Industry Expert Blogs

Is the transition from 300mm to 450mm wafers just driven by 20-30% cost reduction? Or is there more to it than meets the eye? Let's take a look...

Like many semiconductor enthusiasts, my day begins with a look at EETimes. Imagine my surprise a few days back when I saw a story about Intel, TSMC, IBM, Samsung and Globalfoundries joining forces to do 450mm chip R&D in New York (Figure 1)! Now, as we know, the 300mm to 450mm wafer transition can produce around 20-25% cost savings if all goes well. That raises the question: Are rivals such as Intel, TSMC and Samsung working together just to get 20-25% cost savings? Or is there more at stake?

Let's analyze the situation...