Once a year, during the TSMC’s Open Innovation Platform (OIP) Forum you can expect to see cutting edge technical achievements by TSMC and their partners. This year was no exception, with Open-Silicon presenting its accomplishments in implementing an HBM reference design in 16nm. It’s well understood that HBM offers huge benefits… Read More
eSilicon Revolutionizes Semiconductor IP Selection and Purchasing!
Design starts are the lifeblood of the semiconductor industry which is why we have been following the eSilicon STAR Platform since its introduction with great anticipation. The STAR platform was first launched about three years ago. Today, there are over 1,300 registered STAR users in 52 countries around the world.
The ASIC business… Read More
Shakeup in Analog Rankings
Last week Renesas Electronics announced an agreement to acquire Intersil Corporation for US$3.22 billion. This follows July’s announcement that Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) will acquire Linear Technology Corp. (LTC) for $14.8 billion. These deals will cause a shakeup in the analog IC market. According to IC Insights ranking … Read More
KLAM Kommentary – Assessing the political landscape of approval
LRCX & KLAC’s merger continues to be closely watched given the recent turns and reversals we have seen which call into question the ability to get the deal done. The deal was announced in October of 2015 and we are on our second request from the DOJ and the deal will almost certainly go beyond the Oct 20th, one year deadline… Read More
Is Your Next Reality Going to be Augmented?
John Lennon reportedly once said “Reality leaves a lot to the imagination…” and now we have the technology to do something about making our reality a lot more imaginative. Unless you have been living under a rock (and there is nothing wrong with that – I just haven’t found the right rock myself) there is a LOT going on these days in the… Read More
The Role of IP Selection and Integration in First-Time Silicon Success
As IP expert Eric Esteve has written, Semiconductor IP has consistently outgrown the other design enablement segments and will continue to do so. This has been my personal experience as well during my EDA and IP career so we should all know how important Semiconductor IP is. We certainly know how valuable it is with ARM valued at $32B!… Read More
The Perfect Wearable SoC…?
Power is Everything
During Apollo 13 after the oxygen tank in the service module exploded forcing the crew to use the lunar module as a life boat to get back home, John Aaron – an incredibly gifted NASA engineer who was tasked with getting the Apollo 13 crew back home safely – flatly stated “Power is everything…we’ve… Read More
AMAT reports strong Q and even better guidance
Last quarter we said that AMAT got its mojo back and it appears to have even picked up speed going into the end of a strong year.
The display business which had been less than reliable in years past has come up with back to back home runs. Applied is growing both its top and bottom line at well above the sluggish market rates and is clearly… Read More
Semiconductors negative in 2016, positive in 2017
Note: the table and text below have been revised from an earlier post to correct the numbers for STMicroelectronics.
Semiconductor companies posted a wide range of results in 2nd quarter 2016. Intel, Micron Technology and Renesas Electronics all had declines in revenue in 2Q 2016 versus 1Q 2016. Samsung Semiconductor, Qualcomm… Read More
Lam beats on EPS & Revs and good Q1 (Sept) guide
Continues to Outgrow in a Flat Capex Environment. Is September the 2016 Peak with a softer December? Lam reported June, Q4 , revenues of $1.55B and EPS of $1.80, handily beating estimates and besting relatively high expectations for a positive spin and outlook for H2. Guidance was for a Sept quarter of $1.625B in revs and $1.77 in … Read More


The Packaging PDK Is the Missing Layer for Co-Packaged Optics