Globalfoundries, the manufacturing concern spun off from Advanced Micro Devices, plans to announce Wednesday that it has signed up STMicroelectronics--its first true outside customer.
STMicroelectronics supplies the accelerometer for the iPhone 3GS
(Credit: Apple)Globalfoundries was created last year in order to eliminate the crippling overhead that AMD was incurring to manufacture its processors. Globalfoundries now conducts business as a contract chip manufacturer, commonly referred to as a foundry.
AMD owns 34.2 percent of the company, while Advanced Technology Investment Co. owns the rest. ATIC is an investment company wholly owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, which is part of the United Arab Emirates.
Last week, Globalfoundries broke ground on a $4.2 billion facility in Malta, N.Y., that is expected to put it among the elite chipmakers of the world. Currently, Globalfoundries manufactures chips for AMD at facilities in Dresden, Germany.
STMicroelectronics will commission Globalfoundries to make low-power chips using a 40-nanometer process, which "is ideal for the next generation of wireless applications, handheld devices, and consumer electronics," according to a statement. Production is slated for 2010.
Currently, the most advanced manufacturing processes in the chip industry are at the 34-nanometer level--which Intel uses to manufacture flash memory chips. More typically, chips are made on advanced processes ranging between 40 and 50 nanometers. Generally, the smaller the chip's geometries, the faster and more power efficient it is.
Globalfoundries would not say what specific types of chips it will make for STMicroelectronics, whose product portfolio includes memory, microcontrollers, power management silicon, and MEMS or Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems.
One of the highest profile products STMicroelectronics supplies today is the accelerometer for the iPhone 3GS. Based on MEMS technology, the accelerometer allows the 3GS to determine device orientation or inclination.
STMicroelectronics was ranked among the top 5 chipmakers in the world based on revenue in 2008, according to market researcher iSuppli.
The iPhone, of course, is more than the sum of its parts, but the cost of individual components adds up--to $178.96, to be exact.
A new analysis by iSuppli details the cost of the iPhone 3GS and the motley collection of chips inside.
The entry-level (16GB) version of the iPhone 3GS carries a BOM (bill of materials) cost of $172.46 and a manufacturing expense of $6.50, for a total of $178.96, said Andrew Rassweiler, director and principal analyst, teardown services, for iSuppli, in a statement.
Apple iPhone 3GS major components and cost drivers
(Credit: iSuppli)Service providers are paying more for the low-end iPhone 3G S than the original iPhone 3G, according to Rassweiler. "Although the retail price of the 16GB iPhone 3GS is $199, the same as for the 8GB version of the original iPhone 3G, the actual price of the phone paid by the service provider is considerably higher, reflecting the common wireless industry practice of subsidizing the upfront cost of a mobile phone and then making a profit on subscriptions," he said.
And what are the major cost drivers? The 16GB flash memory chip is the priciest at $24--and reflects the rising cost of flash chips due to supply constraints, according to iSuppli. This part is also available from Samsung. So there could be some second-sourcing (sourcing the part from a second chip supplier) in the future.
The next rung in the cost ladder is the 3.5-inch display module and touch-screen assembly, at $19.95 and $16, respectively.
Below this, is the main Samsung applications processor. Priced at $14.46, it is the fourth most costly component in the iPhone 3GS. ... Read more
IBM, Samsung Electronics, STMicroelectronics, and others are teaming up on the development of next-generation chip technology for small, low-power devices with one wary eye on Intel, which is expediting its move to chips with smaller geometries.
(Credit:
IBM)
IBM and its semiconductor technology alliance partners are announcing the availability of 28-nanometer (nm) chip technology, a little more than a generation beyond the 45nm technologies currently used by Intel and Advanced Micro Devices in their latest chips.
The first products using chips based on this technology are expected in the second half of 2010, an IBM spokesman said. Devices will include smartphones and consumer electronics products.
The largest, single countervailing force to the IBM-led group is Intel. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chip giant's chief executive, Paul Otellini, said Tuesday in a first-quarter earnings conference call that Intel is "pulling in" the release of "Westmere" chips based on 32nm technology and will ship silicon later this year.
Generally, the smaller the geometry, the faster and more power efficient the chip is.
The IBM alliance--which also includes the AMD manufacturing spin-off Globalfoundries, Chartered Semiconductor, and Infineon Technologies--are jointly developing the 28nm chipmaking process based on the partners' "high-k metal gate" (which minimizes current leakage), low-power complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technology.
The technology "can provide a 40 percent performance improvement and a more than 20 percent reduction in power, in a chip that is half the size, compared with 45nm technology," IBM said in a statement. "These improvements enable microchip designs with outstanding performance, smaller feature sizes and low standby power, contributing to faster processing speed and longer battery life in next-generation mobile Internet devices and other systems."
IBM said customers can begin their designs now using 32nm technology and then transition to 28nm for density and power advantages without the need for a major redesign.
One prominent customer is U.K.-based ARM, whose basic chip design has been used in billions of devices all over the world. ARM is collaborating with the IBM alliance to develop a design platform for 32nm and 28nm technology and is tuning its Cortex processor family and future processors to exploit the technology's capabilities, IBM said.
AMD is doing something Intel can't do: compete in the massive mobile phone market. AMD processors and mobile graphics technology were disclosed at the 2008 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Tuesday.
AMD Imageon chip and concept device
(Credit: AMD)The Imageon A250 applications processor is used for video recording/playback and photo imaging, among other applications, and can be programmed for multimedia and high-level graphics, referred to as vector graphics.
The Imageon D160 mobile TV solution is a hardware and software package that allows mobile phone makers to receive over-the-air broadcast TV signals in a USB-powered device. The chipmaker also introduced the Imageon M210 audio processor for high-definition audio.
AMD is also offering graphics technology separately. The company's Z460 3D graphics taps into the same patented AMD Unified Shader Architecture that provides a graphics platform for the Microsoft Xbox 360 video game system, AMD said. Shaders are used for rendering 3D objects. AMD Z180 graphics technology is targeted at navigational systems and portable devices designed to handle animation, mapping, and Flash-style content. The Z180 features a native hardware-accelerated vector graphics solution, designed to render graphics between 20 and 40 times faster than software-based solutions.
The Imageon technology announced in Barcelona is a refresh of technology announced about a year ago, said AMD spokesperson Jo Albers, and came to AMD when it purchased ATI Technology back in 2006. AMD's strategy in this respect has differed dramatically from Intel's. The latter offloaded its handheld processor business to Marvell Technology around the same time that AMD purchased ATI. Intel is now trying to get back into the ultramobile game with Silverthorne (due later this year) but that processor, though small and relatively power efficient, is too power-hungry for compact mobile phones (though conceivably Silverthorne could be used in iPhone-like devices).
Imageon chips are currently used in over 50 mobile phones and devices from companies like Motorola, LG, Panasonic, and Samsung. And AMD offers graphics technology to Freescale Semiconductor, Qualcomm, and STMicroelectronics, among others.
The new chips, however, won't appear in products until the end of this year or next year because of the length of the design cycles, AMD said.
In related news, STMicroelectronics is using AMD technology in its application processors. The STMicroelectronics Nomadik STn8820 multimedia application processor is based on an ARM 1176 core and can achieve speeds as fast as 528 MHz. The processor integrates AMD's graphics technology for 2D and 3D applications, STMicro said. More here.
- prev
- 1
- next
