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Commentary / Analysis

• Starting all over again on plastic: ARM (Wednesday Nov. 25, 2015)
  Reviewing over 30 years of ARM's history during ARM TechCon, CTO Mike Muller put side by side the ARM1 designed at the 3000nm (3um) node with 25k transistors and the Cortex M0's 48k transistors now designed at the 20nm node.
  
  
• Strong Smartphone Growth in a Saturated Cellphone Market (Monday Nov. 23, 2015)
  89% of the new cellphones sold worldwide in 2015 are forecast to be replacements or additional cellphones sold to existing subscribers.
  
  
• Internet of Things: Opportunities and challenges for semiconductor companies (Friday Nov. 20, 2015)
  McKinsey recently collaborated with the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) to investigate the Internet of Things more closely, with a focus on risks that could derail progress.
  
  
• North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts October 2015 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.98 (Friday Nov. 20, 2015)
  North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.33 billion in orders worldwide in October 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.98, according to the October EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.
  
  
• M&A Activity Could Help Move Semi Companies from Product Sales to Ecosystem Solutions (Thursday Nov. 19, 2015)
  Give a quick look around the current semiconductor industry. It is not the same as it was a couple years ago, and it would not be the same if the current streak of mergers and acquisitions runs on into next year.
  
  
• Is Google disrupting or stabilizing mobile SoCs? (Thursday Nov. 19, 2015)
  Google representatives recently spoke with several SoC builders about developing chips based on Google’s designs. It is part of a push by the company to bring uniformity to what they fear is a fragmented universe of Android phones.
  
  
• Intel will ship first Xeon chips with integrated FPGAs in Q1 2016 (Thursday Nov. 19, 2015)
  Intel will ship its first Xeon chips for servers with integrated field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) to increase application performance starting in the first quarter of 2016.
  
  
• Could Qualcomm Be China's Next Target? (Wednesday Nov. 18, 2015)
  After recent events, could Qualcomm now be vulnerable to an approach from an ambitious Chinese investor?
  
  
• Report: China Has $47bn Chip Fund Focused on U.S. M&A (Tuesday Nov. 17, 2015)
  Tsinghua Unigroup intends to spend 300 billion yuan (about $47 billion) over the next five years to build up China's position in the chip industry, according to the company chairman speaking in an interview given to Reuters.
  
  
• Tips to get funding for your IoT product idea (Monday Nov. 16, 2015)
  At ARM TechCon 2015, Eric Klein offered his perspectives during a keynote on what venture capitalists are looking to fund in IoT as well as some of the technology challenges that are slowing down innovation. Klein is a partner in Lemnos Labs, an early-stage hardware investment fund based in San Francisco, CA.
  
  
• A Therapy Session for Insecure IoT (Monday Nov. 16, 2015)
  Call the doctor, burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) devices are having a crisis! During a panel discussion at ARM TechCon, industry experts discussed the challenges of securing millions of devices.
  
  
• ARM Flexes Mbed, RTOSes Respond (Monday Nov. 16, 2015)
  ARM showed expanded support and reach of its Mbed operating system while some customers and competitors debated its impact on the Internet of Things at the company’s annual event here.
  
  
• Apple's A9: Story Within A Story (Friday Nov. 13, 2015)
  On a basic level it's a story of a sixth generation application processor that is fabricated in a FinFET process. It's also a bigger story of Apple's semiconductor design ambitions.
  
  
• Five Top-20 Companies Forecast to Show Double-Digit Growth this Year (Thursday Nov. 12, 2015)
  The top-20 supplier list includes three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and five fabless companies.
  
  
• ARM Extends Server to IoT Services (Thursday Nov. 12, 2015)
  ARM surveyed its work in everything from servers to cloud services for the Internet of Things at its annual conference here (Tuesday Nov. 10). Mike Muller, ARM's chief technology officer, expressed optimism about the future of the semiconductor industry in a keynote opening the event.
  
