Bengaluru: The humble semiconductor is set to unleash an era of smart gadgets that will change the way we live, according to a top official of one the world’s largest semiconductor foundries.
“From health care technology to wearables to smartphones, advanced semiconductors are already impacting our lifestyle in a huge way, although many people do not realise that,” Shaila Natarajan, Head of Design Centre in India for GlobalFoundries, said on Monday. “But the future will be even more creative and radically change the way we do things,” she said during and interaction with UAE media at the south Indian city of Bengaluru.
“Desktop computers, the Internet of Things, tablets, smartphones and smart watches will all undergo further radical development,” she said.
With more than 250 clients and 18,000 employees worldwide, GlobalFoundries manufactures integrated circuits in high volumes mostly for semiconductor companies, and is a 100 per cent subsidiary of Mubadala Technology. It was launched in March 2009 through a partnership between AMD and the Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), now known as Mubadala Technology. It acquired Chartered Semiconductor in January 2010 and IBM’s microelectronics division in 2015 to become one of the most significant operators in the industry.
“We already had a vast pool of talent and technology prior to 2015. With the acquisition of IBM’s unit, we are now the world’s second largest in terms of revenue,” Natarajan said. The foundry operates six fabrication plants in Singapore, one in Germany and three in the US.
