Glossary comparison
Fabless vs IDM: what is the difference?
The difference
An integrated device manufacturer designs, fabricates and often assembles and tests its chips in-house, a model that remains common for memory and analogue products.
A fabless company designs and sells chips but has no or limited wafer fabrication capability and buys wafers from foundries.
The two terms
Fabless
A business model in which a company designs and sells chips but owns no wafer fabrication plant, buying manufacturing capacity from foundries and packaging from OSATs.
IDM
A semiconductor company that designs, fabricates, tests and markets its own chips in its own facilities rather than outsourcing wafer manufacturing. Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Infineon and Micron are the classic examples.
Side by side
| Field | Fabless | IDM |
|---|---|---|
| Stands for | Not an abbreviation | Integrated Device Manufacturer |
| Type | Business | Acronym |
| Domain | Business & Market | Business & Market |
| Group | Business models | Business models |