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TSMC 20nm Essentially Worthless?

TSMC 20nm Essentially Worthless?
by Daniel Nenni on 02-15-2015 at 7:00 am

It happens at every process node, professional journalists write that something is broken and blames TSMC like a worn out record. To be fair they are not semiconductor professionals with access to the fabless semiconductor rank and file and are easily manipulated which is what happened again at 20nm. Remember when NVIDIA suggested… Read More


Do You Need a Silicon Catalyst?

Do You Need a Silicon Catalyst?
by Daniel Nenni on 02-14-2015 at 7:00 pm

Lately there has been significant concern over the rising costs of designing in silicon and the troubling decline in venture investments in semiconductors. These alarming trends include fewer IPOs, a falloff in the amount and frequency of early stage seed investments, and comparatively low industry organic growth rates. A … Read More


TSMC’s OIP: Everything You Need for 16FF+ SoCs

TSMC’s OIP: Everything You Need for 16FF+ SoCs
by Paul McLellan on 02-13-2015 at 7:00 am

Doing a modern SoC design is all about assembling IP and adding a small amount of unique IC design for differentiation (plus, usually, lots of software). If you re designing in a mature process then there is not a lot of difficulty finding IP for almost anything. But if you are designing in a process that has not yet reached high-volume… Read More


TSMC vs Samsung!

TSMC vs Samsung!
by Daniel Nenni on 02-10-2015 at 9:30 pm

One of the trending topics in Taiwan last week is the escalating conflict between Samsung and TSMC. This time however it is of a legal nature which has been a long time coming for the semiconductor industry. Reverse engineering has been an integral part of the semiconductor business since the beginning, as has intellectual property… Read More


Has the Semiconductor Industry Gone Mad?

Has the Semiconductor Industry Gone Mad?
by Daniel Nenni on 02-07-2015 at 7:00 pm

The weather in Taiwan last week was very strange. It was so cold I tried to turn on the heat in my hotel room only to find out it was not possible. If you want more heat they bring a portable heater because who needs central heat in Hsinchu? Even stranger is all of the media hyperbole on the next process nodes:

Intel CFO: We’re so farRead More


Intel to Launch 10nm Chips in Early 2017?

Intel to Launch 10nm Chips in Early 2017?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-31-2015 at 7:00 am

As I have mentioned before, Intel and the foundries approach process development from different starting points. Intel is committed to Moore’s law in reducing the transistor cost by increasing the process density in a near linear fashion. The foundries on the other hand work closely with partners and customers to determine the… Read More


TSMC Finishes 2014 with the Chairman on the Call!

TSMC Finishes 2014 with the Chairman on the Call!
by Daniel Nenni on 01-15-2015 at 9:30 pm

I’m not a financial guy, as I have mentioned before, so let me just make some comments on the technology discussed on today’s conference call. Please note that the Chairman Dr. Morris Chang was on the call which is probably why the TSM stock went up more than 8% immediately after. Of course there was plenty of good news to go along with… Read More


Update: Who will manufacture the Apple A9?

Update: Who will manufacture the Apple A9?
by Daniel Nenni on 01-04-2015 at 12:00 am

Last August I presented possible scenarios for the manufacturing of the Apple A9 processor. Quite a bit has changed since then so I think it is worth revisiting. There has also been quite a lot of misinformation in the press which is now pretty much a daily thing. Attending the IEDM conference last month really was a stark difference… Read More


IEDM Advanced CMOS Technology Platform Session

IEDM Advanced CMOS Technology Platform Session
by Scotten Jones on 01-01-2015 at 7:00 am

First I want recognize that IEDM once again provided all of the attendees with the proceedings as soon as we arrived at the conference, in fact the proceeding included every year of IEDM back to 1955. This is how a conference should be run! Anyone who read my blog about the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference will know how frustrating… Read More


Fabless Semiconductor Milestones of 2014!

Fabless Semiconductor Milestones of 2014!
by Daniel Nenni on 12-28-2014 at 9:00 am

After working in the semiconductor industry for the past thirty years and writing about it for the past six I would say that 2014 was one of the more interesting years of late. Vindication is the word that pops into my mind now that many “predictions” the fabless detractors have made over the last three years were proven wrong.

As a student… Read More