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Commentary / Analysis

• Smartphone is next stop for PCI Express (Friday Sep. 14, 2012)
  PCI Express, the I/O backbone of PCs and servers, is getting a low-power extension that will take it into Ultrabooks, tablets and smartphones starting next year. The enhanced interconnect will draw two to four times less power while helping mobile devices link to high-performance peripherals such as 60-GHz wireless networking controllers and solid-state drives.
  
  
• Chip design’s recycle cycle: Interview with Aart de Geus, chairman and co chief executive, Synopsys (Friday Sep. 14, 2012)
  Some 15 years ago, Synopsys bet on the idea that third party intellectual property (IP) would an important element of the integrated circuit business.
  
  
• Samsung begins building China fab (Thursday Sep. 13, 2012)
  South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has broken ground on a wafer fab for NAND memory production in Xian, in northwestern China.
  
  
• Intel sees quad-patterned path to 10 nm chips (Thursday Sep. 13, 2012)
  Intel Corp. has found a way to create a 10 nm process technology using immersion lithography. In addition, the processor giant is on track to start making chips in a 14 nm process technology before the end of next year, said an Intel fellow in a talk here.
  
  
• Analyst: Apple A6 processor is dual-core Cortex-A15 (Thursday Sep. 13, 2012)
  The A6 processor inside Apple's iPhone 5 mobile phone is a dual-core Cortex-A15 design manufactured for Apple by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in its 32-nm HKMG manufacturing process, according to analysts at Nomura Equity Research.
  
  
• Intel's Bohr sees at least 10 more years of scaling (Thursday Sep. 13, 2012)
  Despite the naysayers continually predicting an end to Moore's Law,Intel Senior Fellow Mark Bohr doesn't envision an end to semiconductor CMOS scaling for at least a decade.
  
  
• IPhone 5 bill of materials estimate is $167.50 (Thursday Sep. 13, 2012)
  The bill of materials for Apple’s new IPhone 5 comes in at an estimated $167.50 for the 16-Gb version, or about $35 higher than a comparable version of the IPhone 4S, according to a preliminary estimate by the tear down specialists at TechInsights.
  
  
• Five Companies to Account for 64% of $61.4B Semiconductor Capex in 2012 (Wednesday Sep. 12, 2012)
  The top 5 capex spenders for 2012—Samsung, $13.1 billion; Intel, $11.2 billion; TSMC, $8.3 billion, SK Hynix, $3.7 billion; and GlobalFoundries, $3.1 billion—are forecast to account for 64% of the $61.4 billion in semiconductor capital expenditures forecast for 2012
  
  
• IHS Downgrades Semiconductor Market Outlook (Wednesday Sep. 12, 2012)
  Global semiconductor revenue now is expected to decline slightly for the year, contracting by 0.1 percent compared to an earlier IHS forecast that called for marginal growth of less than 3 percent, according to preliminary results from the IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool from information and analytics provider IHS.
  
  
• The Linley Group Says Mobile Processor Market Grew 60 Percent in 2011 (Tuesday Sep. 11, 2012)
  Due to strong growth in the mobile device market, The Linley Group estimates that the mobile processor market grew more than 60 percent in 2011.
  
  
• SEMI Reports Second Quarter 2012 Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Figures; Billings US$ 10.3 Billion (Tuesday Sep. 11, 2012)
  SEMI today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$ 10.34 billion in the second quarter of 2012. The billings figure is 4 percent lower than the first quarter of 2012 and 13 percent lower than the same quarter a year ago.
  
  
• Apple puts audio processor on hold for iPhone 5 (Tuesday Sep. 11, 2012)
  Audience Inc., a supplier of audio processing ICs and intellectual property, said Apple is unlikely to "enable" Audience's IP in its next generation iPhone 5, which is expected to be launched on Wednesday (Sept. 12).
  
  
• IPhone 5 expected to sport quad-core, LTE (Tuesday Sep. 11, 2012)
  Apple is expected to launch its iPhone 5 this week, sporting a custom quad-core processor, LTE, an upgraded image sensor and a new, smaller connector. Pundits debate whether the new handset will pack near-field communications and a larger display.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Increase Slightly in July (Tuesday Sep. 11, 2012)
  SIA today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $24.40 billion for the month of July 2012, a slight increase of 0.2 percent from the previous month when sales were $24.34 billion.
  
  
• Intel preps interconnect for server CPUs (Monday Sep. 10, 2012)
  Intel Corp. is not providing details, but it has disclosed plans that confirm industry speculation of recent weeks. The x86 giant is developing a next-generation interconnect it will integrate in future Xeon and Atom server processors addressing a range of uses from supercomputers to microservers.
  
