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Commentary / Analysis

• Semiconductor Inventory Declines as Suppliers Adjust to Slow Market Conditions (Thursday Jan. 05, 2012)
  Chip inventories held by semiconductor suppliers declined in the third quarter of 2011, putting a halt to the steady expansion of the previous seven quarters, as the industry cut production in order to reduce oversupply.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Experience Near Term Challenges, Long Term Growth (Tuesday Jan. 03, 2012)
  The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.1 billion for the month of November 2011, a decrease of 2.4 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.7 billion.
  
  
• Global Mixed Signal System-on-a-Chip Market worth $212.69 Billion by 2016 (Wednesday Dec. 28, 2011)
  The global System-on-a-Chip (SoC) market is expected to grow from $85.9 billion in 2011 to $225 billion in 2016 at a CAGR of 21.24% from 2011 to 2016. The Mixed Signal System-on-a-Chip (MxSoC) market is expected to be $72.16 billion in 2011 (a percentage share of 84% in SoC market)
  
  
• Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 1 Percent to Reach $302 Billion in 2011 (Wednesday Dec. 21, 2011)
  Worldwide semiconductor revenue grew 0.9 percent from 2010, reaching $302 billion in 2011, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. After a strong start to the year, worries about the strength of the macroeconomy slowed equipment and semiconductor orders in 2011.
  
  
• ARM Forecast to Accelerate Lead in the Automotive Sector Over the next Five Years (Thursday Dec. 15, 2011)
  Analysis of findings from Semicast’s Embedded Processing Service and Automotive Electronics & Entertainment Systems Service shows that ARM maintained its position as the leading architecture for 32-bit embedded processors in the automotive sector in 2011, ahead of Power Architecture, SH, TriCore and V850. The data also suggests that ARM’s lead in this sector is set to increase significantly over the next five years.
  
  
• Mobile SoC TAM to Exceed 3.1 Billion Devices in 2015 (Wednesday Dec. 14, 2011)
  Driven by consumer's desire to be connected anywhere and anytime and the ever increasing access to any and every type of content, the electronics industry continues to change rapidly.
  
  
• TSMC goes it alone with 3-D IC process (Wednesday Dec. 14, 2011)
  TSMC will try to go it alone with an integrated 3-D chip stacking technology as its only offering for future customers. The approach makes commercial sense for TSMC, but some fabless chip designers said it lacks technical merit and limits their options.
  
  
• Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Spending to Reach $309 billion in 2012, a 2.2 Percent Increase from 2011 (Monday Dec. 12, 2011)
  Worldwide semiconductor revenue is forecast to reach $309 billion in 2012, a 2.2 percent increase from 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. This outlook is down from Gartner's previous projection in the third quarter for 4.6 percent growth in 2012.
  
  
• Samsung Takes Record Share of Global DRAM in Q3 (Monday Dec. 12, 2011)
  South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. in the third quarter managed to rise above challenging conditions in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) business to achieve an all-time record-high market share, according to a new IHS iSuppli DRAM Market Brief from information and analysis provider IHS
  
  
• In search of new chip startup funding models (Wednesday Dec. 07, 2011)
  We've heard it so many times, by now it sounds like a broken record: venture capitalists, long the lifeblood nurturing a thriving community of semiconductor startups, have all but abandoned the chip industry, turning instead to social media and green energy technologies, where the common wisdom is a smaller investment can go a lot further.
  
  
• Nvidia: ARM supercomputer to be more efficient than x86 (Tuesday Dec. 06, 2011)
  An ARM CPU is inherently more efficient than an x86 CPU and therefore best suited toward the high performance computing needs of the future, according to Nvidia Corp.
  
  
• Worldwide Semiconductor Sales Projected to Top $300 Billion in 2011 (Tuesday Dec. 06, 2011)
  SIA has endorsed the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s Autumn 2011 global semiconductor sales forecast which has projected semiconductor sales to grow to $302 Billion for 2011, reaching the $300 Billion mark for the first time and representing a 1.3 percent growth rate over the record-breaking year in 2010.
  
  
• Intel Reasserts Semiconductor Market Leadership in 2011 (Monday Dec. 05, 2011)
  After three years of seeing its dominant position in the global semiconductor market whittled away by aggressive competition from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Intel Corp. is set to reverse the trend in 2011, with a combination of strong sales and an acquisition allowing the company to rebuild its margin of market leadership.
  
  
• Opinion: AMD roadmap change benefits TSMC? (Thursday Nov. 24, 2011)
  Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (AMD) roadmap is about to see some significant changes according to sources at the company.
  
