This week, the global semiconductor industry has stirred once again. GlobalFoundries, the third largest foundry in the world, announced the acquisition of the well-established processor IP company MIPS.

As soon as the news broke, discussions erupted in the industry. Many speculated whether GlobalFoundries would follow Intel’s lead, changing its “pure foundry” strategy to directly design and manufacture chips, thus competing directly with its numerous fabless chip design customers?

GlobalFoundries clarified: We will not become an IDM.

In response to market concerns, Erica McGill, GlobalFoundries’ Director of Communications, provided a clear answer in an interview with foreign media:

“The acquisition of MIPS will enhance GlobalFoundries’ ability to provide more complete and differentiated services to our customers. By integrating MIPS’ mature RISC-V processor IP and software tools, our customers will have broader access to computing IP, shorten time-to-market, and gain greater flexibility and openness. This move will make GlobalFoundries a more strategically significant partner, as we not only provide manufacturing services but also foundational computing technologies to help customers create smarter, faster, and more efficient products.” GlobalFoundries reiterated that the company will maintain its position as a “pure foundry” and that this acquisition does not signify a strategic shift; the company has no intention of designing or directly selling its own chip products.

The real strategy: providing customers with a full suite of IP solutions to accelerate product deployment.

So, what is the true intention behind GlobalFoundries’ acquisition of MIPS? The answer is: to provide customers with a one-stop “turnkey” IP solution, thereby simplifying system design and significantly shortening time-to-market.

This is undoubtedly a huge boon for emerging companies venturing into chip development for the first time or customers seeking vertically integrated solutions. GlobalFoundries hopes to assist customers in completing chip design more easily and quickly by providing pre-validated IP cores.

The early Loongson processors used MIPS’ licensed IP architecture.

“We remain a pure foundry, focused on helping our customers build world-class products on our platform,” a GlobalFoundries spokesperson stated. “This acquisition expands our service capabilities, allowing us to provide more comprehensive product support to fabless customers, especially those building chips for the first time or committed to vertical integration.”

New battleground: competition with IP suppliers is inevitable.

Although GlobalFoundries emphasizes that it will not compete with chip design customers, by providing processor IP based on the open instruction set architecture RISC-V, it will inevitably compete with existing IP suppliers like Andes Technology.

However, GlobalFoundries believes it has a unique advantage: the ability to combine IP with its differentiated manufacturing processes and reliable capacity guarantees. This is something purely IP companies cannot match.

In the past, foundries typically only provided relatively simple basic IP (such as interface IP). GlobalFoundries will be the first foundry to offer computing IP based on the RISC-V open instruction set architecture, greatly enhancing its value to numerous emerging customers.

These IP combinations will be applied in high-growth areas such as autonomous driving platforms, embedded systems, and smart edge devices, especially in industries with strict requirements for real-time computing, security certification, and scalable architecture, such as automotive, IoT, and data center infrastructure.

MIPS will continue to operate independently.

Finally, GlobalFoundries has committed that after the acquisition is completed, MIPS will continue to operate as an open and independent IP supplier. Customer relationships will remain unchanged: MIPS will maintain existing customer relationships, and customers can continue to work with their familiar customer teams. Projects and agreements will remain unchanged: all ongoing projects and existing agreements will continue without disruption. Partners will remain unchanged: MIPS will continue to collaborate with other foundries.

“MIPS customers will continue to work with their existing customer and support teams as before, and all ongoing projects and agreements will proceed without disruption,” a GlobalFoundries spokesperson emphasized.

In summary, GlobalFoundries’ acquisition of MIPS is not intended to overturn its business model but rather represents a shrewd strategic upgrade. It aims to strengthen its differentiated competitiveness in the RISC-V era through a deep integration of “manufacturing + IP,” providing unprecedented added value to customers, thereby elevating itself from a mere “foundry” to a more core “technology empowerment partner” for customers. How this move will shake up the global semiconductor landscape remains to be seen.

Editor: Xiang Hanqiu

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