  
• TSMC set to expand 2013 capex to $10bn (Monday Sep. 10, 2012)
  TSMC is planning to set capital expenditure for 2013 at $10 billion, up from about $8.25 billion in 2012, according to reports that reference the Chinese-language Economic Daily News. Reports also reckon TSMC will be making processors for Apple in 2013.
  
  
• As Wintel Dominance Wanes, the Microsoft/Intel Alliance Frays (Monday Sep. 10, 2012)
  After a generation of setting the pace and calling the shots in the computer market, the Microsoft Corp./Intel Corp. cartel known as Wintel now finds itself playing catch-up in the new era of smartphones and media tablets, spurring a widening rift in the historic alliance.
  
  
• Why China still can't create the next Texas Instruments (Monday Sep. 10, 2012)
  Will China ever create an enterprise comparable in size, creativity and impact to Texas Instruments? So far, it hasn't come close. For now, there’s not much chance it will.
  
  
• Apple said to cut Samsung memory order (Friday Sep. 07, 2012)
  Apple Inc. has reduced its order with Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. for memory ICs for its forthcoming model of iPhone, according to a Reuters report that referenced an unnamed source.
  
  
• Intel forum is next front in x86 vs. ARM war (Friday Sep. 07, 2012)
  Next week's Intel Developer Forum is shaping up as the next front in the battle over who will own the cloud and who will own the mobile client.
  
  
• Front-End Fab Equipment Spending to Grow 17 Percent in 2013 (Thursday Sep. 06, 2012)
  SEMI today released an update to its World Fab Forecast database, which indicates that total fab spending for equipment needed to ramp fabs, upgrade technology nodes, and expand or change wafer size could increase 16.7 percent in 2013 to reach a new record high of $42.7 billion
  
  
• London Calling: ARM's East copes with uncertainty (Wednesday Sep. 05, 2012)
  Warren East, the CEO of U.K. processor licensor ARM Holdings plc, is warning that sales will slow in second half in 2012 due global economic uncertainty.
  
  
• TSMC said to plan 450-mm production for 2018 (Wednesday Sep. 05, 2012)
  Foundry chip maker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. now foresees the start of volume production of ICs on 450-mm diameter wafers in 2018
  
  
• VeriSilicon touts shift from fab lite to design lite (Wednesday Sep. 05, 2012)
  If you think chip companies are popping up everywhere in China, producing a flood of me-too products based on me-too business models, well, think again. VeriSilicon doesn’t fit the stereotype and defies many preconceived notions about Chinese technology companies.
  
  
• Semiconductor R&D Spending to Hit Record-High $53.4 Billion in 2012 (Tuesday Sep. 04, 2012)
  Spending on research and development by semiconductor companies worldwide is expected to grow 10% in 2012 to a record-high $53.4 billion compared to the current peak of $48.7 billion set in 2011, according to the Mid-Year Update of IC Insights’ 2012 McClean Report.
  
  
• Report: TSMC rebuffs Apple, Qualcomm (Wednesday Aug. 29, 2012)
  Apple and Qualcomm have each offered more than a $1 billion to foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to obtain a dedicated supply of processor chips, and both their offers have been rejected, according to a Bloomberg report.
  
  
• IHS Downgrades Semiconductor Market Outlook - Revenue Decline Now Expected for 2012 (Tuesday Aug. 28, 2012)
  Weakening economic conditions are spurring reduced demand for PCs and related electronic components, prompting IHS to downgrade its forecast for 2012 global semiconductor market chip revenue.
  
  
• After Apple win, Droids should feel afraid (Monday Aug. 27, 2012)
  The Android community should be very afraid in the wake of Apple’s clear win Friday in its case against Samsung in San Jose’s federal court.
  
  
• New twist in Intel, ARM server war: Interconnects (Friday Aug. 24, 2012)
  A new front has opened up in the war over server microprocessors between Intel and ARM—interconnect. The technology is key to a range of chip-to-chip uses from high-speed networking to future non-volatile memory interfaces, supercomputer clusters and 3-D chip stacks.
  
  
• European and Japanese Chip Suppliers Hit Hardest by Weak Q2 Semiconductor Market Growth (Thursday Aug. 23, 2012)
  Stifled by poor economic conditions, global semiconductor market revenue in the second quarter fell by 3 percent year-on-year, resulting in widespread revenue declines for chip suppliers, particularly those headquartered in Japan and Europe.