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Pure-play Semiconductor Foundry
The foundry model is a microelectronics engineering and manufacturing business model consisting of a semiconductor fabrication plant, or foundry, and an integrated circuit design operation, each belonging to separate companies or subsidiaries. It was first conceived by Morris Chang, the founder of the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC). Integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) design and manufacture integrated circuits. Many companies, known as fabless semiconductor companies, only design devices; merchant or pure play foundries only manufacture devices for other companies, without designing them. Examples of IDMs are Intel, Samsung, and Texas Instruments, examples of pure play foundries are GlobalFoundries, TSMC, and UMC, and examples of fabless companies are AMD, Nvidia, and Qualcomm. Integrated circuit production facilities are expensive to build and maintain. Unless they can be kept at nearly full use, they will become a drain on the finances of the co ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microelectronics
Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-scale or smaller. These devices are typically made from semiconductor materials. Many components of a normal electronic design are available in a microelectronic equivalent. These include transistors, capacitors, inductors, resistors, diodes and (naturally) insulators and conductors can all be found in microelectronic devices. Unique wiring techniques such as wire bonding are also often used in microelectronics because of the unusually small size of the components, leads and pads. This technique requires specialized equipment and is expensive. Digital integrated circuits (ICs) consist of billions of transistors, resistors, diodes, and capacitors. Analog circuits commonly contain resistors and capacitors as well. Inductors are u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nvidia
Nvidia Corporation ( ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and incorporated in Delaware. Founded in 1993 by Jensen Huang (president and CEO), Chris Malachowsky, and Curtis Priem, it designs and supplies graphics processing units (GPUs), application programming interfaces (APIs) for data science and high-performance computing, and system on a chip units (SoCs) for mobile computing and the automotive market. Nvidia is also a leading supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) hardware and software. Nvidia outsources the manufacturing of the hardware it designs. Nvidia's professional line of GPUs are used for edge-to-cloud computing and in supercomputers and workstations for applications in fields such as architecture, engineering and construction, media and entertainment, automotive, scientific research, and manufacturing design. Its GeForce line of GPUs are aimed at the consumer market and are used in ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Semiconductor Foundry
In the microelectronics industry, a semiconductor fabrication plant, also called a ''fab'' or a ''foundry'', is a factory where integrated circuits (ICs) are manufactured. The ''cleanroom'' is where all fabrication takes place and contains the machinery for integrated circuit production such as steppers and/or scanners for photolithography, etching, cleaning, and doping. All these devices are extremely precise and thus extremely expensive. Prices for pieces of equipment for the processing of 300 mm wafers range to upwards of $4,000,000 each with a few pieces of equipment reaching as high as $340,000,000 (e.g. EUV scanners). A typical fab will have several hundred equipment items. Semiconductor fabrication requires many expensive devices. Estimates put the cost of building a new fab at over one billion U.S. dollars with values as high as $3–4 billion not being uncommon. For example, TSMC invested $9.3 billion in its ''Fab15'' in Taiwan. The same company estimations ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fabless Manufacturing
Fabless manufacturing is the design and sale of hardware devices and semiconductor chips while outsourcing their Semiconductor fabrication, fabrication (or ''fab'') to a specialized manufacturer called a Foundry (electronics), semiconductor foundry. These foundries are typically, but not exclusively, located in the United States, mainland China, and Taiwan. Fabless companies can benefit from lower capital costs while concentrating their research and development resources on the end market. Some fabless companies and pure play foundries (like TSMC) may offer Integrated circuit, integrated-circuit design services to third parties. History Prior to the 1980s, the semiconductor industry was Vertical integration, vertically integrated. Semiconductor companies owned and operated their own silicon-wafer fabrication facilities and developed their own process technology for manufacturing their chips. These companies also carried out the assembly and testing of their own chips. As with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carver Mead
Carver Andress Mead (born 1 May 1934) is an American scientist and engineer. He currently holds the position of Gordon and Betty Moore Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), having taught there for over 40 years. A pioneer of modern microelectronics, Mead has made contributions to the development and design of semiconductors, digital chips, and silicon compilers, technologies which form the foundations of modern very-large-scale integration chip design. Mead has also been involved in the founding of more than 20 companies. In the 1980s, Mead focused on electronic modeling of human neurology and biology, creating " neuromorphic electronic systems." Most recently, he has called for the reconceptualization of modern physics, revisiting the theoretical debates of Niels Bohr, Albert Einstein and others in light of later experiments and developments in instrumentation. Mead's contributions as a teacher in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Industrial Technology Research Institute