  
• Reports: AMD cancels Globalfoundries 28nm APUs (Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011)
  Microprocessor vendor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has decided to cancel APUs that Globalfoundries Inc. was set to make for it on 28-nm process technology, according to online reports.
  
  
• Power Management Semiconductors Market Growth Slows in 2011 (Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011)
  The market in 2011 for power management semiconductors will grow more slowly than expected, stymied by a general slowdown in consumer spending and the disruption caused by the March Japanese earthquake.
  
  
• IHS Reduces 2011 Semiconductor Forecast (Friday Nov. 18, 2011)
  IHS has reduced its global semiconductor market forecast for 2011—but still predicts a slight rise in revenue compared to 2010 because of continued growth in the third quarter. Global semiconductor revenue in 2011 now is expected to rise by 1.2 percent compared to 2010, according to a preliminary forecast.
  
  
• Gartner Says Semiconductor Inventory Correction Dampening Sales in Second Half of 2011 (Friday Nov. 18, 2011)
  As many semiconductor vendors announced relatively weak sales for the third quarter of 2011, and pre-announced poor guidance for the fourth quarter, the anticipated inventory correction is well under way, according to Gartner, Inc.
  
  
• Where the Smart Money Goes in Semiconductors (Thursday Nov. 17, 2011)
  When you think of profitable semiconductor categories, what comes to your mind? In a good year, NAND and DRAM can be very profitable. Considering Intel's size and position in the market, Micro Logic would be another good guess. But the smart money goes to the Analog market for long-term, stable profitability.
  
  
• Wireless Connectivity ICs to Surpass $8 Billion in 2011 with Broadcom, Qualcomm, CSR, Texas Instruments, and Many Others Set to Reap the Rewards (Monday Nov. 14, 2011)
  The total market for standards-based wireless connectivity ICs is expected to exceed 3.5 billion units per annum in 2011. “Broadcom leads the market with Qualcomm, CSR, and Texas Instruments all snapping at its heels,” says Peter Cooney, practice director, semiconductors. “The market will total more than $11 billion per annum by 2014.”
  
  
• Has the layoff wave begun? (Friday Nov. 11, 2011)
  Fears about a wave of successive layoffs by semiconductor firms were stoked last week when two chip makers gave out walking papers
  
  
• Intel listed as ARM graphics partner (Thursday Nov. 10, 2011)
  According to the slide set distributed by ARM to accompany its announcement of the Mali-T658 graphics core Intel is a semiconductor partner within the "Mali graphics ecosystem."
  
  
• Extreme Results Expected in a 2011 Semi Market Forecast to Grow 2% (Wednesday Nov. 09, 2011)
  Although low single-digit growth is forecast for the total semiconductor market this year, there are several companies expected to register results that are quite different.
  
  
• Report: ST sees chip market likely at bottom (Wednesday Nov. 09, 2011)
  Carlo Bozotti, CEO of Europe's largest chip company STMicroelectronics, has said that his company has seen bookings recovering over the last few weeks, according to a MarketWatch report.
  
  
• TSMC sees signs of market turning up (Monday Nov. 07, 2011)
  
  
  
• TSMC: 28-nm tech, demand 'on plan' (Monday Nov. 07, 2011)
  Maria Marced, European president of foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., has pushed back against claims by market researchers at Gartner Inc. that foundries are having problems with yield on 28-nm process technologies.
  
  
• Analyst calls 'bottom' of IC downturn (Friday Nov. 04, 2011)
  The semiconductor industry downturn has hit bottom, and "phase one" of an upturn for chips has begun, according to a Wall Street analyst.
  
  
• TI talks future-proofing for Omap (Friday Nov. 04, 2011)
  Tomorrow’s mobile application processor will not only be capable of rendering holographic displays, high-definition augmented reality, real-time voice translation, natural speech interaction and multi-view synthesis, but may also be able to handle neuro, fuzzy-based and even humanistic intelligence according, to Texas Instruments Inc.
  
  
• Foundries have 28-nm yield issues, say execs (Thursday Nov. 03, 2011)
  Although foundry chip manufacturing will continue to grow faster than the overall chip market for the next few years, it is currently facing challenges at the leading-edge 28-nm manufacturing node, according to market analysis company Gartner and others.
  
  
• Calxeda could spur 32-bit microserver market (Wednesday Nov. 02, 2011)
  Confirmation of the partnership between Hewlett Packard Co. and Texas startup Calxeda Inc. to develop ARM-based servers has added more fuel to discussions about microservers, and which process technology is best poised to serve the market.