Qualcomm and SEMATECH sign collaborative agreement

ALBANY & SAN DIEGO, USA: SEMATECH, a global consortium of the world’s leading chip manufacturers, and Qualcomm Inc., a leading developer and innovator of advanced wireless technologies, products and services, announced that Qualcomm has entered into a collaborative agreement with SEMATECH to advance CMOS scaling and assess new technologies.

As the first integrated, fabless chip manufacturer to join SEMATECH, Qualcomm plans to participate in a high-level engagement to assess the feasibility of technologies that are designed to extend Moore’s Law.

“We are pleased to welcome Qualcomm to SEMATECH and we look forward to gaining important insights from Qualcomm, given their leadership in the fabless community and mobile application solutions, on how we can shape our advanced technology programs to meet the industry’s future needs,” said Dan Armbrust, president and CEO of SEMATECH.

“This new collaborative effort broadens the scope of participation in SEMATECH, and underscores our commitment to bring all sectors of the industry together in assessing technology options, creating standards, building early infrastructure and charting overall industry direction.”

“Qualcomm has a long history of working with various industry partners to specify and drive the next generations of process technology,” said Jim Clifford, senior vice president and general manager of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies.

“SEMATECH’s strong affiliation with chip manufacturers and suppliers, universities and research institutions around the world, coupled with its R&D capabilities and technical knowledge, offer an excellent opportunity to enhance our participation in the industry’s technology agenda and help shape the industry’s direction.”

This collaboration with Qualcomm is one facet of SEMATECH’s strategic initiative to develop new opportunities for creative cooperation across the semiconductor ecosystem so as to address the industry’s technical and business challenges and reduce the cost and risk of major technology transitions.

SEMATECH has expanded its programs participation to include fabless companies, as well as chipmakers and equipment and materials manufacturers, to drive industry consensus and provide cost-effective solutions.