According to GlobalFoundries, the company has initiated equipment move-in at its new foundry facility at its Singapore campus, and the first tools -- market-leading etching tools made by Lam Research -- have been moved into the facility's cleanroom. room.

GF said that just one year after breaking ground on the first phase of its expansion in Singapore, GF achieved this milestone in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board and co-investment from loyal customers. The expanded site will meet additional global demand for GF-manufactured chips for automobiles, smartphones, wireless connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other applications.

Thomas Caulfield, CEO of the company, said: "From a groundbreaking event almost due to a global pandemic to today's first tool launch, we are delivering on our commitment to expand our global manufacturing footprint to meet market demand for GF chips. Growing demand." "The first phase of our Singapore expansion plan is a great example of a strong partnership driving our industry forward."

“We are delighted that GlobalFoundries has selected Singapore for a major expansion of its global manufacturing footprint. We congratulate GlobalFoundries on successfully transitioning the plant from ground breaking to tool move in within a year, and on track to ramp up capacity in 2023” Chang Chin Nam, senior vice president and head of semiconductors at the Singapore Economic Development Board, said.

GF completed major construction of its Singapore expansion project, which includes 250,000 square feet (23,000 square meters) of cleanroom space and new administrative offices. Following today's first tool drop ceremony, GF will continue to add new tools to the cleanroom over the next few months, expected to be operational in 2023. Once completed, the new fab will have the capacity to produce 450,000 (300mm) wafers per year, increasing the foundry's disclosure that GF's Singapore fab has a total capacity of about 1.5 million (300mm) wafers per year.

The chipmaker said the new GF facility will be Singapore's most advanced semiconductor manufacturing base and is expected to create 1,000 new jobs.

In June 2021, GF announced that it would invest approximately $4 billion to expand its Singapore campus as part of the company's overall plan to expand its global manufacturing footprint and capacity to meet growing demand for GF-manufactured semiconductor chips.。