fab-lite berarti, secara harfiah, ringan pabrikasi (fabrication). Intinya adalah pabrikasi minimal, alias berupaya melakukan pabrikasi seminimal mungkin, dan lebih berfokus pada riset dan penjualan.

Tentu saja, minimal dari sisi sendiri, sebab kerja pabrikasinya dialihdayakan (outsourced) ke pihak lain.

Ref: http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/david-manners-semicon...
A fab-lite strategy is a no-cash strategy - a consequence of not having the money to build a fab," says Jean-Francois Fau...

Over at Intersil which out-sources about 20% of its product, CEO Dave Bell says: "If you're TI with a $6-7bn analogue business you can afford it. But the cost question is not: 'Can I build a cheaper wafer than a foundry?' but: 'Can I make cheaper wafers for the next seven years until the equipment is depreciated?'"

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Note added at 2 hrs (2012-10-27 12:16:18 GMT)
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Tambahan referensi:

Ref: http://www.gsaglobal.org/2009/01/glossary-of-terms/
Fab-lite refers to integrated device manufacturers or vertically integrated companies with a strategy bent toward utilizing a fabless approach. A fab-lite company outsources less than 75% of its wafer manufacturing and is a silicon provider.

fabless = tanpa pabrikasi (fabrication)