Fabless

Fabless

What is fabless (fabless company)​?

A company that has the skills to design semiconductors but does not have a production line.

Types of semiconductor companies: Fabless vs Foundry vs IDM(Integrated Devive Manufacturer)

The semiconductor industry is largely divided into three groups; an “Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM)” controls every process from planning to manufacturing the final products on their own, a “Foundry” only oversees manufacturing, and a “Fabless” only has the resources to design semiconductors.

What does fabless mean​ in semiconductor?

A “fabless,” or a semiconductor designing company, combines two words: FAB (fabrication) refers to the semiconductor production line, and “less” means the absence of something. In other words, a fabless is a semiconductor company without a production line.

Then What is foundry?

A company that only has a production line is called a foundry.

How does fabless work?

In developing semiconductors, planning is of the utmost importance, but to make these plans a reality, production lines are necessary, too. However, a single semiconductor production line is extremely costly, which is why fabless companies, which specialize in planning, outsource the production to foundries.

In other words, fabless companies pay foundries to produce their products for them, and they profit from the semiconductors that the foundries manufacture.