As I have mentioned before, I’m part of the Coleman Research Group so you can rent me by the hour to better understand the semiconductor industry. Most of the conversations are by phone but sometimes I do travel to the East Coast, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China for face-to-face meetings. Generally the calls are the result of an event … Read More
Skate to where the mobile puck is headed, Intel
Mobile World Congress 2014 has already showcased two very different mobile SoC machines in high gear. After watching one big US moment and Canada otherwise dominate everything involving ice and a stick at the Sochi Olympics, I’m reaching into the Wayne Gretzky pile of quotes for a metaphor to examine Intel’s move – and why they are… Read More
Brian Krzanich Does Reddit AMA
Do you know what an AMA is on Reddit? It stands for “ask me anything”. A person, often a famous person like Bill Gates (last week) but sometimes just someone who does an interesting job (like astronaut) or was in an interesting situation (like the hijack from Ethiopia last week).
Today, it is someone who argualble is all… Read More
Intel 14nm Delayed Again?
From the sources in which I confirmed the last Intel 14nm delay, I just confirmed another. Intel 14nm is STILL having yield problems. Remember Intel bragging about 14nm being a full node and deriding TSMC because 16nm is “just” 20nm with FinFETs added? Judging by the graph, clearly FinFETs are not the problem here. … Read More
Intel Quark awakening from stasis on a yet-to-be-named planet
We know the science fiction plot device from its numerous uses: in order to survive a journey of bazillions of miles across galaxies into the unknown future, astronauts are placed into cryogenic stasis. Literally frozen in time, the idea is they exit a lengthy suspension without aging, ready to go to work immediately on revival … Read More
Why Intel 14nm is NOT a Game Changer!
On one hand the Motley Fool is saying, “Intel 14nm could change the game” and on the other hand the Wall Street Cheat Sheet is saying, “Intel should shut down mobile”. SemiWiki says Intel missed mobile and should look to the future and focus on wearables and in this blog I will argue why.
Let’s look back to 2009 when Intel and TSMC signed… Read More
The Changing Semiconductor Foundry Landscape!
The foundry landscape is changing again and it is definitely something that should be discussed. There are some people, mostly influenced by Intel, that feel the foundry business has hit the wall at 20nm which couldn’t be further from the truth. After spending 30 years working in Silicon Valley, I have experienced a lot of change… Read More
Is Altera Leaving Intel for TSMC?
There is a rumor making the rounds that Altera will leave Intel and return to TSMC. Rumors are just rumors but this one certainly has legs and I will tell you why and what I would have done if I were Altera CEO John Daane. Altera is a great company, one that I have enjoyed working with over the years, but I really think they made a serious mistake… Read More
TSMC Responds to Intel’s 14nm Density Claim!
TSMC responded to Intel’s 14nm density advantage claim in the most recent conference call. It is something I have been following closely and have written about extensively both publicly and privately. Please remember that the fabless semiconductor ecosystem is all about crowd sourcing and it is very hard to fool a crowd of semiconductor… Read More
Intel is NOT Transparent Again!
Recent headlines suggest that Intel was not transparent about some of the products they showed at the CES keynote. Intel confirmed on Friday that they used ARM-based chips for some of the products but would not say which ones. When your company’s tag line is “Intel Inside” and you hold up a product during your keynote wouldn’t… Read More