The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI; ) is a technology research and development institution in Taiwan. It was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hsinchu, Hsinchu City, Taiwan, with branch offices in the United States, U.S., Europe, and Japan. Since 1973, ITRI has been part of Taiwan's economy, especially its tech industry, having contributed to moving Taiwan's industries from labor-intensive to innovation-driven. Its open lab and incubator have fostered emerging industries and startups including United_Microelectronics_Corporation, UMC and TSMC. In 2020, ITRI launched the 2030 Technology Strategy & Roadmap, which focuses on the development of technology to meet industrial and societal needs by working with domestic and international partners in academia, industry, and the government. History In 1982, the new Materials Research Laboratories (MRL) was established under ITRI and Otto C.C. Lin was appointed Founding Director. In 2002, ITRI partnered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corporate Spin-off
A corporate spin-off, also known as a spin-out, starburst or hive-off, is a type of corporate action where a company "splits off" a section as a separate business or creates a second incarnation, even if the first is still active. It is distinct from a sell-off, where a company sells a section to another company or firm in exchange for cash or securities. Characteristics Spin-offs are divisions of companies or organizations that then become independent businesses with assets, employees, intellectual property, technology, or existing products that are taken from the parent company. Shareholders of the parent company receive equivalent shares in the new company in order to compensate for the loss of equity in the original Capital stock, stocks. However, shareholders may then buy and sell stocks from either company independently; this potentially makes investment in the companies more attractive, as potential share purchasers can invest narrowly in the portion of the business they t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC or Taiwan Semiconductor) is a Taiwanese multinational semiconductor contract manufacturing and design company. It is one of the world's most valuable semiconductor companies, the world's largest dedicated independent (" pure-play") semiconductor foundry, and Taiwan's largest company, with headquarters and main operations located in the Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Although the government of Taiwan is the largest individual shareholder, the majority of TSMC is owned by foreign investors. In 2023, the company was ranked 44th in the ''Forbes'' Global 2000. Taiwan's exports of integrated circuits amounted to $184 billion in 2022, nearly 25 percent of Taiwan's GDP. TSMC constitutes about 30 percent of the Taiwan Stock Exchange's main index. TSMC was founded in 1987 by Morris Chang as the world's first dedicated semiconductor foundry. It has long been the leading company in its field. When Chang retired in 2018, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Microcircuit
An integrated circuit (IC), also known as a microchip or simply chip, is a set of electronic circuits, consisting of various electronic components (such as transistors, resistors, and capacitors) and their interconnections. These components are etched onto a small, flat piece ("chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Integrated circuits are used in a wide range of electronic devices, including computers, smartphones, and televisions, to perform various functions such as processing and storing information. They have greatly impacted the field of electronics by enabling device miniaturization and enhanced functionality. Integrated circuits are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those constructed of discrete components, allowing a large transistor count. The IC's mass production capability, reliability, and building-block approach to integrated circuit design have ensured the rapid adoption of standardized ICs in place of designs using discre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Research And Development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage of development of a potential new service or the production process. Although R&D activities may differ across businesses, the primary goal of an R&D department is to new product development, develop new products and services. R&D differs from the vast majority of corporate activities in that it is not intended to yield immediate profit, and generally carries greater risk and an uncertain return on investment. R&D is crucial for acquiring larger shares of the market through new products. ''R&D&I'' represents R&D with innovation. Background New product design and development is often a crucial factor in the survival of a company. In a global industrial landscape that is changing fast, firms must continually revise their design and range of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pricing
Pricing is the Business process, process whereby a business sets and displays the price at which it will sell its products and services and may be part of the business's marketing plan. In setting prices, the business will take into account the price at which it could acquire the goods, the manufacturing cost, the marketplace, competition, market condition, brand, and quality of the product. Pricing is a fundamental aspect of product management and is one of the four Ps of the marketing mix, the other three aspects being product, promotion, and Distribution (business), place. Price is the only revenue generating element among the four Ps, the rest being cost center (business), cost centers. However, the other Ps of marketing will contribute to decreasing price elasticity and so enable price increases to drive greater revenue and profits. Pricing can be a manual or automatic process of applying prices to purchase and sales orders, based on factors such as a fixed amount, quantit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scheduling (production Processes)
Scheduling is the process of arranging, controlling and optimizing work and workloads in a Production (economics), production process or manufacturing process. Scheduling is used to allocate plant and machinery resources, plan human resources, plan production processes and purchase materials. It is an important tool for manufacturing and engineering, where it can have a major impact on the productivity of a process. In manufacturing, the purpose of scheduling is to keep due dates of customers and then minimize the production time and costs, by telling a production facility when to make, with which staff, and on which equipment. Production scheduling aims to maximize the efficiency of the operation, utilize maximum resources available and reduce costs. In some situations, scheduling can involve random attributes, such as random processing times, random due dates, random weights, and stochastic machine breakdowns. In this case, the scheduling problems are referred to as "stochastic s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
