GlobalFoundries Announces Ambitious Capex Plan for 2010
2010/03/16 | By Ken LiuTaipei, March 16, 2010 (CENS)--GlobalFoundries Inc. yesterday announced it will spend approximately US$2.5 billion to boost its 300-mm wafer manufacturing capacity this year, making its 2010 capital expenditure the second largest of silicon foundry industry as a whole.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), No.1 player in the industry, will spend US$4.8 billion while No.2 player United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC) projects to budget US$1.2-1.5 billion for capacity expansion this year.
Taiwan's industry watchers pointed out that GlobalFoundries' 2010 capital outlay underscores its ambition to make TSMC its archrival and make a huge leap forward in industry rating. The Abu Dhabi-backed GlobalFoundries is said to have had as much 300-mm wafer manufacturing capacity as UMC.
GlobalFoundries vowed to seize 30% of global silicon-foundry market in three years early this year after its merger with former No.3 player Charter Semiconductor Manufacturing of Singapore, a 50% increase from its current share.
After the combination, GlobalFoundries is operating five 200-mm wafer fabs and two 300-mm fabs. The company's executives estimated the US$2.5 billion spending to help boost the company's 300-mm wafer manufacturing capacity by 50%, to 100,000 wafers a month this year. The capacity is projected to surge to over 150,000 wafers a month in 2012.
TSMC plans to ramp up its 300-mm wafer manufacturing capacity to over 200,000 wafers a month this year, compared with UMC's plan to increase the output to 100,000 wafers or so a month.
According to market research organization IC Insights, No.1 capital spender in 2010 is Samsung with budget of US$6 billion, followed by Intel's US$5.3 billion.
Totally, TSMC, UMC and GlobalFoundries will spend US$8.5-8.8 billion throughout this year.
2010 Top 10 Capital Spenders Of World's Chip Making Industry
| Ranking | Company | Spending |
| 1 | Samsung | US$6B |
| 2 | Intel | US$5.3B |
| 3 | TSMC | US$4.8B |
| 4 | GlobalFoundries | US$2.5B |
| 5 | Hynix | US$2B |
| 6 | Toshiba | US$1.9B |
| 7 | Micron | US$1.3B |
| 8 | UMC | US$1.2-1.5B |
| 9 | Nanya | US$1.1B |
| 10 | Elpida | US$1B |
Source: IC Insights