Foundry

In classic English a foundry is a place where metal castings are made. However, in technology it has come to mean a Fab which makes processors for third parties. Large pure-play-foundries include TSMC, (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp.), Chartered Semiconductor, UMC (United Microelectronics Corporation), while a host of major fab-owning semiconductor manufacturers also offer foundry services, notably IBM, ST-Micro, OKI, etc. Because the physics of microprocessors manufactured with different processes vary, microprocessors will typically ‘target’ a particular foundry’s process.

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