Editing Foundry model

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2022}}
{{other uses|Foundry (disambiguation)}}
{{short description|Microelectronics engineering and manufacturing business model}}

The '''foundry model''' is a [[microelectronics]] engineering and manufacturing [[business model]] consisting of a [[semiconductor fabrication plant]], or foundry, and an [[integrated circuit design]] operation, each belonging to separate companies or subsidiaries.<ref>{{cite journal
 | title =  Taiwan and the foundry model
 | author = M. Liu
 | journal = Nature Electronics
 | date = 14 May 2021
| volume = 4
 | issue = 5
 | pages = 318–320
 | doi = 10.1038/s41928-021-00576-y
 | doi-access = 
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | chapter =  The Role of Semiconductor Foundries in Advanced Integrated Circuit Product Development
 | author = S. K. Saha
 | title = International Technology Management Conference
 | date = 25-27 June 2012
 | pages = 32–35
 | doi = 10.1109/ITMC.2012.6306393
 | isbn = 978-1-4673-2134-1
 | s2cid = 7329163
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book
 | chapter =  Foundry Technologies
 | author = F. C. Tseng
 | title = International Electron Devices Meeting. Technical Digest
 | date = 8-11 Dec 1996
 | pages = 19–24
 | doi = 10.1109/iedm.1996.553030
 | isbn = 0-7803-3393-4
 | s2cid = 40610229
 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal
 | title =  Foundry Technology Trend
 | author = J.Y.-C. Sun
 | editor1-first = David
 | editor1-last = Burnett
 | editor2-first = Dirk
 | editor2-last = Wristers
 | editor3-first = Toshiaki
 | editor3-last = Tsuchiya
 | journal = Proceedings of SPIE
 | series = Microelectronic Device Technology II
 | date = 1998
 | volume = 3506
 | pages = 19–24
 | doi = 10.1117/12.323970
 | bibcode = 1998SPIE.3506...19S
 | s2cid = 173181521
 }}</ref> It was first conceived by [[Morris Chang]], the founder of the [[Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited]] (TSMC).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Morris Chang: Foundry Father - IEEE Spectrum |url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/morris-chang-foundry-father |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=[[IEEE Spectrum]] |language=en}}</ref>

[[Integrated device manufacturer]]s (IDMs) design and manufacture integrated circuits. Many companies, known as [[fabless semiconductor company|fabless semiconductor companies]], only design devices; merchant or [[pure play]] foundries only manufacture devices for other companies, without designing them. Examples of IDMs are [[Intel]], [[Samsung Electronics|Samsung]], and [[Texas Instruments]],
examples of pure play foundries are [[GlobalFoundries]], [[TSMC]], and [[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]], and examples of fabless companies are [[Advanced Micro Devices|AMD]], [[Nvidia]], and [[Qualcomm]].{{cn|date=January 2025}}

Integrated circuit production facilities are expensive to build and maintain. Unless they can be kept at nearly full use, they will become a drain on the [[finances]] of the company that owns them. The foundry [[Business model|model]] uses two methods to avoid these costs: fabless companies avoid costs by not owning such facilities. Merchant foundries, on the other hand, find work from the worldwide pool of fabless companies, through careful [[Scheduling (production processes)|scheduling]], [[pricing]], and contracting, keep their plants in full use.{{cn|date=January 2025}}

==History==
Companies that both designed and produced the devices were originally responsible for manufacturing microelectronic devices. These manufacturers were involved in both the [[research and development]] of manufacturing processes and the research and development of [[microcircuit]] design.

The first pure play semiconductor company is the [[Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation]] founded by [[Morris Chang]], a [[Corporate spin-off|spin-off]] of the government [[Industrial Technology Research Institute]], which split its design and fabrication divisions in 1987,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tsmc.com/english/aboutTSMC/company_profile.htm |title=Company Profile |publisher=TSMC |access-date=2020-12-06}}</ref> a model advocated for by [[Carver Mead]] in the U.S., but deemed too costly to pursue. The separation of design and fabrication became known as the foundry model, with [[fabless manufacturing]] outsourcing to [[semiconductor foundry|semiconductor foundries]].<ref name=Brown>{{cite book|last1=Brown|first1=Clair|last2=Linden|first2=Greg|title=Chips and change : how crisis reshapes the semiconductor industry|date=2011|publisher=MIT Press|location=Cambridge, Mass.|isbn=9780262516822|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9RnxtWd3ZEkC&pg=PA47}}</ref>

