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Commentary / Analysis

• Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 5.2 Percent in 2013 (Wednesday Dec. 04, 2013)
  Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $315.4 billion in 2013, a 5.2 percent increase from 2012 revenue of $299.9 billion, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. The top 25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenue increased 6.2 percent, a significantly better performance than the rest of the market, whose revenue growth was 2.9 percent.
  
  
• Semiconductor Sales Recover in 2013; Micron Surges to Fourth Place in Global Chip Market (Wednesday Dec. 04, 2013)
  Following a 2.5 percent decline in 2012, the global semiconductor market has regained its footing in 2013 with revenue set to expand by nearly 5 percent because of the strong performance of the memory sector.
  
  
• 2013 Semiconductor Equipment Sales Forecast $32 Billion; Strong Growth Forecast for 2014 (Tuesday Dec. 03, 2013)
  SEMI projects that worldwide sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will contract 13.3 percent to $32.0 billion in 2013, according to the SEMI Year-end Forecast, released here today at the annual SEMICON Japan exposition.
  
  
• If Intel Bought MediaTek, ARM Would Be a Short (Monday Dec. 02, 2013)
  After Intel'sanalyst day, a number of analysts came away thoroughly unimpressed with Intel's plans in the mobile space. While it really does seem that Intel is setting itself up for long-term success, it is important to understand the other side of the coin -- investing requires an ability to understand both sides and then to pick one.
  
  
• Processor Market Set for Strong Growth in 2013, Courtesy of Smartphones and Tablets (Wednesday Nov. 27, 2013)
  The global market for processor microchips is set to rise by a hefty 24 percent in 2013, propelled by the strong sales growth of smartphones and tablets, according to a new report from IHS Inc.
  
  
• Intel CEO Pledges Renewed Innovation, Pragmatism (Tuesday Nov. 26, 2013)
  Brian Krzanich, recently appointed CEO of the world's largest chip company, Intel Corp., has told financial analysts about renewed efforts in mobile markets for 2014 and 2015 even as there is an expectation that the PC market will start to recover. Nonetheless, the company gave a generally disappointing prediction that sales in 2014 would be approximately flat with 2013.
  
  
• Intel Nears Foundry Inflection Point (Monday Nov. 25, 2013)
  Intel's new chief executive Brian Krzanich is clearly on the hot seat. The world's largest chip maker told analysts yesterday 2014 will be another flat year for the company accustomed to outpacing chip industry growth, yet it is maintaining historically high capex spending, seeing the need for a new 450mm fab on the horizon.
  
  
• Intel and Nvidia raised shipments levels for the quarter Quarter-to-quarter total graphics up 1.6%, Desktop graphics sales up 4.5% (Thursday Nov. 21, 2013)
  Jon Peddie Research (JPR) announced estimated graphics chip shipments and suppliers’ market shares for 2013 3Q. Q3’13 was the second quarter in a row to show a gain in shipments, up 1.6% quarter-to-quarter, but down 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year.
  
  
• Semiconductor market could grow 15% in 2014 (Thursday Nov. 21, 2013)
  The global semiconductor market has grown 4% for the first three quarters of 2013 compared to a year ago, according to World Semiconductor Trades Statistics (WSTS). Guidance for 4Q 2013 revenue change versus 3Q 2013 varies widely for key semiconductor companies.
  
  
• ARM's Got Leverage in Intel Battle (Wednesday Nov. 20, 2013)
  The battle between competing ARM and Intel architectures and ecosystems is reshaping the industry in many ways. Expectations are changing around form factors, programming models, costs, power budgets, and more.
  
  
• North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts October 2013 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.05 (Wednesday Nov. 20, 2013)
  North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.12 billion in orders worldwide in October 2013 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.05, according to the October EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI.
  
  
• Microsoft to Become One of World's Leading Chip Buyers on Nokia Acquisition (Monday Nov. 18, 2013)
  With its upcoming acquisition of Nokia, Microsoft Corp. is set to become one of the world’s Top 10 original equipment manufacturer (OEM) semiconductor buyers, and will rank among the leading purchasers of microchips for wireless applications.
  
  
• Microsoft Will Up Semiconductor Spending Next Year, While Dell Continues Flat (Friday Nov. 15, 2013)
  Two giants in the computing space are showing divergent spending patterns on semiconductor chips this year as they retool strategies in a once-flourishing PC industry humbled by mobile devices. Microsoft will be increasing its spending on wireless applications, even as Dell fails to revive spending despite releasing new tablets, according to insights from the Semiconductor Design and Spend Analysis service of IHS Inc.
  
  
• Global Processor Market on Track to Grow Shipments (Thursday Nov. 14, 2013)
  The global market for processors is set to finish 2013 on a strong note, helped by a splashy across-the-board increase in chip shipments to smartphones, tablets, PCs and servers compared to last year’s levels, according to a new report on the subject from IHS Inc.
  