  
• TSMC Open to Selling Stake to Chinese Investors (Thursday Nov. 12, 2015)
  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest foundry, said it is open to the possibility of selling a stake in itself to Chinese investors.
  
  
• Silicon Shipment Levels Decline in Third Quarter 2015 (Thursday Nov. 12, 2015)
  Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments decreased during the third quarter 2015 when compared to second quarter area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.
  
  
• ARM CEO Touts IoT Security, Fire Safety (Thursday Nov. 12, 2015)
  ARM couldn’t have done it better if they tried. Just as CEO Simon Segars reached the climax of his TechCon keynote on the importance of security for the Internet of Things (IoT), a fire alarm rang out.
  
  
• Mentor's CEO on Merger Mania (Wednesday Nov. 11, 2015)
  The current pace of consolidation can't continue, says Mentor Graphics' CEO Wally Rhines.
  
  
• Scaling Down Semi Process Nodes for IoT Apps (Tuesday Nov. 10, 2015)
  In recent months, some major semiconductor companies and IC foundries have announced that they have scaled down transistor sizes in ICs to as little as 14 nanometers, setting the stage for the next step in reducing size and cost of Internet of Things system-on-chip designs.
  
  
• Cisco, Ericsson Flirt with Merger (Tuesday Nov. 10, 2015)
  In a rapidly consolidating tech industry, sometimes the biggest players are at a disadvantage. Such is the case with Cisco Systems and Ericsson the world's biggest makers of infrastructure for wired and cellular networks.
  
  
• Automotive IC Market to Display Strongest Growth Through 2019 (Monday Nov. 09, 2015)
  From 2014 through 2019, the automotive IC market is forecast to increase at an average annual growth rate of 6.7%, highest among the six major end-use IC applications (computer, consumer, communications, automotive, industrial/medical, and government/military), and greater than two points more than the 4.3% CAGR forecast for the total IC industry over this same time period
  
  
• Google Walks Fine Line in Android Chip Quest (Monday Nov. 09, 2015)
  Last week, speculation about Google’s plans for its own Android chips shifted into high gear. The Information reported that Google held discussions with silicon vendors about co-developing chip designs, including a phone’s main processor.
  
  
• A Look at Metal eFuses (Monday Nov. 09, 2015)
  TechInsights reverse engineers chips to understand how they are made and in some cases why certain structures are the way they are. This article examines two electrically blown fuse structures (eFuse) used in metal gate logic processes. This first eFuse structure that we look at is made by Intel and the second by TSMC.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 1.5 Percent in Third Quarter (Tuesday Nov. 03, 2015)
  The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research, today announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $85.2 billion during the third quarter of 2015.
  
  
• UMC Meets Expectations on 28nm Ramp as Demand Slumps (Thursday Oct. 29, 2015)
  United Microelectronics Corp. (UMC), the world’s second-largest foundry, is meeting its expectations for a slowed ramp of 28nm process technology because of weak demand that’s likely to persist until 2016 while the chip industry recovers from an inventory correction.
  
  
• Chip Mergers, Impacts Still Ahead (Monday Oct. 26, 2015)
  The consolidation of the semiconductor industry is far from over and most of its impacts on employment and chip pricing are still ahead.
  
  
• Foundry Sales Defy IC Decline (Friday Oct. 23, 2015)
  Nearly 38% of worldwide integrated circuit sales to systems manufacturers in 2015 are coming from products fabricated by silicon foundry services compared to 26% in 2010 and about 21% in 2005, based on an analysis by IC Insights
  
  
• North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 2015 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.07 (Friday Oct. 23, 2015)
  North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.60 billion in orders worldwide in September 2015 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.07, according to the September EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.
  
  
• IC Insights Lowers its Worldwide 2015 IC Market Forecast from +1% to -1% (Thursday Oct. 22, 2015)
  IC Insights recently released its October Update to The McClean Report, which examined the effects of slowing worldwide GDP growth and a stronger U.S. dollar on the 2015 IC market forecast.