[[Fabless semiconductor companies]] do not have any semiconductor fabrication capability, instead contracting with a merchant foundry  for fabrication. The fabless company concentrates on the research and development of an IC-product; the foundry concentrates on manufacturing and [[Test method|testing]] the physical product. If the foundry does not have any semiconductor design capability, it is a pure-play semiconductor foundry.

An absolute separation into fabless and foundry companies is not necessary. Many companies continue to exist that perform both operations and benefit from the close coupling of their skills. Some companies manufacture some of their own designs and contract out to have others manufactured or designed, in cases where they see [[Value (marketing)|value]] or seek special skills. The foundry model is a business model that seeks to optimize productivity.

===MOSIS===
The very first merchant foundries were part of the [[MOSIS]] service. The MOSIS service gave limited production access to designers with limited means, such as students, university researchers, and engineers at small [[Startup company|startups]].<ref name="BergerLester2015">{{cite book|author1=Suzanne Berger|author2=Richard K. Lester|title=Global Taiwan: Building Competitive Strengths in a New International Economy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BHCmBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA142|date=12 February 2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-46970-4|pages=142–}}</ref> The designer submitted designs, and these submissions were manufactured with the commercial company's extra capacity. Manufacturers could insert some [[Wafer (electronics)|wafers]] for a MOSIS design into a collection of their own wafers when a processing step was compatible with both operations. The commercial company (serving as foundry) was already running the process, so they were effectively being paid by MOSIS for something they were already doing. A factory with excess capacity during slow periods could also run MOSIS designs to avoid having expensive [[Capital (economics)|capital]] equipment stand idle.

Under-use of an expensive manufacturing plant could lead to the financial ruin of the owner, so selling surplus [[Wafer (electronics)|wafer]] capacity was a way to maximize the fab's use. Hence, economic factors created a climate where fab operators wanted to sell surplus wafer-manufacturing capacity and designers wanted to purchase manufacturing capacity rather than try to build it.

Although MOSIS opened the doors to some fabless customers, earning additional [[revenue]] for the foundry and providing inexpensive service to the customer, running a business around MOSIS production was difficult. The merchant foundries sold wafer capacity on a surplus basis, as a secondary business activity. Services to the customers were secondary to the commercial business, with little [[guarantee]] of support. The choice of merchant dictated the design, development flow, and available techniques to the fabless customer. Merchant foundries might require [[Property|proprietary]] and non-portable preparation steps. Foundries concerned with protecting what they considered [[trade secret]]s of their [[methodologies]] might only be willing to release data to designers after an onerous [[nondisclosure agreement|nondisclosure]] procedure.

===Dedicated foundry===
In 1987, the world's first dedicated merchant foundry opened its doors: [[TSMC|Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC)]].<ref name="HirakawaLal2013">{{cite book|author1=Hitoshi Hirakawa|author2=Kaushalesh Lal|author3=Shinkai Naoko|title=Servitization, IT-ization and Innovation Models: Two-stage Industrial Cluster Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QkNXCLjxJsoC&pg=PA34|year=2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-63945-3|pages=34–}}</ref> The distinction of 'dedicated' is in reference to the typical merchant foundry of the era, whose primary business activity was building and selling of its own [[Integrated circuit|IC]]-products. The dedicated foundry offers several key advantages to its customers: first, it does not sell finished IC-products into the [[supply (economics)|supply]] channel; thus a dedicated foundry will never compete directly with its fabless customers (obviating a common concern of fabless companies). Second, the dedicated foundry can scale production capacity to a customer's needs, offering low-quantity [[Multi-project wafer service|shuttle]] services in addition to full-scale [[Mass production|production]] lines. Finally, the dedicated foundry offers a "COT-flow" (customer owned tooling) based on industry-standard [[Electronic design automation|EDA]] systems, whereas many IDM merchants required its customers to use proprietary (non-portable) development tools. The COT advantage gave the customer complete control over the design process, from concept to final design.

