Globalfoundries aims at premium customers only

Globalfoundries, AMD's former manufacturing arm, is currently only making chips for AMD, but that will change in the near future. CEO Doug Grose shared some more information with FT about the company's plans, he said that Globalfoundries isn't interested in working with hundreds of customers, instead they want to partner with just a handful of premium partners.

One of the reasons for this is because unlike other foundries, Globalfoundries will offer clients only the latest and most advanced fab technology.

The head of Globalfoundries, the new US-based contract chipmaker, said he would target a handful of potential clients rather than try to replicate the network of “hundreds of customers” of its bigger Taiwan rivals.

Doug Grose, chief executive of the company that was launched this week as a joint venture between microprocessor maker Advanced Micro Devices and Abu Dhabi investors, said Globalfoundries’ competitive advantage lay in only making chips using the latest technologies.

“Not everyone is going to want 45 nanometer chips. There’s probably a handful of companies that we’ll want to partner closely with ... we’re not looking for hundreds of customers,” Mr Grose told the Financial Times in an interview.