UMC vs GFS Comparison

Founded in 1980, United Microelectronics is the world's third-largest dedicated chip foundry, with 5% market share in 2024 after TSMC and SMIC. UMC's headquarters are in Hsinchu, Taiwan, and it operates 12 fabs in Taiwan, Mainland China, Japan and Singapore, with additional sales offices in Europe, the US, and South Korea. UMC features a diverse customer base that includes Texas Instruments, MediaTek, Intel, Broadcom, Novatek, and Realtek, supplying a wide range of products applied in communications, display, memory, automotive and more. UMC employs about 19,000 people as of February 2025.

GlobalFoundries is a top-five contract semiconductor manufacturer globally. It was originally the manufacturing arm of Advanced Micro Devices before it was spun out in 2009. The foundry sells chips into a range of end markets including smartphones, PCs, Internet of Things, data centers, automotive, industrial, and so on, but primarily focuses on more mature process technologies. Until 2021, the firm was privately held by Mubadala Investment, the sovereign wealth fund of the United Arab Emirates, which remains its controlling shareholder today. GlobalFoundries merged with Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing in 2009 and acquired IBM's chipmaking business in 2015. GF is headquartered in Malta, New York, and employs about 13,000 people.