==Foundry sales leaders by year==
* '''Pure-play semiconductor foundry''' is a company that does not offer a significant amount of IC products of its own design, but instead operates [[semiconductor fabrication plant]]s focused on producing ICs for other companies.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://epsnews.com/2020/09/22/pure-play-foundry-market-on-pace-for-strongest-growth-since-2014/  |title=Pure-Play Foundry Market On Pace For Strongest Growth Since 2014 |date=22 September 2020 |publisher=EPS News |access-date=2021-01-06}}</ref>
* '''[[Integrated device manufacturer]] (IDM) semiconductor foundry''' is where companies such as [[Texas Instruments]], [[IBM]], and [[Samsung]] join in to provide foundry services as long as there is no conflict of interest between relevant parties.

=== 2023 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+As of 2023, the top semiconductor foundries were:<ref>{{Cite web |last=Chung |first=Eden |title=Press Center - Global Top 10 Foundries Q4 Revenue Up 7.9%, Annual Total Hits US$111.54 Billion in 2023, Says TrendForce {{!}} TrendForce - Market research, price trend of DRAM, NAND Flash, LEDs, TFT-LCD and green energy, PV |url=https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20240312-12072.html |access-date=2024-03-29 |website=TrendForce |language=en}}</ref>
|-
!Rank
! rowspan="2" |Company
! rowspan="2" |Foundry type
! rowspan="2" |Country/Territory of origin
! colspan="2" |Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
! 2023
! Q4 2023
! Q3 2023
|-
| 1
|[[TSMC]]
| Pure-play
|Taiwan
| 19,660
| 17,249
|-
|2
|[[Samsung Electronics|Samsung Semiconductor]]
|IDM
|Korea
|3,619
|3,690
|-
| 3
|[[GlobalFoundries]]
| Pure-play
|United States
| 1,854
| 1,852
|-
| 4
|[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]
| Pure-play
|Taiwan
| 1,727
| 1,801
|-
| 5
|[[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]
| Pure-play
|China
| 1,678
| 1,620
|-
|6
|[[Hua Hong Semiconductor]]
|Pure-play
|China
|657
|766
|-
| 7
|[[Tower Semiconductor]]
| Pure-play
|Israel
| 352
| 358
|-
| 8
|[[Powerchip Semiconductor|PowerChip]]
| IDM
|Taiwan
| 330
| 305
|-
|9
|[[Nexchip]]
|Pure-play
|China
|308
|283
|-
| 10
|[[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] (VIS)
| Pure-play
|Taiwan
| 304
| 333
|}
=== 2017 ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+As of 2017, the top pure-play semiconductor foundries were:<ref>{{Cite web|title=Press Center – TrendForce Reports Top 10 Ranking of Global Semiconductor Foundries of 2017, TSMC Ranks First with Market Share of 55.9% {{!}} TrendForce – Market research, price trend of DRAM, NAND Flash, LEDs, TFT-LCD and green energy, PV|url=https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20171129-9922.html|access-date=2020-07-01|website=TrendForce|language=en}}</ref>
|-
!Rank
! rowspan="2" |Company
! rowspan="2" |Foundry type
! rowspan="2" |Country/Territory of origin
! colspan="2" |Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
! 2017
! 2017
! 2016
|-
| 1
|[[TSMC]]
| Pure-play
|Taiwan
| 32,040
| 29,437
|-
| 2
|[[GlobalFoundries]]
| Pure-play
|United States
| 5,407
| 4,999
|-
| 3
|[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]
| Pure-play
|Taiwan
| 4,898
| 4,587
|-
| 4
|[[Samsung Electronics|Samsung Semiconductor]]
| IDM
|Korea
| 7,398
| 4,284
|-
| 5
|[[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]
| Pure-play
|China
| 3,099
| 2,914
|-
| 6
|[[TowerJazz]]
| Pure-play
|Israel
| 1,388
| 1,249
|-
| 7
|[[Powerchip Semiconductor|PowerChip]]
| IDM
|Taiwan
| 1,035
| 870
|-
| 8
|[[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] (VIS)
| Pure-play
|Taiwan
| 817
| 801
|-
| 9
| [[Hua Hong Semiconductor]]
| Pure-play
|China
| 807
| 721
|-
| 10
| [[Dongbu HiTek]]
| Pure-play
|Korea
| 676
| 666
|}

