Qualcomm turns to SMIC for Snapdragon production at 28nm

Under the agreement, SMIC will manufacture Qualcomm's latest Snapdragon processors on 28nm node (both PolySiON and high-K dielectrics metal gate), and Qualcomm will offer support to accelerate SMIC's 28nm process maturity and capacity. SMIC has previously supported Qualcomm on power management, wireless and connectivity related IC products at various process nodes. With this new collaboration, SMIC says it wants to extend its technology offerings on 3DIC and RF front end wafer manufacturing. "We are delighted to enter into this collaboration with Qualcomm," said company CEO Dr Tzu-Yin Chiu. "With their support, we are confident that our 28nm technologies will become one of the most important growth drivers for the company. "We expect that the 28nm product life cycle longevity will exceed previous nodes, which will help better position SMIC to service the needs of Qualcomm, as well as others." Qualcomm also announced today that it has acquired Wilocity, a developer of 60GHz wireless chipsets based on the IEEE 802.11ad standard, also known as WiGig. "Ultimately, the integration of WiGig will help Qualcomm fulfill its 1000x vision to densify the network to address increasing mobile data demand," said the company's Amir Faintuch. "Combining multi-gigabit speeds and low energy use, WiGig technology will strengthen our connectivity leadership and create exciting new experiences that will accelerate the commercialisation and adoption of 802.11ad technology."