Worldwide semiconductor shipments were $123.1 billion in 1Q 2021, up 3.6% from 4Q 2020 and up 17.8% from a year ago, according to WSTS. The 3.6% quarter-to-quarter growth was the highest for a first quarter since 1Q 2010, eleven years ago. The strong growth in 1Q21 implies strong growth in the following quarters and for the year 2021.… Read More
AMAT Nice Beat Strong Growth for Both 2021 & 2022
-Strong beat & guide- WFE up in 2021 & 2022-$160B combined
-Taking share in conductor etch & CVD
-Traditional Moore Scaling – No More?
-Foundry Logic leads followed by DRAM with weak NAND
Nice beat & guide & raise
Applied reported revenues of $5.58B with GM of 47.5% resulting in non-GAAP EPS of $1.63. … Read More
NetApp Simplifies Cloud Bursting EDA workloads
Why burst EDA workloads to the cloud
Time to market challenges are nothing new to those of us who have worked in the semiconductor industry. Each process node brings new opportunities s along with increasingly complex design challenges. 7nm, 5nm and 3nm process nodes have introduced scale, growth, and data challenges at a level… Read More
Enhancing RISC-V Vector Extensions to Accelerate Performance on ML Workloads
During the week of April 19th, Linley Group held its Spring Processor Conference 2021. The Linley Group has a reputation for convening excellent conferences. And this year’s spring conference was no exception. There were a number of very informative talks from various companies updating the audience on the latest research and… Read More
Webinar: Challenges in creating large High Performance Compute SoCs in advanced geometries
When we think about Compute and AI SoCs, we often focus on the huge numbers of calculations being carried out every second, and the ingenious IPs that are able to reach such high levels of performance. However, there also exists a significant challenge in keeping the vast quantities of data flowing around the chip which is solved … Read More
3rd Party Semiconductor Intellectual Property Market Update
The 3rd Party Semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) market has seen great innovation in the products it offers to System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designers over the last ten years. If any market segment in the semiconductor industry typifies the intense evolutionary pressures that the entire electronics market has undergone, … Read More
Samtec Keynote – Power Integrity is the New Black Magic
The Signal Integrity Journal recently held a half day Electronic Systems SI/PI Forum that included presentations from industry leaders covering key design topics for signal integrity and power integrity engineers. The event was sponsored by Cadence. The keynote for the event was presented by Istvan Novak, principal signal… Read More
Is IBM’s 2nm Announcement Actually a 2nm Node?
IBM has announced the development of a 2nm process.
IBM Announcement
What was announced:
- “2nm”
- 50 billion transistors in a “thumbnail” sized area later disclosed to be 150mm2 = 333 million transistors per millimeter (MTx/mm2).
- 44nm Contacted Poly Pitch (CPP) with 12nm gate length.
- Gate All Around (GAA), there are several ways
You know you have a problem when 60 Minutes covers it!
-Chip shortage on 60 Minutes- Average Joe now aware of chip issue
-Intel sprinkling fairy dust (money) on New Mexico & Israel
-Give up on buy backs and dividends
-Could Uncle Sam give a handout to Intel?
You normally don’t want to answer the door if 60 Minutes TV crew is outside as it likely doesn’t mean good things.… Read More
KLAC- Great QTR & Guide- Foundry/logic focus driver- Confirms $75B capex in 2021
– KLA put up an excellent quarter and Guide
– Rising above the increasing tide of orders
– Confirms $75B capex in 2021 with upside
– Foundry & Logic continue to be the sweet spot for KLA
Business is very very good and getting better
-Revenues came in at $1.8B with EPS of $3.85, all above the range
-Guidance… Read More


Chemical Origins of Environmental Modifications to MOR Lithographic Chemistry