===2016–2014===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ As of 2016, the top pure-play semiconductor foundries were:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331242|title=X-Fab is Fastest Growing Foundry|publisher=EE Times|date=23 January 2017|access-date=2017-05-10|first=Dylan|last=McGrath|archive-date=2017-01-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129040014/http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1331242|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eenewsanalog.com/news/smic-tower-x-fab-are-strongest-growing-pure-play-foundries|title=SMIC, Tower, X-Fab are strongest growing pure-play foundries|publisher=eeNews Analog|date=16 January 2017|access-date=2021-01-29|first=Peter|last=Clarke}}</ref>
|-
! colspan=2|Rank
! rowspan=2|Company
! rowspan=2|Foundry type
! rowspan=2|Country/Territory of origin
! colspan=3|Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
! 2016
! 2015
! 2016
! 2015
! 2014
|-
| 1
| 1
| [[TSMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 29,488
| 25,574
| 25,138
|-
| 2
| 2
| [[GlobalFoundries]]
| Pure-play
| United States
| 5,545
| 5,019
| 4,355
|-
| 3
| 3
| [[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 4,582
| 4,464
| 4,331
|-
| 4
| 4
| [[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]
| Pure-play
| China
| 2,921
| 2,236
| 1,970
|-
| 5
| 5
| [[Powerchip Semiconductor|PowerChip]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 1,275
| 1,268
| 1,291
|-
| 6
| 6
| [[TowerJazz]]
| Pure-play
| Israel
| 1,249
| 961
| 828
|-
|-
| 8
| 8
| [[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] (VIS)
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 800
| 736
| 790
|-
| 9
| 9
| Hua Hong Semi
| Pure-play
| China
| 712
| 650
| 665
|-
| 10
| 10
| [[Dongbu HiTek]]
| Pure-play
| Korea
| 672
| 593
| 541
|-
| 11
| 12
| [[X-Fab]]
| Pure-play
| Germany
| 510
| 331
| 330
|-
|-
| colspan=2| 
| Others
| Pure-play
|
| 2,251
| 2,405
| 2,280
|}

===2013===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ As of 2013, the top 13 semiconductor foundries were:<ref>[http://www.icinsights.com/news/bulletins/Top-13-Foundries-Account-For-91-Of-Total-Foundry-Sales-In-2013/ IC Insights: Top 13 Foundries Account for 91% of Total Foundry Sales in 2013]</ref>
|-
! 2013 Rank
! 2012 Rank
! Company
! Foundry Type
! Country/Territory of origin
! Revenue (million $[[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
| 1
| 1
| [[TSMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 19,850
|-
| 2
| 2
| [[GlobalFoundries]]
| Pure-play
| United States
| 4,261
|-
| 3
| 3
| [[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 3,959
|-
| 4
| 4
| [[Samsung Electronics|Samsung Semiconductor]]
| IDM
| Korea
| 3,950
|-
| 5
| 5
| [[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]
| Pure-play
| China
| 1,973
|-
|-
| 7
| 8
| [[Powerchip Semiconductor|PowerChip]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 1,175
|-
| 8
| 9
| [[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] (VIS)
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 713
|-
| 9
| 6
| [[Huahong Grace]]
| Pure-play
| China
| 710
|-
| 10
| 10
| [[Dongbu]]
| Pure-play
| Korea
| 570
|-
| 11
| 7
| [[TowerJazz]]
| Pure-play
| Israel
| 509
|-
| 12
| 11
| [[IBM]]
| IDM
| United States
| 485
|-
| 13
| 12
| [[MagnaChip]]
| IDM
| Korea
| 411
|-
| 14
| 13
| [[Win Semiconductors]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 354
|-
|-
|}

