You don't re-fit a fab, you build it from scratch. There is very little technological overlap where it matters due to the shift to EUV. You'd essentially have to scrap >75% of the fab to fit in the new equipment.
Not only that, but the fab undergoing the 2 - 5 year refit would also not be in full production capability.
So there is the revenue loss in addition to everything else.
and suddenly just building new makes even more sense.
There is a YouTube channel called asianometry which did some videos about UV lithography. Form what I remember the processes vary significantly in each generation so that there probably is little to no real overlap.
I'm no expert though so might be off by a mile here.
crote|2 years ago
You don't re-fit a fab, you build it from scratch. There is very little technological overlap where it matters due to the shift to EUV. You'd essentially have to scrap >75% of the fab to fit in the new equipment.
RF_Savage|2 years ago
theK|2 years ago
I'm no expert though so might be off by a mile here.