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Will Rising Smartphone Tide Lift Semiconductor Boats in 2012?

Will Rising Smartphone Tide Lift Semiconductor Boats in 2012?
by Ed McKernan on 12-16-2011 at 5:12 pm

Memo to Self: When all else fails, return to the Smartphone Market!

The announcement by Intel earlier this week that they would come up short this quarter is a reminder that it is not growth, but very high growth that covers a Multitude of Economic Sins (many which are unforeseen). The semiconductor industry has had to endure three… Read More


Intel Proves Last Year’s Conventional Wisdom Wrong

Intel Proves Last Year’s Conventional Wisdom Wrong
by Ed McKernan on 12-11-2011 at 7:00 pm

Back in the 1990’s, Richard Branson, the legendary Entrepreneur and investor was asked how to become a millionaire, and he allegedly responded, “There’s really nothing to it. Start as a billionaire and then buy an airline.” I think the same principle can be applied to a large part of the Semiconductor… Read More


Did Apple Influence AMD’s TSMC Foundry Switch?

Did Apple Influence AMD’s TSMC Foundry Switch?
by Ed McKernan on 11-27-2011 at 7:00 pm

During the weekend, I read two articles that highlighted Apple’s LCD supply chain build out and started to think of how this would look if Apple were to do the same on the x86 side of the ledger. The two articles, one related to Hitachi and Sony building a new 4” LCD for iphones and a more extensive one on Sharp building a new LCD for the iPAD3… Read More


GlobalFoundries Versus Samsung!

GlobalFoundries Versus Samsung!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-27-2011 at 7:00 pm

Some call it co-opetition (collaborative competition), some call it keeping your enemies close. Others call it for what it is, unfair competition and/or other types of legally actionable behavior. GlobalFoundries calls it“Fab Syncing”, which in reality will SINK their FABS!

“With this new collaboration, we are making one Read More


AMD’s Crossing of the Chasm

AMD’s Crossing of the Chasm
by Ed McKernan on 11-24-2011 at 6:00 am

When AMD announced its cutbacks recently many people were left wondering why they were so deep given the strong financial performance in Q3 and the guidance for an up Q4. It couldn’t have been related to the Thailand floods that could have been at most a one-quarter squeeze expected in Q1. Now it is apparent from reports that AMD’s … Read More


GlobalFoundries’ Expansion on Hold! Trouble in Abu Dhabi?

GlobalFoundries’ Expansion on Hold! Trouble in Abu Dhabi?
by Daniel Nenni on 11-20-2011 at 7:00 pm

When AMD sought to shed its costly manufacturing operations, Ibrahim Ajami saw an interesting opportunity, one that promised to bring semiconductor manufacturing to Abu Dhabi. Let’s start with the January 2010 interview with Ajami, the 35 year old Chief Executive Officer of Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC), … Read More


Happy 40th birthday microprocessor

Happy 40th birthday microprocessor
by Paul McLellan on 11-16-2011 at 10:22 pm

Intel has been making a little bit of a PR fuss about the 40th anniversary of the microprocessor. And they are entitled to. The Intel 4004 was the first customer-programmable chip. Of course if you look at it’s capabilities today they are laughably minimal, and even looking at the chip, a 16-pin DIP (dual-in-line-package … Read More


Physical Verification of 3D-IC Designs using TSVs

Physical Verification of 3D-IC Designs using TSVs
by Daniel Payne on 11-12-2011 at 10:36 am

3D-IC design has become a popular discussion topic in the past few years because of the integration benefits and potential cost savings, so I wanted to learn more about how the DRC and LVS flows were being adapted. My first stop was the Global Semiconductor Alliance web site where I found a presentation about how DRC and LVS flows were… Read More


Synopsys Awarded TSMC’s Interface IP Partner of the Year

Synopsys Awarded TSMC’s Interface IP Partner of the Year
by Eric Esteve on 11-09-2011 at 9:19 am

Is it surprising to see that Synopsys has been selected Interface IP partner of the year by TSMC? Not really, as the company is the clear leader on this IP market segment (which includes USB, PCI Express, SATA, DDRn, HDMI, MIPI and others protocols like Ethernet, DisplayPort, Hyper Transport, Infiniband, Serial RapidIO…). But,… Read More


3D Transistors @ TSMC 20nm!

3D Transistors @ TSMC 20nm!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-06-2011 at 12:51 pm

Ever since the TSMC OIP Forum where Dr. Shang-Yi Chiang openly asked customers, “When do you want 3D Transistors (FinFETS)?” I have heard quite a few debates on the topic inside the top fabless semiconductor companies. The bottom line, in my expert opinion, is that TSMC will add FinFETS to the N20 (20nm) process node in parallel with… Read More