===2011===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ As of 2011, the top 14 semiconductor foundries were:<ref>[http://semimd.com/blog/2012/02/10/umc-seeks-to-shed-image-as-%e2%80%98fast-follower%e2%80%99/ semimd.com: 2011 Major IC Foundries] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526153246/http://semimd.com/blog/2012/02/10/umc-seeks-to-shed-image-as-%E2%80%98fast-follower%E2%80%99/ |date=26 May 2013 }}.</ref>
|-
! Rank
! Company
! Foundry type
! Country/Territory of origin
! Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
| 1
| [[TSMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 14,600
|-
| 2
| [[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 3,760
|-
| 3
| [[GlobalFoundries]]
| Pure-play
| United States
| 3,580
|-
| 4
| [[Samsung Electronics|Samsung Semiconductor]]
| IDM
| Korea
| 1,975
|-
| 5
| [[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]
| Pure-play
| China
| 1,315
|-
| 6
| [[TowerJazz]]
| Pure-play
| Israel
| 610
|-
| 7
| [[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] (VIS)
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 519
|-
| 8
| [[Dongbu HiTek]]
| Pure-play
| Korea
| 500
|-
| 9
| [[IBM]]
| IDM
| United States
| 445
|-
| 10
| [[MagnaChip]]
| IDM
| Korea
| 350
|-
| 11
| [[Systems on Silicon Manufacturing|SSMC]]
| Pure-play
| Singapore
| 345
|-
| 12
| [[Hua Hong NEC]]
| Pure-play
| China
| 335
|-
| 13
| [[Win Semiconductors]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 300
|-
| 14
| [[X-Fab]]
| Pure-play
| Germany
| 285
|}

===2010===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ As of 2010, the top 10 semiconductor foundries were:<ref>[http://www.dongbuhitek.com/Data/File/CyberPr/CompanyProfile(Eng)-110801.pdf dongbuhitek.com: 2010 Foundry Ranking (citing Gartner)] (PDF).</ref>
|-
! Rank
! Company
! Foundry Type
! Country/Territory of origin
! Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
| 1
| [[TSMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 13,332
|-
| 2
| [[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 3,824
|-
| 3
| [[GlobalFoundries]]
| Pure-play
| United States
| 3,520
|-
| 4
| [[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]
| Pure-play
| China
| 1,554
|-
| 5
| [[Dongbu HiTek]]
| Pure-play
| Korea
| 512
|-
| 6
| [[Tower Semiconductor|TowerJazz]]
| Pure-play
| Israel
| 509
|-
| 7
| [[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] (VIS)
| Pure-play
| Taiwan
| 505
|-
| 8
| [[IBM]]
| IDM
| United States
| 500
|-
| 9
| [[MagnaChip]]
| IDM
| Korea
| 410
|-
| 10
| [[Samsung Electronics|Samsung Semiconductor]]
| IDM
| Korea
| 390
|}

===2009–2007===
As of 2009, the top 17 semiconductor foundries were:<ref>[http://pradeepchakraborty.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/foundries.jpg IC Insights, "2009 Major IC Foundries" March 2009].</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align=left;"
!Rank
!Rowspan="2"|Company
!Rowspan="2"|Foundry type
!Rowspan="2"|Country/Territory of origin
!Colspan="3"|Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
!2009
!2009
!2008
!2007
|-
|1||[[TSMC]] || Pure-play ||Taiwan||8,989||10,556||9,813
|-
|2||[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]] || Pure-play ||Taiwan||2,815||3,070||3,430
|-
|3||[[Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing|Chartered]]<small>(1)</small> || Pure-play ||Singapore||1,540||1,743||1,458
|-
|4||[[GlobalFoundries]] || Pure-play ||USA||1,101||0||0
|-
|5||[[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]] || Pure-play ||China||1,075||1,353||1,550
|-
|6||[[Dongbu]] || Pure-play ||South Korea||395||490||510
|-
|7||[[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]] || Pure-play ||Taiwan||382||511||486
|-
|8||[[IBM]] || IDM ||USA||335||400||570
|-
|9||[[Samsung]] || IDM ||South Korea||325||370||355
|-
|10||[[Grace Semiconductor|Grace]] || Pure-play ||China||310||335||310
|-
|11||[[Hejian Technology Corporation|HeJian]] || Pure-play ||China||305||345||330
|-
|12||[[Tower Semiconductor]] || Pure-play ||Israel||292||252||231
|-
|13||[[HHNEC]] || Pure-play ||China||290||350||335
|-
|14||[[Systems on Silicon Manufacturing|SSMC]] || Pure-play ||Singapore||280||340||359
|-
|15||[[Texas Instruments]] || IDM ||USA||250||315||450
|-
|16||[[X-Fab]] || Pure-play ||Germany||223||368||410
|-
|17||[[MagnaChip]] || IDM ||South Korea||220||290||322
|}
<small>(1) Now acquired by GlobalFoundries</small>

