I made it through the Virtual Intel Architecture Day last week and much to my surprise it was very well done. Virtual events have been hit and miss but this one was definitely a hit. Great content, approachable experts, a glitch-free experience. The mainstream media has been redundantly covering it so let me add my many years of experience,… Read More
Intel 7NM Slip Causes Reassessment of Fab Model
Waving white surrender flag as TSMC dominates-
The quarter was a success but the patient is dying-
Packaging now critical as Moore progress stumbles-
Intel reported a great quarter but weak H2 guidance-
But 7NM slip and “fab lite” talk sends shockwaves-
Intel reported a great quarter beating numbers all around with… Read More
Die shrink: How Intel scaled down the 8086 processor
The revolutionary Intel 8086 microprocessor was introduced 42 years ago this month so I’ve been studying its die.1 I came across two 8086 dies with different sizes, which reveal details of how a die shrink works. The concept of a die shrink is that as technology improved, a manufacturer could shrink the silicon die, reducing… Read More
Can TSMC Maintain Their Process Technology Lead
Recently Seeking Alpha published an article “Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Losing Its Process Leadership To Intel” and Dan Nenni (SemiWiki founder) asked me to take a look at the article and do my own analysis. This is a subject I have followed and published on for many years.
Before I dig into specific process density… Read More
Intel vs AMD Q4 2019 Conference Calls
Now that the dust has settled and I’m out of cronovirus quarantine let’s talk about the Intel and AMD conference calls. Unfortunately, the Intel and AMD marketing teams are still outpacing engineering so it is difficult to write something serious but I will do my best.
Spoiler Alert: Both CEOs disappoint.
First an Intel 10nm update:… Read More
AI the Matrix and Intel
I would guess that most people have seen or at least heard of the Matrix movies but how many people can remember who vanquished the earth to begin the series? It was artificial intelligence (AI) of course which seemed pretty far fetched 20 years ago, but today not so much. In fact, for those of us in the AI know it seems quite likely in some… Read More
IEDM 2019 – TSMC 5nm Process
IEDM is in my opinion the premiere conference for information on state-of-the-art semiconductor processes. In “My Top Three Reasons to Attend IEDM 2019” article I singled out the TSMC 5nm paper as a key reason to attend.
IEDM is one of the best organized conferences I attend and as soon as you pick up your badge you are handed a memory… Read More
Bob Swan says Intel 7nm equals TSMC 5nm!
Bob Swan is really starting to grow on me. Admittedly, I am generally not a fan of CFOs taking CEO roles at semiconductor companies but thus far Bob is doing a great job. This comes from my outside-looking-in observations and from the people I know inside Intel, absolutely.
Bob did a fireside chat with Credit Suisse at their 23rd annual… Read More
Why is Intel Still Short on Chips?
Intel is again apologizing to customers for 14nm chip shortages. As a result PC makers are revising down revenue expectations for 2020. Something does not smell right here. I have also read that due to the continued shortages Intel will be second sourcing CPU chips to Samsung 14nm. This smells even worse, absolutely.
First and foremost,… Read More
2020 Semiconductor Foundry Landscape Update!
When I first started working with the foundries 25 years ago I would have never imagined that I would make a career out of it, which I most certainly have. Fortunately, I recognized early on that not only are the foundries the cornerstone of the semiconductor ecosystem, they are also a very important economic bellwether, absolutely.… Read More