Third quarter 2022 data on PC and smartphone shipments shows a continuing year-to-year decline. IDC estimates PC units in 3Q 2022 were down 15% from a year earlier, matching the 2Q 2022 decline. IDC’s September forecast for PC units was a 12.8% decline for the year 2022, which is in line with the latest quarterly data. Canalys estimates… Read More
Chip Train Wreck Worsens
-Semi Equip go from bad to worse as TSMC cuts capex
-Numbers will be slashed for December quarter
-So far just a handful of exceptions to blockade but temporary
-China’s response could be very ugly
Fast motion train wreck
Just when some people thought that Fridays department of commerce announcement couldn’t get worse,… Read More
VeriSilicon’s AI-ISP Breaks the Limits of Traditional Computer Vision Technologies
The tremendous growth in edge devices has focused the spotlight on Edge-AI processing for low latency, low power and low-DDR bandwidth compute needs. Many of these Edge-AI applications depend on effective and efficient processing of image and video streams which in turn relies on computer vision technology. In early September,… Read More
Semiconductor China Syndrome Meltdown and Mayhem
-Commerce Dept drops a 100 page nuke on the Semi industry
-Many words but not a lot of clarity on exact impact
-Implementation & interpretation will be key to quantify impact
-It’s all bad, just a question of how bad
China is the industry’s biggest customer
We all know that China uses most of the world’s semiconductors… Read More
Micron and Memory – Slamming on brakes after going off the cliff without skidmarks
-Micron slams on the brakes of capacity & capex-
-But memory market is already over the cliff without skid marks
-It will likely take at least a year to sop up excess capacity
-Collateral impact on Samsung & others even more important
Micron hitting the brakes after memory market already impacts
Micron capped off an otherwise… Read More
Enjoy the Super-Cycle it’ll Crash in 2023!
At our January 2021 industry update webinar, 20 months ago, we forecast “There’s no tight capacity relief before 2022 at the earliest” whilst simultaneously cautioning “Enjoy the super-cycle … it’ll crash in 2023!” At the time, we were dismissed as being ‘ever optimistic’ for the first prognosis and ‘losing the plot’ for the … Read More
Semiconductor Decline in 2023
The semiconductor market dropped 0.8 percent in 2Q 2022 versus 1Q 2022, according to WSTS. The 2Q 2022 decline followed a 0.5% quarter-to-quarter decline in 1Q 2022. The 2Q 2022 revenues of the top 15 semiconductor suppliers match the overall market results, with a 1% decline from 1Q 2022. The results by company were mixed. Memory… Read More
Does SMIC have 7nm and if so, what does it mean
Recently TechInsights analyzed a Bitcoin Miner chip fabbed at SMIC and declared SMIC has a 7nm process. There has been some debate as to whether the SMIC process is really 7nm and what it means if it is 7nm. I wanted to discuss the case for and against the process being 7nm, and what I think it means.
First off, I want to say I am not going … Read More
Samtec is Fueling the AI Revolution
It’s all around us. The pervasive use of AI is changing our world. From planetary analysis of weather patterns to monitoring your vital statistics to assess health, it seems as though smart everything is everywhere. Much has been written about the profound impact AI is having on our lives and society. Everyone seems to agree that… Read More
The Semiconductor Cycle Snowballs Down the Food Chain – Gravitational Cognizance
-Where are we in the chip cycle? Why is it different this time?
-No one rings a bell to indicate the top or bottom of a cycle
-Could the lack of self-awareness lead to a worse downturn?
-Who will weather the cycle better & come out on top
Rapidus, IBM, and the Billion-Dollar Silicon Sovereignty Bet