On Wednesday the former Foundry Company (TFC) announced its new name: Globalfoundries. Advanced Micro Devices and Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), the owners of the newly formed contract maker of semiconductors, hope that the company will not only allow AMD to manufacture its central processing units at low cost, but also enable other chipmakers to take advantage of leading-edge process technologies.

“The launch of Globalfoundries represents a historic day for our industry, one which will permanently change the market landscape by launching the world’s first truly global foundry services provider. With two committed joint venture partners providing strong technology and capital resources, our company brings a unique set of global capabilities to the market that will enable our customers to fully unlock their potential to innovate,” said Doug Grose, chief executive officer of Globalfoundries.

Globalfoundries is led by chief executive officer Doug Grose, formerly senior vice president of manufacturing operations at AMD, and chairman of the Board Hector Ruiz, formerly executive chairman of the board at AMD. The Company is the only U.S.-based global semiconductor foundry and commences operations with approximately 3 thousand employees worldwide with headquarters in Silicon Valley.

Globalfoundries will service the manufacturing needs of AMD and will also offer an expanded roadmap of technologies to third-party customers through its high-volume foundry services. This means that for the first time, early access to volume chip production using leading-edge technologies will not just be limited to only high-end microprocessor makers.

To meet the long-term needs of the industry, Globalfoundries is proceeding with plans to expand its Dresden, Germany, manufacturing lines by bringing a second 300mm manufacturing facility with bulk silicon capabilities online in late 2009. The Dresden cluster will be re-named Fab 1 with Module 1 initially focused on production of high-performance 45nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology, and Module 2 transitioning to 32nm bulk silicon capabilities.

In addition to Fab 1 the company also plans to begin construction on a new state-of-the-art 32nm and smaller features, $4.2B manufacturing facility at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Saratoga County, NY, in 2009. This new facility will be named Fab 2 and is expected to create approximately 1.4 thousand new direct jobs and more than 5000 indirect jobs in the region. 

“As consumers move to increasingly smaller and more power-efficient devices we need to remain aggressive in our technology development and ensure we have the right foundry partners to get those products to market. We look forward to working with Globalfoundries as we explore their advanced technology capabilities on the ARM platform to support the growing needs of our customers around the world,” said Simon Segars, executive vice president and general manager of ARM, which designs chips for bulk process technologies designed by IBM. Globalfoundries belongs to IBM’s bulk process tech alliance.

AMD is currently the only customer of Globalfoundries. The company hopes to compete against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, United Microelectronics Corp. and Chartered Semiconductor.

Tags: Globalfoundries, TFC, AMD, Asset smart, Semiconductor