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Commentary / Analysis

• Smartphones and Tablets Drive Continued Double-Digit Growth in MEMS Motion Sensor Market (Thursday Feb. 14, 2013)
  Smartphones and media tablets continue to the prime movers of technology industries, with the two mobile platforms spurring a double-digit increase in the market for microelectromechanical system (MEMS) motion sensors this year.
  
  
• Why we need an imaging IP core (Wednesday Feb. 13, 2013)
  Twenty years ago, imaging/vision was a subject matter that only camera manufacturers cared about. Today, imaging has become a decidedly hot topic among a diverse world of system engineers, including those who build automotive electronics, mobile handsets, tablets, PCs, digital TVs and medical devices.
  
  
• Tensilica vs. Ceva in imaging/vision IP core battle (Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013)
  Rapidly evolving imaging and embedded vision algorithms are opening up a new battleground for DSP core IP companies in the high-performance and power-efficient imaging needs of mobile handsets, automotive and video products.
  
  
• Silicon Wafer Revenues Decline in 2012 (Tuesday Feb. 12, 2013)
  Worldwide silicon wafer revenues declined by 12 percent in 2012 compared to 2011 according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry. Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments declined 0.1 percent in 2012 when compared to 2011 area shipments.
  
  
• Mobile and Cloud Computing Spur Tripling of Micro Server Shipments This Year (Monday Feb. 11, 2013)
  Driven by booming demand for new data center services for mobile platforms and cloud computing, shipments of micro servers are expected to more than triple this year, according to an IHS iSuppli Compute Platforms Topical Report from information and analytics provider IHS.
  
  
• Globalfoundries commits to FDSOI process (Monday Feb. 11, 2013)
  Globalfoundries Inc. has set out a timetable to the high volume production of fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) chips making the mainstream adoption of the process possible.
  
  
• Intel microserver leaves door open for ARM (Monday Feb. 11, 2013)
  Intel’s first microserver processor is less power efficient than its existing Xeon chips, leaving a significant opportunity for alternative SoCs, according to Linley Gwennap, principal of the Linley Group.
  
  
• ARM rates FDSOI process as 'good technology' (Wednesday Feb. 06, 2013)
  Warren East, CEO of processor IP licensor ARM, says the company stands ready to help STMicroelectronics make a success of its fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator (FDSOI) chip manufacturing process, but that it is up to ST to make the process more widely available.
  
  
• Chip market seen contracting again in 2013 (Wednesday Feb. 06, 2013)
  The semiconductor industry will contract by 0.5 percent in 2013, but despite the squeeze and some consolidation the long-term outlook for growth remains strong, said Handel Jones, a veteran market watcher, speaking at the annual Common Platform event here Tuesday (Feb. 5).
  
  
• Big-little is sweet 16 (Wednesday Feb. 06, 2013)
  Processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc has gained two additional licensees for big-little approach to multiprocessing bringing the total number of partners to 16 and all are trying to use the technology to get design wins in mobile applications.
  
  
• Semiconductors Down 2.7% in '12, May Grow 7.5% in '13 (Wednesday Feb. 06, 2013)
  The world semiconductor market in 2012 was $292 billion – down 2.7% from $300 billion in 2011, according to WSTS. The 2012 decline followed a slight gain of 0.4% in 2011. Fourth quarter 2012 was down 0.3% from third quarter. The first quarter of the 2013 will likely show a decline from 4Q 2012 based on typical seasonal patterns and the revenue guidance of key semiconductor companies.
  
  
• Semiconductor R&D Spending Rises 7% Despite Weak Market (Tuesday Feb. 05, 2013)
  Spending on research and development by semiconductor companies grew 7% in 2012 to a record-high $53.0 billion, even though the semiconductor market declined 1% to $317.6 billion, according to the 2013 edition of IC Insights’ McClean Report.
  
  
• Semiconductor Industry Posts Near-Record Sales Total in 2012 (Monday Feb. 04, 2013)
  SIA today announced that worldwide semiconductor sales for 2012 reached $291.6 billion, the industry’s third-highest yearly total ever but a decrease of 2.7 percent from the record total of $299.5 billion set in 2011.
  
  
• Mature Fabs Still Process 40% of all Silicon (Thursday Jan. 31, 2013)
  Advanced technologies and the latest consumer electronics grab the major headlines but the semiconductor industry depends on mature technologies and legacy equipment. Today, about 40% of all silicon used to produce semiconductors are processed using mature manufacturing technologies.
  
