the world and is the front runner in manufacturing capability, manufacturing scale, and comprehensive service in the Chinese Mainland. It provides integrated circuit (IC) manufacturing services from 350 nm to 7 nm process technologies.
Headquartered in Shanghai, China, SMIC Group has an international manufacturing and service base, with three 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities (fabs) and four 12-inch fabs in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and Shenzhen, and three 12-inch fabs under construction in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. SMIC Group also has marketing and customer service offices in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and Taiwan, China, and a representative office in Hong Kong, China.
Main services: SMIC Group provides semiconductor foundry and technology services to global customers on 0.35 micron to FinFET process node technologies.
Tower Semiconductor
Established time | 1993 |
Headquarters | Migdal Haemek, Israel |
Company website | www.towersemi.com |
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is a leading Israeli company that manufactures integrated circuits using specialty process technologies, including SiGe, BiCMOS, Silicon Photonics, SOI, mixed-signal and RFCMOS, CMOS image sensors, non-imaging sensors, power management (BCD), and non-volatile memory (NVM) as well as MEMS capabilities. Tower Semiconductor also owns 51% of TPSCo, an enterprise with Nuvoton Technology Corporation Japan (NTCJ).
Main services:
Design center services, design enablement, process services, customer support and multi-project wafer shuttles services
PSMC
Established time | 2008 |
Headquarters | Taiwan, China |
Company website | https://www.powerchip.com/index_en.html |
PSMC is Taiwan’s third-largest foundry and seventh-largest semiconductor foundry in the world, with three 12-inch and two 8-inch wafer labs. The company’s aims are the three main foundry services of advanced memories: customized logic, integrated circuits, and discrete components. The purpose is to continue the Open Foundry operation model. From chip design and manufacturing service to equipment and production capacity sharing, the company establishes a close and flexible cooperation with customers according to their different attributes and demands.
Main services:
- Foundry services
- Design services
- Overhaul services
- Manufacturing services
- Memory wafer testing services
Huahong Group
Established time | 1996 |
Headquarters | Shanghai, China |
Company website | https://www.huahonggrace.com/c/index.php |
Hua Hong Semiconductor Limited is a global, leading pure-play foundry focused on continuous innovation of “8-inch + 12-inch” specialty technologies, including non-volatile memory (“NVM”), power discrete, analog & power management, and logic & RF, supporting applications in emerging areas, such as the Internet of Things, using advanced “Specialty IC + Power Discrete” technology platforms.
The Company presently operates three 8-inch wafer fabrication facilities (HH Fab1, HH Fab2, and HH Fab3) in Jinqiao and Zhangjiang, Shanghai, with a total monthly 8-inch wafer capacity of approximately 180,000 wafers. The 12-inch wafer fabrication facility (HH Fab7) in Wuxi National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, at a 65,000 wafer per month capacity, has become a leading 12-inch foundry devoted to power discrete semiconductors in the Chinese mainland.
Main services:
Wafer fabrication, wafer inspection and package testing, etc
VIS
Established time | 1994 |
Headquarters | Taiwan, China |
Company website | www.vis.com.tw |
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS) is a Taiwanese specialized IC foundry service provider. VIS has five 8-inch fabs in Taiwan and Singapore with a monthly capacity of about 262,000 wafers in 2022.
VIS offers a wide range of process technologies, including High Voltage, Ultra High Voltage, Bipolar CMOS DMOS (BCD), Silicon on Insulator (SOI), Discrete, Logic, Mixed-Signal, Analog, High Precision Analog, Embedded Memory, and MEMS to further help increase its foundry customers’ global competitiveness.
Main services:
VIS offers a wide range of process technologies, including High Voltage, Ultra High Voltage, Bipolar CMOS DMOS (BCD), Silicon on Insulator (SOI), Discrete, Logic, Mixed-Signal, Analog, High Precision Analog, Embedded Memory, and MEMS
DB Hitek
Established time | 1969 |
Headquarters | Seoul, South Korea |
Company website | www.dbgroup.co.kr |
DB HiTek ranks today as one of the top ten foundries in the semiconductor industry. Operating from two world class wafer fabrication facilities and leveraging key technology achievements spanning two decades, the company continues to meet the needs of fabless ventures around the globe.
Main services:
BCDMOS，Analog CMOS，HV CMOS, Mixed Signal, CIS,Flash, Logic
FAQ
Wafer foundry is a business model in the semiconductor industry, which refers to accepting the commission of other fabless semiconductor companies (Fabless) and specializing in the processing of finished wafers to manufacture integrated circuits, but not engaging in product design and back-end sales.
- TSMC
- Samsung
- GlobalFoundries
- UMC
- SMIC
- Tower Semiconductor
- PSMC
- Huahong Group
- VIS
- DB Hitek
When you are looking for a wafer foundry company, you should take the following factors into consideration so that you can find the best one.
- Company’s reputation
- Delivery time
- Quality and price
- Qualifications and certificates
- After-sale services
