Analysts skeptical about GlobalFoundries lawsuit against TSMC

Earlier this week, GlobalFoundries took TSMC and its clients to court over alleged patent infringement. EE Times spoke to industry experts and analysts and the general picture appears to be that it's hard to see the merits of this lawsuit. The website suggests that it seems like GlobalFoundries' goal is to irritate TSMC customers into putting pressure on TSMC to settle quickly with GlobalFoundries.

Ted Bauman, economist and senior research analyst at Banyan Hill Publishing, is one of the analysts that doesn't see merits in the case. He literally calls it patent trolling:

Bauman believes the impact on the supply chain will be minimal. “I think this is fundamentally a case of patent trolling by a company that is losing market share to TSMC and Samsung,” he said. “Given the importance of TSMC in the global electronics supply chain, it's highly unlikely that any interested parties would allow this to proceed to judgment. If there is any basis to GlobalFoundries accusations, they are more likely to reach a settlement.”

Bauman further adds that to him, this looks like a company "trying to squeeze the last few drops of income out of a failing business line":

“I have no idea of the merits of this lawsuit,” he added, “but to me it smells like a case of a company trying to squeeze the last few drops of income out of a failing business line. GlobalFoundries gave up trying to manufacture 5 nm microchips last year, ceding the entire market to TSMC. So, at this point, GlobalFoundries owners’ only real hope of achieving further return on their investment is through a patent lawsuit.”

The article also highlights that GlobalFoundries may be hoping to ride on the anti-China sentiment in the US, to hurt the Chinese business of TSMC.