  
• DesignCon: Nvidia's engineering VP wants better design tools (Wednesday Jan. 30, 2013)
  Cultural complacency and "uncomplaining" engineers are stunting EDA tool investment and preventing IC companies from keeping up with quickening design complexity, a senior engineering manager at chip vendor Nvidia Corp. said Tuesday (Jan. 29).
  
  
• Flash Forward at the leading edge? (Tuesday Jan. 29, 2013)
  SanDisk has announced it intends to begin the transition of its flash products to 1Y-nm generation semiconductors in the third quarter of 2013.
  
  
• The Linley Group Releases First Report Exclusively Focused on Wireless Modem Silicon (Monday Jan. 28, 2013)
  The explosion in the use of smartphones is driving significant growth in wireless modem chips and has prompted The Linley Group to issue its first report exclusively focused on these devices.
  
  
• China's IC Market Growth Continues to Outpace Its IC Manufacturing (Monday Jan. 28, 2013)
  China’s IC market is forecast to continue growing at a strong rate through 2017—faster than the growth rate of the worldwide IC market—according to IC Insights’ latest forecast contained in the pages of The 2013 McClean Report.
  
  
• Intel says no LTE-processor integration until 2014 (Monday Jan. 28, 2013)
  Intel is making progress with its development of LTE modems since but does not expect to have an integrated LTE modem and application processor until 2014, according to CEO Paul Otellini.
  
  
• Qualcomm preps ARM server SoCs--and they want to hire you (Monday Jan. 28, 2013)
  Add Qualcomm to the list of ARM server SoC designers. The smartphone chip designer is advertising at least three software engineering jobs that clearly state its intentions.
  
  
• Intel's 450-mm wafer spend starts in 2013 (Friday Jan. 25, 2013)
  Leading chip company Intel Corp. is planning to spend $2-billion preparing for transition to 450-mm diameter wafers in 2013.
  
  
• Wafer Demand Increased 3.8% in 2012 (Thursday Jan. 24, 2013)
  Semico recently released our Quarterly Wafer Demand Summary and Data, and as usual, there is good news and bad news. The good news is, manufacturing yields on 28nm have improved so for the time being, capacity is no longer a constraint in the supply chain.
  
  
• Samsung Surpassed Apple as the Top Global Semiconductor Customer in 2012, According to Gartner (Thursday Jan. 24, 2013)
  Samsung Electronics and Apple both dominated semiconductor demand in 2012, although Samsung overtook Apple as the top worldwide semiconductor customer, according to Gartner, Inc.
  
  
• India fab decision likely this quarter (Wednesday Jan. 23, 2013)
  A decision on the long-pending proposal to set up a domestic wafer fab in India is likely to be made by the end of March, semiconductor industry executives said
  
  
• Tablet and Cellphone Processors Give MPUs Needed Boost (Tuesday Jan. 22, 2013)
  Total microprocessor sales to rise 12% in 2013 with slight improvement in PC demand and continued strong growth in mobile SoC processors.
  
  
• Apple Helps Propel MEMS Microphone Market Grows by Nearly Fivefold from 2009 to 2012 (Tuesday Jan. 22, 2013)
  Apple Inc.'s tremendously influential iPhone helped spark the market for microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) microphones to new heights, causing MEMS microphone shipments to nearly quintuple in just three short years.
  
  
• Chip Inventory at Semiconductor Suppliers Reaches Worrisome High (Tuesday Jan. 22, 2013)
  Semiconductor revenue is projected to decline in the first quarter this year after chip inventory held by semiconductor suppliers reached record high levels near the end of 2012, according to an IHS iSuppli Semiconductor Inventory Insider market brief from information and analytics provider IHS.
  
  
• Are ARM's big-little days numbered? (Monday Jan. 21, 2013)
  In the early days of digital electronics a good architectural idea could be implemented and the advantage it granted could be expected to apply for all foreseeable manufacturing generations. But now the complexity and pace of change of chip manufacturing is such that ideas and techniques sometimes struggle to last without significant re-invention.
  
  
• ST plans for Dresden FDSOI production (Monday Jan. 21, 2013)
  STMicroelectronics is in discussions with Globalfoundries Inc. on a transfer of fully depleted silicon on insulator (FDSOI) manufacturing process technology for volume production in 2013, according to a senior executive at ST.
  
  
• Xilinx buoyed by strong new products sales (Monday Jan. 21, 2013)
  Programmable logic vendor Xilinx Inc. forecast a sequential sales increase for the current quarter after reporting fiscal third quarter that exceed analysts' expectations.