IBM POWER9 architecture and platform is optimized for machine learning training All these 14nm chips from AMD, IBM and Apple are very high-performance and compete with Intel Core and Xeon, NVIDIA GeForce, Quadro and Tesla and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon. While unconfirmed, I also believe many of Apple’s 14nm A9 chips are built here given GF uses Samsung’s 14nm process and Apple required a second source. IBM’s most sophisticated chips are starting to be built there too, including the recently launched POWER9 and the chip in the latest z14 mainframe. While unconfirmed, I also believe one of the AMD-based gaming console chips is built here as well.ĪMD’s Epyc, Ryzen and Radeon Vega and Polaris are built at Fab 8. These AMD products have resulted in a rebirth of the company which has driven the stock from $2 per share to where it stands today around $12.50. First off there is Advanced Micro Devices, where 100% of Ryzen, Epyc, Vega Radeon and Polaris-based Radeon chips are built. The sub-fab is a sea of electrical, water, chemical, air inputs and outputs requiring six times the square footage of the actual clean room.įab 8 recent customers with very complex designsīefore diving into Fab 8’s scale and the technical details, I wanted to first talk about the customers and products served from the fab.
You start to get the sense for Fab 8’s scale when driving up to itįab 8 is big it has 460,000 ft2 of cleanroom space and 2.4M ft2 of supporting electrical, water, chemical, and air infrastructure called the “sub-fab”. The Samsung Electronics foundry business has been hit or miss based on how many Apple designs it gets. Intel’s foundry operations have been of a quick ramp but from a very small base. Intel and Samsung Electronics have some foundry business but are primarily are IDMs (integrated device manufacturers) and primarily build chips designed in-house. Only GF and TSMC are pure-play “foundries” or those who build chips other companies design. There are many different classes of fabs, and the fabs that build chips with the most sophisticated technology are called “leading-edge.” There are only four companies with leading-edge fabs: GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Intel, Samsung Electronics, and Taiwan Semiconductor aka TSMC. If you want to listen to a podcast I did with Shrout Research analyst Ryan Shrout and Tom Caulfield, SVP of GlobalFoundries and GM, you can find it here.įirst off, let me explain what a “fab” is for those who do not engage in “chippery.” A fab is a fancy name for a chip factory. After touring the facilities and meeting with senior executives, I can safely say the company’s claim of “the most advanced pure-play semiconductor factory campus in the U.S.” is accurate. I had the unique chance to tour the secret insides of GLOBALFOUNDRIES aka “GF” Fab 8 in Malta, New York, and want to share with you some of the key takeaways. I was reminded last week that there is, in fact, bleeding edge technology manufacturing done in the US. This was highlighted in the recent election, and Apple was dragged through the mud a bit afterward with its China-only iPhone manufacturing.
There has been more talk than ever in the past 18 months about the lack of high tech manufacturing in the US. Fab 8 460,000 ft2 of clean rooms is very robotic and automated
0 kommentar(er)
