It seems the foundry industry is getting very very crowded with the emergence of Global Foundries. The industry will be forced to restructure itself and some of the weaker competitors will face bigger challenges. Of course most people (including us) have focused on the obvious rivalry between GF and TSMC but the other foundries will also be caught in the struggle. Digitimes reports China's largest foundry had the biggest drop in revenues in five years.
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC), China's largest silicon wafer foundry, experienced its largest net operating loss over the past five years in 2008. The company posted a loss of US$440 million, compared to an operating loss of US$19 million in 2007.
SMIC saw its revenues slide 12.7% to US$1.35 billion in 2008, which the foundry attributed to capacity adjustment at its Beijing fabs as well as the world economic meltdown. [...more]
Well they are still facing a tough industry environment and with addition of a new competitors, the smaller foundries might also have a big fight on their hands.
Look forward to your comments.