Renesas is going fab-lite.It is putting out its MCU production on 40nm to TSMC.
Commnenting on the move,Europe's leading semiconductor analyst,Malcolm Penn CEO of Future Horizons said:"Another small step towards global domination for TSMC,a giant leap into oblivion for Renesas and Japan semiconductors Inc...total madness."
The company,which made a$790m loss last year,is expected to announce a raft of further measures–the sale of one of its Japan-based fabs to TSMC,the raising of$1.3bn in capital and the sacking of a quarter of its workforce.
It is said that Renesas is bowing to pressure from analysts to adopt a fab-lite strategy.
When Renesas was formed in 2003 by merging the semiconductor operations of Hitachi and Mitsubishi,it was the world's No.2 semiconductor company.
It sank to No.7 before joining up with NEC's semiconductor operation in 2009 when the combination became the world's No.3 semiconductor company.
Two years later,in 2011,Renesas was the world's No.5 semiconductor company.
The company has pursued rather conservative product and technology strategies.