===2008–2006===
As of 2008, the top 18 pure-play semiconductor foundries were:<ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20110719142642/http://www.semiconductor.net/articles/blog/270000427/20090304/TopFoundries520.jpg IC Insights, "Leading Pure-Play Foundry Companies" March 2009]}}.</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align=left;"
!Rank
!Rowspan="2"|Company
!Rowspan="2"|Country/Territory of origin
!Colspan="3"|Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
!2008
!2008
!2007
!2006
|-
|1||[[TSMC]] ||Taiwan||10,556||9,813||9,748
|-
|2||[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]||Taiwan||3,400||3,755||3,670
|-
|3||[[Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing|Chartered]]||Singapore||1,743||1,458||1,527
|-
|4||[[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]||China||1,354||1,550||1,465
|-
|5||[[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]]||Taiwan||511||486||398
|-
|6||[[Dongbu HiTek|Dongbu]]||South Korea||490||510||456
|-
|7||[[X-Fab]]||Germany||400||410||290
|-
|8||[[HHNEC]]||China||350||335||315
|-
|9||[[Hejian Technology Corporation|HeJian]]||China||345||330||290
|-
|10||[[Systems on Silicon Manufacturing|SSMC]]||Singapore||340||350||325
|-
|11||Grace||China||335||310||227
|-
|12||[[Tower Semiconductor]]||Israel||252||231||187
|-
|13||[[Jazz Semiconductor]]||United States||190||182||213
|-
|14||[[Silterra]]||Malaysia||175||180||155
|-
|15||[[ASMC]]||China||149||155||170
|-
|16||[[Polar Semiconductor]]||Japan||110||105||95
|-
|17||[[Mosel-Vitelic]]||Taiwan||100||105||155
|-
|18||[[CR Micro]] <small>(1)</small>||China||-||143||114
|-
|colspan="3"|Others||140||167||180
|-
|colspan="3"|Total||20,980||20,575||19,940
|}
<small>(1) Merged with CR Logic in 2008, reclassified as an IDM foundry</small>

===2007–2005===
As of 2007, the top 14 semiconductor foundries include:<ref>[http://www.eetasia.com/IMAGES/EEOL_2008MAY08_MFG_NT_02.gif IC Insights, "2007 Major IC Foundries"].</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align=left;"
!Rank
!Rowspan="2"|Company
!Rowspan="2"|Foundry type
!Rowspan="2"|Country/Territory of origin
!Colspan="3"|Revenue (million [[United States dollar|USD]])
|-
!2007
!2007
!2006
!2005
|-
|1||[[TSMC]] ||Pure-Play||Taiwan||9,813||9,748||8,217
|-
|2||[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]||Pure-Play||Taiwan||3,755||3,670||3,259
|-
|3||[[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]||Pure-Play||China||1,550||1,465||1,171
|-
|4||[[Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing|Chartered]]||Pure-Play||Singapore||1,458||1,527||1,132
|-
|5||[[Texas Instruments]]||[[Integrated device manufacturer|IDM]]||United States||610||585||540
|-
|6||[[IBM]]||IDM||United States||570||600||665
|-
|7||[[Dongbu HiTek|Dongbu]]||Pure-Play||South Korea||510||456||347
|-
|8||[[Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation|Vanguard]]||Pure-Play||Taiwan||486||398||353
|-
|9||[[X-Fab]]||Pure-Play||Germany||410||290||202
|-
|10||[[Samsung]]||IDM||South Korea||385||75||-
|-
|11||[[Systems on Silicon Manufacturing|SSMC]]||Pure-Play||Singapore||350||325||280
|-
|12||[[HHNEC]]||Pure-Play||China||335||315||313
|-
|13||[[Hejian Technology Corporation|HeJian]]||Pure-Play||China||330||290||250
|-
|14||[[MagnaChip]]||IDM||South Korea||322||342||345
|}

