14 DAY TRIAL // Taiwan's Semiconductor Manufacturing Company could see more competition in the years ahead, as the state of Abu Dhabi is planning to make its debut into the semiconductor production segment, according to a recent news report. The state's plans include the construction of a wafer fab in the region, which is expected to become operational within four years. This further expands the state's involvement in the chip-manufacturing business, after helping AMD spin off its manufacturing arm into a new company, called Globalfoundries.
According to a recent news report on Maktoob.com, the state of Abu Dhabi, through its Advanced Technology Investment Company, or ATIC, will set up a foundry in the desert, which will produce semiconductors. The plan is that the new fab will be constructed within four years and that the effort will put ATIC in direct competition with the world's number-one semiconductor company, TSMC.
“In four years, you're going to see the first foundry here in Abu Dhabi,” Waleed Al Muhairi, chairman of ATIC and the COO of government firm Mubadala Development Co., said. “It's the kind of industry-changing move that Abu Dhabi has been behind,” he added.
As you have probably read in previous articles, Abu Dhabi's push into the semiconductor production segment has already been marked by the US$10-billion investment into AMD's factory spinoff know as Globalfoundries, of which ATIC owns 70%. Aside from the $1.8-billion bid for Chartered, ATIC is also investing US$4.2 billion in a new Globalfoundries fab in New York, US. In addition, the company purchased the manufacturing base in Dresden, Germany for US$2.1 billion.
ATIC and the Abu Dhabi state are not only planning to enter a competition with TSMC, but with other semiconductor makers as well, including Intel, which is currently the world's leading vendor of computer processors and owns the majority of the market.