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Commentary / Analysis

• Report: Samsung Wins Back Apple Processor Business (Wednesday Nov. 19, 2014)
  
  
  
• Automotive IC Market to Display Strongest Growth Through 2018 (Wednesday Nov. 19, 2014)
  The upcoming IC Market Drivers Report finds that of the six major end-use applications for ICs, (computer, consumer, communications, automotive, industrial/medical, and government/military) it is the automotive IC market that is forecast to experience the strongest average annual revenue growth rate through 2018.
  
  
• Chinese Dream for IC Powerhouse Is Coming True (Tuesday Nov. 18, 2014)
  China, which for nearly two decades has aimed to make semiconductor manufacturing one of its pillar industries, may realize the dream in the next 10 years, according to executives and analysts surveyed by EE Times.
  
  
• Apple, TSMC and the Seven Customers of 16FF+ (Friday Nov. 14, 2014)
  Foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. has announced that its 16nm FinFET Plus (16FF+) process is now in risk production and that it expects volume production to being around July 2015. That should be about six months behind the original 16FF process, according to earlier statements.
  
  
• Nvidia jumps 13% from last quarter, Intel up 11.6%, AMD slips 7% Reports JPR (Friday Nov. 14, 2014)
  Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the industry's research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, today announced estimated graphics chip shipments and suppliers’ market share for 2014 2Q in its Market Watch quarterly PC graphics market report, an industry reference since 1988
  
  
• Slight Increase in Third Quarter 2014 Silicon Wafer Shipments (Wednesday Nov. 12, 2014)
  Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased during the third quarter 2014 when compared to second quarter area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.
  
  
• TSMC Predicts Next Big Thing (Monday Nov. 10, 2014)
  The framework for "the next big thing" is being cast at advanced foundries that offer one-stop shopping for fabless innovators who want to integrate micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) sensors and actuators alongside complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) circuitry on the same system-on-chip (SoC).
  
  
• PowerVR Guns for AMD, Nvidia (Monday Nov. 10, 2014)
  Imagination Technologies announced the latest turn of the crank for its graphics cores, which are mainly used in smartphones and tablets. The PowerVR Series 7 sports 35-60% better performance than the previous generation and adds a range of new features, including support for the first time for use in high-performance computing markets, where AMD and Nvidia currently hold sway.
  
  
• Semiconductor Market Continues Record Setting Pace in Third Quarter of 2014 (Monday Nov. 10, 2014)
  Third quarter global semiconductor industry sales reached a record high of $87 billion, as reported earlier this week in SIA’s most recent monthly global sales report. This figure marked a 5.7 percent increase over the second quarter global sales totals.
  
  
• Nine of the Top 20 Semiconductor Suppliers are Forecast to Register Double-Digit Growth in 2014! (Friday Nov. 07, 2014)
  
  
  
• TechInsights - The much anticipated Intel 14 nm is finally here! (Thursday Nov. 06, 2014)
  TechInsights, the global leader in semiconductor technical analysis, intellectual property consulting and patent brokerage services, is analyzing the Intel 5Y70 processor fabricated using Intel's state-of-the-art 14 nm Tri-gate (finFET) CMOS process.
  
  
• Fabless Pipsqueaks Grow Up (Wednesday Nov. 05, 2014)
  In the early 1990s, semiconductor companies that didn't own their own fabs were considered runts. Today at least five of them rank among the world's largest chip vendors. Some of the credit for the shift goes to the sector's trade group, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary on Dec. 11.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Industry Posts Highest-Ever Quarterly Sales (Tuesday Nov. 04, 2014)
  The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $87 billion during the third quarter of 2014, an increase of 5.7 percent over the previous quarter and a jump of 8 percent compared to the third quarter of 2013.
  
  
• Imagination Takes On Nvidia (Monday Nov. 03, 2014)
  Imagination Technologies is looking to develop technology that would combine its latest multicore MIPS processors with large arrays of its PowerVR graphics processors (GPUs).
  
  
• Gartner Says the Processing, Sensing and Communications Semiconductor Device Portion of the IoT Is Set for Rapid Growth (Monday Nov. 03, 2014)
  The processing, sensing and communications semiconductor device portion of the Internet of Things (IoT) will be a rapidly growing segment of the total semiconductor market, growing 36.2 percent in 2015, compared with the overall semiconductor market growth of 5.7 percent, according to Gartner, Inc.
  
  
• Freescale CEO: 'IoT Isn't Just Buzz' (Thursday Oct. 30, 2014)
  Coming after the solid third quarter results that produced higher operating margins and improving cash flow, Freescale Semiconductor's CEO Gregg Lowe had every reason to be chipper and lively when EE Times caught up with him on the phone on Tuesday, October 28.
  
