What is a semiconductor foundry?

In simple terms, a semiconductor foundry (also known as a fab) is a factory where silicon wafers are manufactured. The main customers of a semiconductor foundry are chip makers such as: Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel, AMD and more.

Semiconductor foundries today are at the core of our modern-day society, as almost everything that we use in day-to-day life is electronic and made from chips, which all need to be made produced somewhere. Fabs appeared as a response to the rapidly increasing need for semiconductor devices all around the world, which pushed the electronics industry towards better and larger fabrication plants, where economies of scale truly become worthwhile.