from SemiAnalysis, Jun. 21, 2021 –
GlobalFoundries is still a leading-edge foundry for semiconductor manufacturing. There is a divergence in the usage of this terminology with companies such as TSMC, Samsung, and Intel chasing the technical definitions of Moore's Law while ignoring all cost scaling benefits. Many people will erroneously claim GlobalFoundries dropped out the leading-edge race because they stopped their 7nm node development. Despite this being the primary form of leading-edge manufacturing in semiconductors, it's not the only one. GlobalFoundries is pushing the bleeding edge of manufacturing in other ways that are arguably just as important: silicon photonics, usage of materials such as silicon nitride and gallium nitride for wired and wireless communications, 3D integration, heterogenous integration, and fully depleted silicon on insulator technologies (FD-SOI). Much of this leadership technology comes from the acquisition of IBM's semiconductor manufacturing business, partnerships with firms in the US defense industry, and subsequent R&D investments built upon this.