  
• UMC Takes Bigger Slice of 28nm Business (Thursday Oct. 30, 2014)
  
  
  
• AMD Hires Dell's Server Chief (Wednesday Oct. 29, 2014)
  Just weeks after sharing skeptical views on the future of ARM-based servers, Forest Norrod is departing Dell to join Advanced Micro Devices where he will be the general manager of AMD's group that sells, among other things, ARM-based server SoCs.
  
  
• Windows-based ARM Servers a 'Very Real' Threat to Intel (Wednesday Oct. 29, 2014)
  A recent report by the Bloomberg news service that Microsoft Corp. may be actively working on a Windows version for servers running ARM-based microprocessors could represent a serious threat to Intel Corp.'s standing in the server market, according to IHS Technology.
  
  
• IBM leaves semiconductors - end of an era (Wednesday Oct. 29, 2014)
  IBM last week agreed to transfer its semiconductor business to GlobalFoundries. GlobalFoundries will acquire wafer fabs in East Fishkill, New York and Essex Junction, Vermont; IBM’s commercial microelectronics business, which includes ASIC and foundry; over 10,000 IBM patents related to semiconductor manufacturing; and over 5000 fab and ASIC employees.
  
  
• ARM Cortex-M7: Abundance of Memory or Not Enough? (Wednesday Oct. 29, 2014)
  There’s no question that the ARM Cortex M7 -- with its robust memory and processing power -- extends the capabilities of the microcontroller in ways that would have been unimaginable even a few years ago. Significant is the fact that the processor is positioned to become a core building block in the Internet of Things (IoT).
  
  
• Health Startups Are Unfit, Says MD (Friday Oct. 24, 2014)
  Forget all those crowd-funded startups promoting wearable health and fitness products, says Gregory Kovacs, a serial entrepreneur with degrees in electrical engineering and medicine. The big opportunities belong to major players who can create broad ecosystems around what ultimately will become FDA-approved devices, the Stanford professor said.
  
  
• Microsoft Eyes Expanding FPGA Role (Friday Oct. 24, 2014)
  Microsoft is exploring the possibility of putting an FPGA on every server in its datacenters. It’s only a rough concept right now, but it could ease a very real pain point on the horizon.
  
  
• Cadence Lands Biggest Deal in Years (Friday Oct. 24, 2014)
  EDA software and intellectual property licensor Cadence Design Systems Inc. has landed its biggest contract in more than five years in the most recent financial quarter. Company executives declined to name the company but Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence CEO, described it as a "marquee global company" in a conference call with analysts held to discuss third quarter financial results.
  
  
• Why Must IBM Keep the Cost of Advanced Chip R&D? (Thursday Oct. 23, 2014)
  IBM has agreed to pay Globalfoundries $1.5 billion to take its chip business off its hands but is retaining the responsibility and cost of advanced semiconductor research. In a conference call to discuss the proposed sale John Kelly senior vice president of research at IBM and Sanjay Jha, CEO at Globalfoundries, presented the arrangement as the most natural thing in the world.
  
  
• IoT cybersecurity: is EDA ready to deliver? (Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014)
  During a brief stint in Paris to visit customers and before hosting Mentor Graphics' Integrated Electrical Solutions Forum (IESF Europe) in Munich, CEO Wally Rhines delivered a keynote speech to share his views on Internet-of-Things (IoT) cybersecurity and what could be the role of EDA, at the root of every design.
  
  
• IoT Core, ARM SoCs Debut (Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014)
  A handful of embedded SoCs, cores, and buses will debut at this week’s Linley Tech Processor Conference where talks will cover the waterfront from carrier networks to the Internet of Things.
  
  
• Intel, IBM Dueling 14nm FinFETS (Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014)
  Every digital semiconductor manufacturer and foundry in the world is trying to build 3D FinFETS that rival Intel, which is so far leading the pack by several years.
  
  
• Foundries Use Small Feature Sizes to Boost Revenue per Wafer (Wednesday Oct. 22, 2014)
  Revenue per wafer start (expressed in 200mm equivalents) varies considerably among the leading pure play foundry companies. Among the Big 4 pure-play foundries, TSMC is forecast to have the highest revenue per wafer in 2014 at $1,328, 27% higher than GlobalFoundries. UMC’s revenue per wafer in 2014 is expected to be only $770, 42% less than TSMC’s revenue per wafer.
  
  
• North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts September 2014 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 0.94 (Tuesday Oct. 21, 2014)
  North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.17 billion in orders worldwide in September 2014 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.94, according to the September EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.