Globalfoundries expands its chip manufacturing capacity in Germany
February 2017
Germany is the beating heart of the European semiconductor industry. The country boasts an unparalleled density of world-leading device manufacturers and suppliers for materials, components, and equipment across the value chain. Despite strong competition from Europe and further afield, German semiconductor companies remain the European leaders in terms of revenue enjoying a turnover of EUR 12,3 billion in 2015, with a forecast turnover of EUR 12,8 billion by 2016. Across Europe, automotive and industrial semiconductors are the segments with the strongest annual growth rates, in which high domestic demand is a key driver.
Investment opportunities are many and varied – covering everything from design and manufacturing to applications. A recent investment comes from GLOBALFOUNDRIES, the world's second-largest contract chip manufacturer, which has announced plans to invest about € 1.5 billion in its Fab 1 facility in Dresden. The company plans to build up 22FDX 22nm FD-SOI capacity in Dresden, to address the growing demand for chips that power everything from graphics processors and networks to smartphones and devices connected to through the Internet of Things. The overall fab capacity is set to increase by 40% by 2020, manufacturing 1 million wafers per year.
Dresden will continue to be the center for Globalfoundries' FDX technology development, said the company, adding that engineers in Dresden are already developing Globalfoundries' next-generation 12FDX technology with customer product tape-outs expected to begin in the middle of 2018.
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