By Peter Clarke, eeNews Europe (July 16, 2021)
Intel's $30bn talks to buy Globalfoundries would create more upheaval for European wafer fab plans
Intel's plans to buy GlobaFoundries, reported in the Wall St Journal, would to give it a boost in its move to a foundry model but would create more upheaval for plans for wafer fabs in Europe.
A takeover of Globalfoundries by Intel could have an impact in Europe. Globalfoundries is already established in Dresden with plans to expand manufacturing there while Intel has pledged it will also build a wafer fab in Europe. If Intel were to take over Globalfoundries to create the core of its Intel Foundry Services business it may choose to stagger the construction of wafer fabs in Europe or even to postpone one indefinitely. Meanwhile TSMC is considering building a wafer fab in Europe targetting the 16nm to 12nm process technologies which is where GlobalFoundries also operates.