Intel Foundry All Hat No Cattle?

Intel Foundry All Hat No Cattle?
by Daniel Nenni on 05-12-2012 at 12:19 am

If you look real close at the #49 DAC floor plan you will see the tiny Intel booth dwarfed by those of TSMC, GlobalFoundries, Samsung, and ARM. The number one semiconductor company in the world does not have the budget for the cornerstone conference of the semiconductor ecosystem? Oh my…… Intel has a big foundry hat and no cattle… Read More


Sagantec Update: More EDA Consolidation!

Sagantec Update: More EDA Consolidation!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-08-2012 at 7:00 pm

Adding sophisticated 2D dynamic compaction technology to address 20nm and 14nm challenges. Santa Clara, California – May 3 ,2012 – Sagantec today announced that it has acquired Dutch startup NP-Komplete Technologies BV (Eindhoven, The Netherlands) for its physical design compaction and migration solutions based on a sophisticatedRead More


TSMC 20nm Challenges!

TSMC 20nm Challenges!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-06-2012 at 7:00 pm

Now that the 28nm challenges are dead
It is time to look ahead
The tabloid pundits may not agree
But Moore’s law again you will see
The semiconductor ecosystem is humming
(2X gate density -20%+ performance-20%+ power savings)
The 20nm design starts are coming!

Okay, I’m really bad at poetry. Gambling however, I do pretty well. Las… Read More


GlobalFoundries 2012 Update!

GlobalFoundries 2012 Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-04-2012 at 8:55 pm

What’s new with Glofo? Quite a bit actually. It was interesting to see a Made in America: Global Companies Expand in U.S. Towns segment on semiconductors! Give it a look, I enjoyed it. It’s an election year, jobs are key to any election, so it did not surprise me to see President Obama making the rounds:… Read More


Intel says fabless model collapsing… really?

Intel says fabless model collapsing… really?
by Daniel Nenni on 04-28-2012 at 7:00 pm

There is an interesting discussion in the SemiWiki forum in response to the EETimes article: Intel exec says fabless model ‘collapsing’. Definitely an interesting debate, one worth our time since the advertising click hungry industry pundits will certainly jump all over it. Clearly I’m biased since I helped build… Read More


TSMC 28nm Beats Q1 2012 Expectations!

TSMC 28nm Beats Q1 2012 Expectations!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-26-2012 at 9:00 am

TSMC just finished theQ1 conference call. I will let the experts haggle over the wording of the financial analysis, but the big news is that TSMC 28nm Q1 revenue was 5%, beating my guess of 4%. So all of you who bet against TSMC 28nm it’s time to pay up! Coincidentally, I’m in Las Vegas where the term deadbeat is taken literally!

Per my … Read More


TSMC versus Intel at 20nm!

TSMC versus Intel at 20nm!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-24-2012 at 7:00 pm

The biggest news out of the TSMC Symposium last week was the 20nm update. Lots of debate and speculation, just why is TSMC releasing one version of 20nm (20nm SoC) versus multiple versions like in 40nm (LP, G, LPG) and 28nm (HP, HPM, HPL, LP)? Here are my thoughts, I would also be interested in your feedback in the comment section. This… Read More


UMC Wins Qualcomm 28nm Second Source Contract!

UMC Wins Qualcomm 28nm Second Source Contract!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-22-2012 at 7:00 pm

This is common knowledge in Taiwan but apparently the guys over at SemiAccurate.com did not get the memo. I hear a name change is in the works: www.RarelyAccurate.com. Remember, these are the same clairvoyants who said TSMC shut down 28nm which as we now know is absolutely false. The QCOM elite stay at the Hsinchu Royal Hotel which… Read More


Flexible ASIC Strategy!

Flexible ASIC Strategy!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-21-2012 at 9:00 pm

During my last Taiwan trip I also spent time with Global Unichip. Clearly, in order for the semiconductor industry to thrive we must enable design starts. With the rising costs and complexity of semiconductor design and manufacturing this is a much greater challenge which is why I’m so interested in GUC, for the greater good of the… Read More


The Truth of TSMC 28nm Yield!

The Truth of TSMC 28nm Yield!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-15-2012 at 7:00 pm

As I write this I sit heavyhearted in the EVA executive lounge returning from my 69[SUP]th[/SUP] trip to Taiwan. I go every month or so, you do the math. This trip was very disappointing as I can now confirm that just about everything you have read about TSMC 28nm yield is absolutely MANURE!… Read More