GlobalFoundries says it will be behind TSMC in 7nm

GlobalFoundries' new CEO Tom Caulfield had an interview with EE Times and he said some interesting things. First up, the foundry is looking to build a next-gen fab, this one will likely be equipped for 3nm production as Caulfield isn't sure whether 5nm would be valuable enough to attract clients. Next, he said he's up for another process-sharing deal, like when GlobalFoundries licensed the 14nm process from Samsung after its in-house development had completely failed.

Caulfield also indicates GlobalFoundries aims to get lucrative contracts or deals from the US government, and he notes that his foundry has no illusions of winning the business of high-end mobile processors in the near future because they will be behind TSMC at 7nm:

“We don’t have the capacity … [and] we will be behind the leading 7-nm [foundry], but it costs more to be a leader than a fast follower,” in leading-edge nodes, he said.

Beyond the high-profile smartphone processors, “there’s plenty of business to go around … [and] some of the most profitable chips are in mid-range mature segments where assets are depreciated,” he added.

GF also won’t try to follow rival TSMC in offering a variety of packages such as its 2.5D CoWoS and its InFO wafer-level fan-out for mobile processors.