Globalfoundries Inc, the chipmaker that merged with Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd, aims to account for 30 percent of the made-to-order chip market within three years, its largest investor said.
“We need to be a US$5 billion company in the next two to three years,” Ibrahim Ajami, chief executive officer of Advanced Technology Investment Co, Globalfoundries’ controlling shareholder, said in an interview in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
Globalfoundries was created after Advanced Micro Devices Inc spun off its manufacturing unit and boosted its capacity through ATIC’s purchase of Singapore-based Chartered last year.
A 30 percent share would take Globalfoundries past United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), making it the world’s second-largest contract chipmaker after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電).
“Globalfoundries has no track record in this business; it’s not so easy,” said Chen Liway, who covers semiconductors at Polaris Securities Co (寶來證券).
Chen estimated that Globalfoundries accounted for about 15 percent of the foundry market, including Chartered’s output, compared with almost 20 percent for UMC and 50 percent for TSMC.
“That’s a very aggressive market share target,” Chen said.
Globalfoundries and Chartered had combined revenues of more than US$2 billion last year, the firm said in a Jan. 13 statement on its Web site.
UMC’s unconsolidated revenue was US$2.8 billion last year, while TSMC’s sales were US$9 billion, company data showed.
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s largest maker of mobile-phone chips and a TSMC customer, said on Jan. 7 it would work with Globalfoundries to develop chips using 28-nanometer and 45-nanometer technology, the most-advanced available.
ARM Holdings PLC, the chip designer whose products are used in Apple Inc’s iPhones, is in talks with Globalfoundries about chip production, Kevin Smith, ARM’s vice president of marketing, said in September.
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