The Changing Foundry Landscape: Trends and Challenges!

The Changing Foundry Landscape: Trends and Challenges!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-05-2015 at 4:00 am

This will be a year of change for the fabless semiconductor ecosystem, absolutely. Last year we were wondering how Samsung Mobile was going to compete with the China clones and other low end smart phones. We now know the answer to that question thanks to the Chipworks tear down of the Galaxy S6. SemiWiki IP expert Dr. Eric Esteve blogged… Read More


Semiconductor CAPEX Growth Increases Fab Equipment Spending!

Semiconductor CAPEX Growth Increases Fab Equipment Spending!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-01-2015 at 8:00 am

SEMI Forecasts 15% Increase in Fab Equipment Spending for 2015

With worldwide capex growth of 8%, fab equipment spending is expected to increase by 15% in 2015, according to the most recent edition of the SEMI (www.semi.org) World Fab Forecast. SEMI’s data also predicts a slowdown of fab equipment spending in 2016 to low single … Read More


Wow: Synopsys v. Mentor Update!

Wow: Synopsys v. Mentor Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-22-2015 at 7:00 am

As a reminder, the Synopsys v. Mentor drama started when Synopsys filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief on the same day (September 27, 2012) as they entered into an agreement to acquire emulation provider EVE (ZeBu emulator systems), which competes with Mentor’s Veloce family of emulators. Apparently, upon… Read More


Closure: Kilopass v. Sidense

Closure: Kilopass v. Sidense
by Daniel Nenni on 03-19-2015 at 11:00 pm

The long running legal action between the top two NVM IP companies is now finished after close to five years of lawyering. By the way, I write about this stuff in hopes of limiting the future earning power of lawyers that prey on our R&D budgets. This one is significant because Kilopass was not successful in a patent infringement… Read More


TSMC ♥ UMC?

TSMC ♥ UMC?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-18-2015 at 8:00 pm

The relationship between TSMC and UMC is one of the more interesting ones in the fabless semiconductor ecosystem in my opinion. Both are headquartered in Hsinchu Taiwan and it is very hard to visit one company without seeing the other as they have facilities right across the street from each other. They also share humble beginnings… Read More


Apple Leaks Chip Sources?

Apple Leaks Chip Sources?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-15-2015 at 10:00 pm

Take a look at the figure below and tell me this information did not come from inside Apple. The question is: Was it voluntary or involuntary? Inquiring minds want to know! There are some minor surprises which I will get to in a minute but the actual source information is spot on to what I have heard the past few quarters. This spicy little… Read More


Shifting Chip Design Left!

Shifting Chip Design Left!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-15-2015 at 7:00 am

In the traditional sense “Shift Left” is the process of making things simpler in an effort to make things faster. Shift Left was the theme of theDVCon keynote last week delivered by Synopsys co-founder and co-CEO Aart de Geus which is right on topic when it comes to modern semiconductor design and manufacturing, absolutely.

KEYNOTE:Read More


Altera 14nm and 10nm Update!

Altera 14nm and 10nm Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 03-10-2015 at 7:00 pm

In preparation for this blog I Googled around to get the latest information made available by Altera to see if it matches up with what I know from discussions amongst the fabless semiconductor ecosystem companies. Unfortunately when I Googled Altera+20nm+14nm the first three entries from the Altera website were Error 404 PageRead More


Why did Mentor Acquire Tanner EDA?

Why did Mentor Acquire Tanner EDA?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-09-2015 at 11:30 pm

You have to love when a professional journalist leaks a story and cites a “source close to the acquisition.” News flash: Anyone “close” to the acquisition is under NDA which is a legally binding agreement, not very professional if you ask me. Bloggers however can write whatever they want but since I was actually “close” to … Read More


Is Cadence the Best EDA Company to Work for?

Is Cadence the Best EDA Company to Work for?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-08-2015 at 7:00 am

Apparently that is the case. Honestly my choice would have been Mentor but I can easily make an argument for Cadence based on my discussions with the foundries and their top customers but more on that later.

Fortune Magazine last week added Cadence to the 2015 list of “100 Best Companies to Work For” citing a cultural transformation… Read More