When I drive down to Silicon Valley I usually listen to podcasts rather than just listen to the radio. One that I especially like is Russ Robert’s EconTalk, which has an hour-long episode every Monday morning on a wide range of different aspects of Economics. Normally he interviews an economist. He has also interviewed the… Read More
Virtual Reality is Ready to Rocket
Virtual Reality (VR) is such a hot technology concept right now that the topic has made the cover of Time, Wired and Forbes magazines this year, along with countless online articles. What really captured my attention was that moment in 2014 when Facebook acquired VR startup Oculus for $2B, yes that is billions of dollars. The last… Read More
Good Morning Vietnam
This morning I went to a presentation in Palo Alto about outsourcing in Vietnam. You have probably heard that Vietnam is the new China for manufacturing, as wages have increased in the Shenzhen area then companies like Foxconn have opened plants in Vietnam. But this meeting was mostly about services, software and design. In this… Read More
Semiconductor Mergers – Innovation or Consolidation?
About 3 years ago, I had written an article about consolidation in the semiconductor landscape where I had articulated 4 main reasons of consolidation – Macroeconomics, Business Leadership, Technology Leadership, and IP leadership. Back then, based on the state of affairs in the semiconductor industry, I had also mentioned… Read More
The Antiportfolio
Last week Charlie Cheng of Kilopass wrote about venture capital for semiconductor. This reminded me of something amusing that I came across years ago.
See also VC For Semiconductor: Dead or Alive?
All VCs have a portfolio page and often a second exit page. The first shows the companies in which they currently hold investments and… Read More
In Memoriam Gary Smith
EDA rallied today for one of their own, without caring which company any of us worked for. We even got together in a ballroom in the San Jose Doubletree that I’m sure many of us have been in many times to endure way too many powerpoint slides at EDA conferences held there over the years. The instructions were to wear orange. At least… Read More
Surprisingly Phablets Bucking the Trend
Amid a fiercely competitive market for computing devices, smartphones, tablets, and so on, a number of devices were created in this decade to invade into each other’s functionalities to either eat away other’s market share or retain their own. The key contenders were smartphones, Phablets, tablets and mini notebooks, whereas… Read More
Gary Smith Passed Away Last Friday
I expect most of you have already heard the sad news through other channels: Gary Smith died last Friday, July 3rd, from pneumonia in Flagstaff, Arizona.
I must have first met Gary back in Dataquest days when I was at VLSI Technology. Gartner then acquired Dataquest and eventually shut down the EDA practice and laid Gary off. He then… Read More
Apple Watch – A Great New Design, Needs More
During 52[SUP]nd[/SUP] DAC, there was a special session where a brand new Apple watch was opened and each of its components was shown with a brief description about it. I found this tear down session a great innovative idea coming from DAC organizers; actually two buzzing products, AppleWatch and DJI’s Phantom Drone were opened… Read More
Cellphones on the Path of Extinction
Semiconductor based electronics has continuously improved lives of people through various kinds of technology upgrades in the gadgets for our daily use. Imagine the journey from a mechanical typewriter to a laptop computer connected through a laser printer, transition from black & white photography to exotic coloured… Read More
More Headwinds – CHIPS Act Chop? – Chip Equip Re-Shore? Orders Canceled & Fab Delay