GSA contends fabless is more

Amir Ben-Artzi, EE Times
(05/05/2008 12:00 AM EDT)

Netanya, Israel -- Success in the $268 billion semiconductor industry depends on outsourcing, partnerships, financial performance, software and, most of all, innovation and flexibility, according to presenters and panelists at the Global Semiconductor Alliance's recent Israel Executive Forum, held in Tel Aviv.

Not surprisingly, outsourcing mainly means moving to the fabless business model, according to Dwight Decker, chairman of the GSA and of Conexant Systems Inc. "The fabless model will eventually take over the whole industry--partly because the compound annual growth rate in the overall semiconductor market is now 6 percent, while the CAGR in the fabless sector is 28 percent," Decker said in a forum presentation.

The clustering of capabilities requires collaboration through partnerships and consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. As device complexity deepens, so does the need to work across the ecosystem, according to Ron Torten, vice president of sales at Inphi Corp.

Conexant's Decker stressed that success will increasingly require integration of supply-chain partners into cohesive units.

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