Do You Need a Silicon Catalyst?

Do You Need a Silicon Catalyst?
by Daniel Nenni on 02-14-2015 at 7:00 pm

Lately there has been significant concern over the rising costs of designing in silicon and the troubling decline in venture investments in semiconductors. These alarming trends include fewer IPOs, a falloff in the amount and frequency of early stage seed investments, and comparatively low industry organic growth rates. A … Read More


TSMC vs Samsung!

TSMC vs Samsung!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-10-2015 at 9:30 pm

One of the trending topics in Taiwan last week is the escalating conflict between Samsung and TSMC. This time however it is of a legal nature which has been a long time coming for the semiconductor industry. Reverse engineering has been an integral part of the semiconductor business since the beginning, as has intellectual property… Read More


Open Forum for Semiconductor Professionals!

Open Forum for Semiconductor Professionals!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-09-2015 at 8:00 pm

The semiconductor industry has never been more exciting than it is today, at least not in my 30 years of experience. Things are moving faster than ever before making collaboration at all levels a requirement. At SemiWiki we are afforded the privilege of passes to semiconductor conferences around the world. We also have access to… Read More


Has the Semiconductor Industry Gone Mad?

Has the Semiconductor Industry Gone Mad?
by Daniel Nenni on 02-07-2015 at 7:00 pm

The weather in Taiwan last week was very strange. It was so cold I tried to turn on the heat in my hotel room only to find out it was not possible. If you want more heat they bring a portable heater because who needs central heat in Hsinchu? Even stranger is all of the media hyperbole on the next process nodes:

Intel CFO: We’re so farRead More


Intel to Launch 10nm Chips in Early 2017?

Intel to Launch 10nm Chips in Early 2017?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-31-2015 at 7:00 am

As I have mentioned before, Intel and the foundries approach process development from different starting points. Intel is committed to Moore’s law in reducing the transistor cost by increasing the process density in a near linear fashion. The foundries on the other hand work closely with partners and customers to determine the… Read More


Qualcomm versus Samsung?

Qualcomm versus Samsung?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-28-2015 at 3:00 am

There is an interesting reality show playing in the media featuring Qualcomm and Samsung with supporting actors TSMC, LG, Xaomi, and Apple. As I’m sure we all have read, Samsung is losing massive amounts of money on mobile which was once a very profitable business unit. Let’s take a look at the current landscape and some of the recent… Read More


IBM to Humiliate 20% of Workforce?

IBM to Humiliate 20% of Workforce?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-25-2015 at 7:00 am

There are four big technology companies that I grew up with: Intel, Apple, Microsoft, and IBM. I still follow all four but it is sometimes hard to watch. Last week there was talk of a massive layoff at IBM and I have just confirmed it with my Upstate sources. According to an article in Forbes it will be 25% of the more than 400,000 workforce.… Read More


How the iPhone Ended Nokia’s Reign!

How the iPhone Ended Nokia’s Reign!
by Daniel Nenni on 01-23-2015 at 7:30 am

The origin of ARM’s success in mobile phone space is largely traced to Symbian’s decision to exclusively support the ARM Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). This in turn was the consequence of a mid-1990s decision by Texas Instruments to use ARM in its mobile phone ASICs for Nokia, the driving force behind the inception of the Symbian… Read More


TSMC Finishes 2014 with the Chairman on the Call!

TSMC Finishes 2014 with the Chairman on the Call!
by Daniel Nenni on 01-15-2015 at 9:30 pm

I’m not a financial guy, as I have mentioned before, so let me just make some comments on the technology discussed on today’s conference call. Please note that the Chairman Dr. Morris Chang was on the call which is probably why the TSM stock went up more than 8% immediately after. Of course there was plenty of good news to go along with… Read More


Which Foundry will be First to FinFET?

Which Foundry will be First to FinFET?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-14-2015 at 8:00 pm

The final session of the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (The CxO Panel) was the most interesting for me because executives from three of the four most influential semiconductor companies were on the panel: Dr. Goeff Yeap of Qualcomm, Dr. Jack Sun from TSMC, and Mr. Mark Bohr of Intel. Who is fourth you ask? That would be Apple of … Read More