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Fabless refers to the business methodology of outsourcing the manufacturing of silicon wafers, which has become the preferred business model in the semiconductor industry. Fabless companies focus on the design, development and marketing of their products and form alliances with silicon wafer manufacturers, or foundries. A fabless company outsources 75% or greater of its wafer manufacturing and sells silicon to an end-customer.
Fab-lite refers to integrated device manufacturers or vertically integrated companies with a strategy bent toward utilizing a fabless approach. A fab-lite company outsources less than 75% of its wafer manufacturing and is a silicon provider.
Integrated Device Manufacturer (IDM) is a class of semiconductor company that owns an internal silicon wafer fab or, as the name indicates, the fabrication of wafers is integrated into its business. However, even IDMs may do some outsourcing. An IDM produces 75% or more of its silicon internally.
Foundry is a service organization that caters to the processing and manufacturing of silicon wafers. A pure-play foundry is a company that focuses 100% of its efforts on this service and offers no end products. These companies typically develop and own the process technology or partner with another company for it. Some companies offer 100% wafer manufacturing services and others offer foundry services to supplement their company’s own requirements.
Fab is short for fabrication facility or silicon wafer manufacturing plant. This term is typically used to describe an individual facility, rather than a company.
Wafer is short for silicon wafer, which is a thin disk of purified crystalline semiconductor that is cut after processing into individual chips. Today’s leading foundries provide 8-inch wafers.
OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. OEMs are companies that produce hardware to be sold under its or another company's brand.
ODM is an acronym for Original Development Manufacturer. The term covers companies that develop and manufacture a product that is then sold under their own or under other brand names.
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