GlobalFoundries grabs 28nm orders from MediaTek

IC design houses normally want to maintain two to three foundry service providers to minimize pricing and risks. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) was the only provider of 28nm foundry services in 2012, but its capacity was far short of demand, the sources indicated.

Globalfoundries succeeded in hiking yield rates for its 28nm foundry process to a commercial level in late 2012, and TSMC expanded its 28nm foundry capacity to a monthly level of 70,000 12-inch wafers at the beginning of 2013. As 28nm foundry capacity is no longer in tight supply, Qualcomm has chosen Globalfoundries as its second provider in addition to TSMC, the sources.