IBM sells chip-fabbing business to GlobalFoundries

[ahhming]

This might be the most confusing purchase/selling ever.

 

IBM will pay GlobalFoundries $1.5 billion over the next three years in order to take the fabs and respect existing contracts.
GlobalFoundries will also get intellectual property, world-class semiconductor specialists and technologies related to IBM Microelectronics. In addition, GlobalFoundries will become IBM’s exclusive server processor maker for 22nm, 14nm and 10nm chips for the next 10 years.
 

GlobalFoundries this week said that the U.S. authorities had approved its acquisition of IBM’s microelectronics business unit. From now on, GlobalFoundries will make various important semiconductors for the U.S. military and government agencies.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has reviewed the proposed transaction between IBM and GlobalFoundries and concluded in favour of the deal, which means that nothing stops GlobalFoundries from taking over microelectronics operations from IBM. The transaction is expected to close in the near future.

 

Shareholders, however, have been less than pleased with IBM's handling of the deal. The City of Sterling Heights Police & Fire Retirement System, a Michigan-based pension fund, has sued IBM for allegedly inflating the value of the chipmaking division ahead of the sale, which the fund claims subsequently caused IBM's stock to tank.
 

"This transaction, once final, enables IBM to further focus on systems innovation and fundamental semiconductor research and development to power future cloud, mobile, and big data workloads," the Armonk, New York company said. "GlobalFoundries will have access to the research resulting from this investment through the companies' collaboration with other industry leaders at the Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, in Albany

 

IBM was so desperate to unload the lossmaking division that it was willing to pay GlobalFoundries $1.5bn to prop up the unit while it tries to make it profitable.

 

tldr: Global Foundries was paid by IBM to buy its own chip-making division.

 

Source:

 

http://www.kitguru.net/components/anton-shilov/u-s-government-clears-acquisition-of-ibms-chip-unit-by-globalfoundries/

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/06/30/regulators_ok_ibm_globalfoundries_deal/

[Lolzious]

Imagine if AMD stopped making CPUs and IBM/GlobalFoundries took their place making consumer chips.

As much as it would suck to see AMD go that way, it would be better than just having Intel controlling the market (a recipe for overpriced CPUs)

 

Though, this is of course just a thought ;p

[slightlyjaded]

I thought gloFo didn't have a viable 14nM process yet, let alone 10nM.

[Deli]

I thought gloFo didn't have a viable 14nM process yet, let alone 10nM.

For the next 10 years.

[Yog]

Hmm...very strange, paying a foreign state to take US defense contracts....very strange indeed.

[linuxnutcase]

Interesting how they will make government chips,

[patrickjp93]

This is very old news. IBM finalized this almost 8 months ago.

Edit: okay, the Feds approved it. Didn't know there was even an issue.

[asim1999]

i thought GlobalFoundries was owned by AMD

[LukaP]

i thought GlobalFoundries was owned by AMD

naah they sold it a few years ago. 

 

Generally fabs are an expensive ordeal, and that is why only the big ones have their own (being intel and samsung)

[Guest Strangerbob]

I remind you the fact that the smallest feature on a 22nm intel chip is 90nm big.

 

Each company has their own way of calculating the advertised size.

So the entire "measuring process" of how they determine the sizes is PURE SHIT.

 

 

We apparently live in the age where everyone just fucking lies about the specs and the excuses are some crap about different measurements and measurement calculations and shit.

 

nm size is a lie,

contrast ratios are lies,

response times lies,

color depth is also a lie

core count has turned into a lie...

resolution is soon to become a lie with all that multisampling crap,

some companies nowadays just lie about the vram of a video card,

 

"FUCK IT! Lets LIE!... those cuntsumers are braindead retards anyway!"

 

GG

[patrickjp93]

 

I remind you the fact that the smallest feature on a 22nm intel chip is 90nm big.

 

Each company has their own way of calculating the advertised size.

So the entire "measuring process" of how they determine the sizes is PURE SHIT.

 

 

We apparently live in the age where everyone just fucking lies about the specs and the excuses are some crap about different measurements and measurement calculations and shit.

 

nm size is a lie,

contrast ratios are lies,

response times lies,

color depth is also a lie

core count has turned into a lie...

resolution is soon to become a lie with all that multisampling crap,

some companies nowadays just lie about the vram of a video card,

 

"FUCK IT! Lets LIE!... those cuntsumers are braindead retards anyway!"

 

GG

 

That's not remotely true. Gate pitch and metal pitch are not all that matter. There are smaller features there.

[LukaP]

That's not remotely true. Gate pitch and metal pitch are not all that matter. There are smaller features there.

IIRC intel defines their 22nm Trigate as the halflenght between the channels/fins. and with the fins being even thinner than that, actually they could define it as <20nm smallest feature size, but they arent.

[Notional]

Imagine if AMD stopped making CPUs and IBM/GlobalFoundries took their place making consumer chips.

As much as it would suck to see AMD go that way, it would be better than just having Intel controlling the market (a recipe for overpriced CPUs)

 

Though, this is of course just a thought ;p

 

Actually Global Foundries is an offspring of AMD via a collaboration with a technology investment group in 2009. AMD used to manufacture their own chips just like Intel. Back then AMD collaborated with IBM as well.

 

I thought gloFo didn't have a viable 14nM process yet, let alone 10nM.

 

They already manufacture 14nm LPE (low power early), and 14nm LPP (low power plus) is in initial production as we speak. So A/C/G-PU's with 14nm FinFet should be on time for mid 2016 mass release. LPP might even be used then. TSMC with their 16nm FInFet+ is another situation, and might be delayed. Hopefully NVidia will get that contract with GF soon or they will be stuck with TSMC and we might see Pascal be delayed past Q3 2016.

 

i thought GlobalFoundries was owned by AMD

 

Collaboration. Actually one of the collaborators is the biggest share holder of AMD.