14 DAY TRIAL // With the 32nm manufacturing process on track, Globalfoundries has its heart now set on increasing its manufacturing capacities, recent reports suggesting that the company plans to spend no less than $5.4 billion on expanding and building a new plant in the state of New York.
According to Xbit Labs, the capital spending of Globalfoundries in 2011 will be two times higher compared to the company's 2010 capital expenditures.
Furthermore, the move is based on current customer programs and requests and it isn't in any way speculative.
The money will go towards building a new factory in Saratoga Country, New York, and expanding existing Dresden and Singapore-based fabs as well as the company's Abu Dhabi production facility.
When the upgrade process is over, Fab 1 will get nearly 110 thousand square feet of clean room space to enable the site to scale output up to 80 thousand wafers per month over the next two years.
Fab 2 will also see an increase in cleanroom area, reaching approximately 300 thousand square feet, which will enable a total output of approximately 60 thousand wafers per month.
In addition, Fab 7 in Singapore will also be expanded, the company expecting a 50 thousand wafers per month output once production is fully ramped.
The remaining capital is destined to go to the Saratoga County-based Fab 8 that is scheduled to go live in 2012.
Its construction has started in July 2009, and the Fab is equipped to manufacture 28nm chips using 300mm wafers.
When the expansion process is going to finish and the facilities become fully operational, Globalfoundries’ 300mm output will be around 190 thousand wafers per month.
Globalfoundries’ most important client is AMD, but other companies such as Qualcomm and STMicroelectronics also rely on its manufacturing capabilities for producing their chips.