  
• Globalfoundries Gets Slice of Apple Pie (Wednesday Nov. 13, 2013)
  Globalfoundries Inc. (Milpitas, Calif.) is preparing to make ICs for Apple at is Fab 8 complex in up-state New York, according to an Albany Times Union report, which referenced an unnamed source.
  
  
• Slight Decline in Third Quarter 2013 Silicon Wafer Shipments (Wednesday Nov. 13, 2013)
  Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments declined during the third quarter 2013 when compared to second quarter 2013 area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.
  
  
• UFS Set to Eclipse e-MMC (Wednesday Nov. 13, 2013)
  
  
  
• Chip Firms and OEMs to Enjoy Strong Revenue Growth as Year Finishes (Tuesday Nov. 12, 2013)
  Semiconductor companies as well as original equipment manufacturers (OEM) will finish 2013 enjoying significantly higher revenue than when they started out at the beginning of the year, with third- and fourth-quarter inventories anticipated to move briskly for the busy holiday season, according to a Supply Chain Inventory market brief from IHS Inc.
  
  
• Chinese Vendors Set to Rise in 2013 Smartphone Supplier Ranking (Tuesday Nov. 12, 2013)
  Although Samsung and Apple dominated the total smartphone market in 2012 and are expected to do so again in 2013, Chinese vendors are expected to have a significant presence in the smartphone supplier ranking this year.
  
  
• Industry View: Addressing Datacom Memory Pain Points (Monday Nov. 11, 2013)
  As the era of terabit computing looms ever closer, the challenges only compound. We talked with Sundar Iyer, CEO and co-founder of Memoir Systems, and Shadab Nazar, Memoir's director of product management, about power, performance, the search for smarter memory, and the battle for speed.
  
  
• China Local Design Chip Industry to Grow 4 Percent by Year-End (Friday Nov. 08, 2013)
  China’s domestic semiconductor design industry is set to reach $39.84 billion as the close of 2013, spurred by the extensive use of semiconductors on the part of Chinese-based original equipment manufacturers (OEM) for both local consumption and exports, according to a new China Electronics and Media report from IHS Inc.
  
  
• IC Insights Expects Big Changes to 2013 Top 20 Semi Supplier Ranking (Thursday Nov. 07, 2013)
  The top-20 ranking includes three pure-play foundries (TSMC, GlobalFoundries, and UMC) and five fabless companies.
  
  
• Interview: Harry Luan, Kilopass' CTO and VP of R&D, Addresses SoC Design Challenges (Wednesday Nov. 06, 2013)
  Harry Luan, Kilopass’ chief technology officer and vice president of R&D, has been a key member of the Kilopass team since its inception in 2002. He is an expert in CMOS/non-volatile memory (NVM) device physics, modeling, optimization and characterization for technology development, yield enhancement and failure analysis.
  
  
• Intel, ARM Do Server Wrestling at ISSCC (Wednesday Nov. 06, 2013)
  Intel will describe its Haswell-class processor for mainstream servers for the first time at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference in February. Also at ISSCC, Applied Micro will reveal details of the first 64-bit ARM server SoC, targeting low power so-called microservers.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Industry Posts Highest-Ever Monthly and Quarterly Sales (Tuesday Nov. 05, 2013)
  The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $80.92 billion during the third quarter of 2013, the industry’s highest-ever quarterly total and an increase of 8.4 percent over the second quarter total of $74.64 billion
  
  
• ARM Servers Face Long, Winding Road (Thursday Oct. 31, 2013)
  Big, disruptive opportunities don't come along very often. Don't expect one anytime soon in the mega battle between ARM and Intel.
  
  
• Qualcomm Buys Arteris Tech, Team (Thursday Oct. 31, 2013)
  Can you maintain a business after your top customer buys your technology and the engineering team that developed it? That's the question Arteris will attempt to answer after Qualcomm decided it liked the FlexNoc network-on-chip so much it bought the company -- or most of it.
  
  
• Qualcomm's Entry into Set-Top-Box Chip Market Poses Big Challenge to Incumbents (Wednesday Oct. 30, 2013)
  Qualcomm, a titanic force in semiconductors for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, is muscling its way into the global chip market for set-top boxes (STB), hoping not only to expand its coffers but also to shake up the tightly held STB space, according to insights from the Consumer Electronics service of IHS.
  
  
• Is ARM Adopting Microsoft Model? (Monday Oct. 28, 2013)
  Last week saw an interesting shift in programmable SoC devices, especially in licensing IP. XMOS Semiconductor signed a deal last Thursday, Oct. 24, to use ARM-based chips from Silicon Labs alongside its own deterministic multicore silicon in a single package.
  
  
• Combined Smartphone and Tablet Factory Revenue to Exceed Entire Consumer Electronics Market This Year (Monday Oct. 28, 2013)
  In a dramatic sign of how consumer tastes have shifted to new, more exciting wireless products, global factory revenue for smartphones and tablets this year will rise to become larger than revenue for the entire consumer electronics (CE) market—the first time this has ever occurred.