Having recently completed the acquisition of Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing, Globalfoundries is expected to launch the new, combined entity this week.

Answer: Yes and no.

Globalfoundries will initially provide Qualcomm with access to 45nm LP and 28nm LP technologies with an intended collaboration on future advanced process nodes.

3D integration investments continue unabated despite the economic downturn, according to analysts from Yole Developpement and TechSearch International.

In the US, we've seen chipmakers shut down their fabs one-by-one over the years. How can we reverse that trend? One possible solution: Why not tell the Asian silicon foundries (TSMC, UMC, SMIC, etc.) that they must build fabs in the US?

Mixed-signal foundry LFoundry (Landshut, Germany) plans to acquire Atmel's fab in Rousset, France, the site of recent worker unrest. CEO Michael Lehnert said the proposed acquisition will make LFoundry the largest analog foundry in Europe.

Singapore regulators have approved a takeover offer by Abu Dhabi's Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), which made a bid for Chartered in September.

Melloy, which produces 550 tonnes of castings mainly for the automotive industry, took steps to reduce its carbon emissions and save money by investing in greener technology. It says its customers are receiving the same quality product produced with a massive 45% less carbon.

Samsung doesn't get it. The foundry sector is a service business. It has nothing to do with churning out cheap and simple commodities like memories.

Loss-making foundry Tower Semiconductor, which trades as TowerJazz, has announced it plans to transfer "manufacturing know-how and certain equipment" to support an un-named Asian company ramp up production.

With the forecast for packaging improving in 2010, business strategy is shifting toward more partnerships and joint ventures. And the focus on through-silicon vias (TSVs) is rapidly accelerating and may result in even more partnerships and joint ventures between foundries and packaging houses.

"Chartered shareholders have spoken overwhelmingly in favor of the acquisition...as we believe this offer enables Chartered to accelerate its goal of becoming a leading player in the semiconductor industry," said Jim Norling, chairman of the board of directors at Chartered.

The jury in the two-month-long TSMC vs. SMIC trade secrets trial has ruled in TSMC's favor after several days of deliberation. The jury found that SMIC has been misappropriating TSMC's trade secrets since a 2005 legal settlement was reached between the two foundries.

Cambridge Silicon Radio (CSR) has shipped more than 1.5 billion units and processed more than one million wafers from foundry partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). CSR also announced that it is collaborating with TSMC on a 40nm low power (LP) RF process technology.

Allvia, a through-silicon via (TSV) foundry, has purchased a manufacturing facility in Hillsboro, Oregon, for high volume production of their products with TSV technology. Over the next several months Allvia will proceed with manufacturing equipment tool selection for TSV production, and expects the facility to be operational in 2010.

Chartered Semiconductor has reported a net loss of US$4.7 million in the third quarter, compared to losses of US$39.4 million in the prior quarter and US$24.4 million in third-quarter 2008. In light of the proposed acquisition by ATIC, Chartered said it will not be providing guidance for its fourth quarter ending December 31, 2009.

IBM has struck its second major chip deal in China, leaving some to wonder if Big Blue is handing over technology to that nation without thinking about the possible consequences. Thanks to IBM, the Chinese foundry vendor will ramp the 45nm technology in 2010 - a possible bad sign for its rivals.

"Demand for our XLR immersion lithography light sources and Installed Base Products rose sharply during the quarter, driven by increased investment from the foundry and memory sectors in support of transitions to the 5x nanometer node and below," said Cymer's CEO Bob Akins. Cymer's net income totaled US$10.79 million in the third quarter, compared to net income of US$5.33 million a year ago.

SVTC and TSMC will work with developers to bring to market new applications in emerging technologies such as micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), biochips and other devices incorporating new materials and novel structures.

ASML generated net income of 20 million euro in the third quarter of 2009 compared to a net loss in the prior quarter. "ASML's third quarter sales doubled from the second quarter, stemming from technology transition demand for our immersion lithography systems as new DRAM devices are introduced and as Foundry customers are ramping 40nm products..."

Dongbu has begun shipping the display chip used in 19-inch computer monitors to LG Display. The contract will pave the way for us to strengthen our position as a display chip-focused manufacturer," a company spokesman Kwon Ki-joo has said.

If the current IC recovery will continue or fall back into a dreaded double dip, specialty foundry vendors also see a new competitive threat on the horizon: TSMC.

The R&D costs for process technology are expected to climb from US$310-to-US$400 million for the 90nm to 65nm nodes, to US$600-to-US$900 million for 45nm to 32nm, to US$1.3 billion for 22nm to 12nm. A fab would run from US$2.5-to-US$3.5 billion for the 90nm to 65nm nodes, to US$3.5-to-US$4 billion for 45nm to 32nm, to US$4.5-to-US$6 billion for 22nm to 12nm.

MagnaChip Semiconductor is poised to exit from Chapter 11 with the successful conclusion of its financial restructuring which was executed under the supervision of the US Bankruptcy Court.

The IBM eDRAM in 32nm SOI technology is the fastest embedded memory announced to date, achieving latency and cycle times of less than 2 nanoseconds.

"The worst is behind us. The upward trend has stabilized, so we now anticipate second-half sales growth of about 40% compared to the first half of 2009," said the analog/mixed-signal foundry.

TSMC and SMIC reached a US$175 million deal in 2005 to settle a claim by TSMC. But the Taiwan-based company now alleges SMIC reneged on the deal, and oral arguments began yesterday in Oakland.

Investors have speculated about a Temasek exit from the chip industry since its failed attempt to buy out and delist Stats Chippac two years ago. Stats Chippac and Chartered Semiconductor have slashed costs to weather the global slowdown that came amid slumping semiconductor prices and more competition from Taiwan.

Toshiba is in talks with Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor and Globalfoundries about outsourcing production of some of its next-generation system chips to help cut costs, two company sources said.

Cadence Design Systems and Globalfoundries have jointly announced a multi-year software and services agreement for advanced semiconductor design.

"IC-packaging will almost certainly happen in Vietnam, but it has been delayed by one or two years..."

When we asked Jensen about Globalfoundries, the big man from Nvidia said that Nvidia likes to work with companies that are customer centric. Since TSMC has 200 customers its kind of hard to be in center of attention, while such a thing might be possible with some alternative fab companies, such as Globalfoundies.

MEMS packaging may take an evolutionary leap forward into wafer-level packaging, driven by large IDMs and foundries, analysts said. "TSMC (Hsinchu, Taiwan) and others are talking about making MEMS parts...and they have the resources to do the package too.

Although the overall semiconductor market is expected to drop by 46% in 2009, it shows signs of rapid recovery, according to The Information Network market research company.

China-based foundry Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing has announced the successful development of its 0.13-micron embedded flash process.

Elpida Memory and Numonyx have delayed their scheduled foundry ramp by six months or so.

GaAs epiwafer foundry Kopin is investing an additional US$6.3 million in its Asian foundry venture, Kopin Taiwan.

GlobalFoundries spokesperson Jon Carvill responded to Chang's questionable analogy by reiterating GF's "total" commitment to fair competition.

Taiwan plans to allow local flat panel makers and chipmakers to invest their advanced process technologies in China, the Economic Daily said on Wednesday, in the latest indication of warming business ties on both sides.

Even if the STMicroelectronics assignment would be large enough to keep the utilization up far enough, it would not suffice to guarantee the company's competitiveness. But, as Buddha said: Every journey begins with the first step.