High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! In the microelectronics industry, a semiconductor fabrication plant (commonly called a fab) is a factory where devices such as integrated circuits are manufactured. A business that operates a semiconductor fab for the purpose of fabricating the designs of other companies, such as fabless semiconductor companies, is known as a foundry. If a foundry does not also produce its own designs, it is known as a pure-play semiconductor foundry. Fabs require many expensive devices to function. Estimates put the cost of building a new fab over one billion US dollars with values as high as $3-4 billion not being uncommon.