GLOBALFOUNDRIES Acquires IBM Semiconductor Unit!

GLOBALFOUNDRIES Acquires IBM Semiconductor Unit!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-17-2014 at 9:01 am

I have it on pretty good authority that IBM has in fact come to terms with GLOBALFOUNDRIES on the sale of their semiconductor business. For those of you who have been following the story, especially the IBM semiconductor people, it has been a real roller coaster ride. If in fact this handshake deal goes through (expect a public announcement… Read More


Taiwan Trip Report: The Coming Simulation Crisis!

Taiwan Trip Report: The Coming Simulation Crisis!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-15-2014 at 7:00 am

Even though the flight to Taiwan is somewhat difficult, I really do enjoy my trips to Hsinchu. In addition to the top two pure-play foundries being there, one of the top SoC companies (MediaTek) and many of the leading semiconductor design companies are there as well. All are a quick taxi ride from my home away from home, the Hotel Royal.… Read More


Intel Core M vs Apple A8!

Intel Core M vs Apple A8!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-14-2014 at 10:00 am

There were two big announcements last week right in my backyard and I missed them both! Instead, I was in Taiwan investigating yet another big development and all three of these events will intersect next year, absolutely.

At IDF in San Francisco Intel outlined the new 14nm Core M. This is an impressive CPU, one that will fill the now… Read More


Humans Need Not Apply!

Humans Need Not Apply!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-11-2014 at 7:00 am

With four children entering the job market I have a very simple piece of advice: DO NOT RUN FROM TECHNOLOGY, EMBRACE IT! Smartphones are now a “natural” part of modern life. We work on them, we play on them, we shop with them, we socialize with them, even risk our lives using them. Come on, every single person with a smartphone has used… Read More


What’s eSilicon Up To Now?

What’s eSilicon Up To Now?
by Daniel Nenni on 09-10-2014 at 10:00 am

eSilicon, in conjunction with King Research, is conducting an unusual survey. A lot of vendor-driven surveys focus on specific pain points that are addressed by that particular vendor’s product/service. The idea is typically to either promote visibility for the product/service or establish its undeniable need in the market.… Read More


Intel CEO Misinformed on the Foundry Business

Intel CEO Misinformed on the Foundry Business
by Daniel Nenni on 09-09-2014 at 7:00 am

At the Citi Global Technology Conference last week Intel (INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich made some comments about the foundry business that I found quite misinformed. It will be interesting to see if this theme is repeated during the foundry presentations at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week:

Intel is presenting twoRead More


What Does Intel Look Like 10 Years From Now?

What Does Intel Look Like 10 Years From Now?
by Daniel Nenni on 09-08-2014 at 7:00 am

Intel (INTC) CEO Brian Krzanich keynoted the Citi Global Technology Conference last week. This was a precursor to the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week. Normally these types of events are scripted dog and pony shows but sometimes interesting information comes out. The first question for example:

What does IntelRead More


EDA Plus ARM Equals Big Views!

EDA Plus ARM Equals Big Views!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-07-2014 at 9:00 am

In looking at the SemiWiki analytics, one of the top search terms that brings traffic to our site is ARM, just about anything ARM. In fact, that’s what the next SemiWiki book will be about. Yes, ARM is that interesting. While EDA is also one of our top search terms, EDA+ARM will get the most views, absolutely. And let’s face it, bloggers… Read More


September is Semiconductor Design Webinar Month!

September is Semiconductor Design Webinar Month!
by Daniel Nenni on 09-01-2014 at 9:00 am

The nice thing about webinars is that if you register for the live one and you can’t attend you will still get first notice when the replay goes up. The other nice thing is that you can read a blog review of a webinar or whitepaper on SemiWiki first to see if it is worth your time. If you do attend a webinar you can also post a review of… Read More


Webinar: Collaboration Within Dispersed Design Teams

Webinar: Collaboration Within Dispersed Design Teams
by Daniel Nenni on 08-30-2014 at 7:00 am

In the face of shrinking time-to-market windows, semiconductor companies are aggressively vying with each other to emerge with new or variants of existing ICs and SoCs to gain market share. The growth of the mobile market –wireless, networking, storage, and computing – as well as new areas such as the Internet of things (IoT) and… Read More