Integrated device manufacturer

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An integrated device manufacturer (IDM) is a semiconductor company which designs, manufactures, and sells integrated circuit (IC) products. As a classification, IDM is often used to differentiate between a company which handles semiconductor manufacturing in-house, and a fabless semiconductor company, which outsources production to a third-party. Due to the dynamic nature of the semiconductor industry, the term IDM has become less accurate than when it was coined.

OSATs[]

The term OSATs means "outsourced semiconductor assembly and test providers". OSATs have dominated IC packaging and testing.^[1]

Fabless operations[]

The terms fabless (fabrication-less), foundry, and IDM are now used to describe the role a company has in a business relationship. For example, Freescale owns and operates fabrication facilities (fab) where it manufactures many chip product lines, as a traditional IDM would. Yet it is known to contract with merchant foundries for other products, as would fabless companies.

Manufacturers[]

Many electronic manufacturing companies engage in business that would qualify them as an IDM:

Reading[]

• Understanding fabless IC technology By Jeorge S. Hurtarte, Evert A. Wolsheimer, Lisa M. Tafoya 1.4.1 Integrated device manufacturer Page 8

References[]