For ranking in worldwide:<ref>[https://archive.today/20120730063652/http://i.cmpnet.com/eetimes/eedesign/2007/chart1_031407.gif IC Insights, "Worldwide 2006 Top 25 Semiconductor Sales Leaders"].</ref>

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align=left;"
!colspan="2"|Rank
!rowspan="2"|Company
!rowspan="2"|Country/Territory of origin
!colspan="2"|Revenue (million USD)
!rowspan="2"|2006/2005 changes
|-
!2006
!2005
!2006
!2005
|-
|6||7||[[TSMC]]||Taiwan||9,748||8,217||+19%
|-
|21||22||[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]||Taiwan||3,670||3,259||+13%
|}

===2004===
As of 2004, the top 10 pure-play semiconductor foundries were: {{Citation needed|date=March 2009}}

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align=left;"
!Rank 2004
!Company
!Country/Territory of origin
|-
|1||[[TSMC]]||Taiwan
|-
|2||[[United Microelectronics Corporation|UMC]]||Taiwan
|-
|3||[[Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing|Chartered]]||Singapore
|-
|4||[[Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation|SMIC]]||China
|-
|5||[[Dongbu HiTek|Dongbu]]/Anam||South Korea
|-
|6||[[Systems on Silicon Manufacturing|SSMC]]||Singapore
|-
|7||[[HHNEC]]||China
|-
|8||[[Jazz Semiconductor]]||United States
|-
|9||[[Silterra]]||Malaysia
|-
|10||[[X-Fab]]||Germany
|}

==Financial and IP issues==
Like all industries, the semiconductor industry faces upcoming challenges and obstacles.

The cost to stay on the leading edge has steadily increased with each generation of chips. The financial strain is being felt by both large merchant foundries and their fabless customers. The cost of a new foundry exceeds $1&nbsp;billion. These costs must be passed on to customers. Many merchant foundries have entered into joint ventures with their competitors in an effort to split research and design expenditures and fab-maintenance expenses.

Chip design companies sometimes avoid other companies' patents simply by purchasing the products from a licensed foundry with broad cross-license agreements with the patent owner.<ref>
{{cite book
 | chapter = When the chickens come home to roost: The licensed foundry defense in patent cases
 | title = Proceedings of COMPCON '94
 | author = R. H. Abramson
 | date = February 28 – March 4, 1994
 | pages = 348–354
 | doi = 10.1109/CMPCON.1994.282907
 | isbn = 978-0-8186-5380-3
 | s2cid = 2957002
 }}</ref>

Stolen design data is also a concern; data is rarely directly copied, because blatant copies are easily identified by distinctive features in the chip,<ref>
{{cite web
 | url = http://www.design-reuse.com/articles/15105/a-security-tagging-scheme-for-asic-designs-and-intellectual-property-cores.html
 | title = A Security Tagging Scheme for ASIC Designs and Intellectual Property Cores
 | author = Carol Marsh and Tom Kean
 | work = Design & Reuse
 }}</ref>
placed there either for this purpose or as a byproduct of the design process. However, the data including any procedure, process system, method of operation or concept may be sold to a competitor, who may save months or years of tedious [[reverse engineering]].

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[Fabless manufacturing]]
* [[Contract manufacturer]]
* [[Integrated device manufacturer]]
* [[Semiconductor fabrication]]
* [[Original design manufacturer]]
* [[Original equipment manufacturer]]
* [[Semiconductor fabless sales leaders by year]]
* [[Semiconductor equipment sales leaders by year]]
{{div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060516095811/http://www.compoundsemiconductor.net/articles/magazine/11/8/1/1 Compound Semiconductor.net: "Foundry model could be key to InP industry future"]

[[Category:Foundry semiconductor companies| ]]
[[Category:Semiconductor device fabrication]]
[[Category:Semiconductors]]