By Bruce Einhorn
Friday, August 15 2008 02:07 PM
URL: http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/business/0,39044229,62044912,00.htm

news analysis International credit-rating company Fitch Ratings has cut the debt rating of Chartered Semiconductor.

According to Bloomberg, the Singapore-based chip foundry has been downgraded to junk status--another example today of just how hard it is to make it in the semiconductor industry.

A foundry is a chipmaker that produces semiconductors not under its own brand name, but for customers that outsource their production.

Chartered--long been considered one of the top names in the Asian semiconductor business--is backed by the Singapore government, one of the most tech-savvy anywhere. However, for years, the foundry has languished in the shadow of industry heavyweight TSMC.

Businesspeople and politicians in China, Southeast Asia and India have dreamed of building expensive chip fabs to take on the likes of TSMC and Samsung Electronics--which is the world leader in memory chips.

However, if even a Singapore-backed company has a hard time in chipmaking, imagine how much harder it is for a newcomer to make much of an impact.

This article was first published as a blog on BusinessWeek.com.