Alchip was founded in 2003 by a group of Silicon Valley veterans that followed a similar path of working for semiconductor companies then moving to the EDA/IP/ASIC ecosystem. In fact, I used to play basketball with the Alchip co-founder/chairman during that time and can tell you he is a fierce competitor. Good thing too because … Read More
Welcome Samtec and System Design on SemiWiki
I always enjoy welcoming new corporate members to the SemiWiki platform. Each company brings new technology, a different perspective and the opportunity for the SemiWiki community to hear about another aspect of chip design and manufacturing. But this introduction is different. This time, a new corporate member is opening … Read More
TSMC Pushes out Equip Purchases – SIA and SEMI ask for Government Help
TSMC pushing out equipment purchases
Covid/China trickles down to chip industry
SIA and SEMI ask for financial/govt help to keep up
The beginning of another down cycle?
We have heard from a number of sources that TSMC has started to push out equipment orders as concerns grow about the second half of the year.
Right now is the most logical… Read More
Is the Worst Over for Semiconductors?
The worldwide economic outlook is chaotic due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The outlook for the semiconductor market is also very uncertain. 1Q 2020 revenue versus 4Q 2019 was mixed for major semiconductor companies, ranging from a 19% decline for STMicroelectronics to 9.9% growth from Kioxia (previously Toshiba Semiconductor).
Effect of Design on Transistor Density
I have written a lot of articles looking at leading edge processes and comparing the process density. One comment I often get are that the process density numbers I present do not correlate with the actual transistor density on released products. A lot of people want to draw conclusions an Intel’s processes versus TSMC’s processes… Read More
A Thoughtful Semiconductor Outlook – Needed Now More Than Ever
If you’re not dizzy from all the changing market projections lately, you soon will be. At times like this, I believe it’s important to keep perspective and look beyond the next 24-hour news cycle to try and understand what the future holds. I’m happy to report there’s a great event coming up in June that will do just that.
The Silicon… Read More
Collaboration Flow for Moore’s Law versus More than Moore
The current Coronavirus crisis is inflicting a lot of pain on people, companies, and governments. I hope I am not getting in trouble with my reasoning, but if you look closely, there are also some “positives” to the Covid-19 crisis.
– It is stress-testing our infrastructure and telling us where we need to improve – as country,… Read More
Cost Analysis of the Proposed TSMC US Fab
On May 15th TSMC “announced its intention to build and operate an advanced semiconductor fab in the United States with the mutual understanding and commitment to support from the U.S. federal government and the State of Arizona.”
The fab will run TSMC’s 5nm technology and have a capacity of 20,000 wafers per month (wpm). Construction… Read More
TSMC stops doing business with Huawei!
Hours after agreeing to build a fab in US TSMC will stop selling to Huawei- Repercussions will reverberate through all tech: Semis, semi equip, chip customers, all collateral damage.
It has been reported by Nikkei and other sources that TSMC has stopped taking orders from Huawei in order to comply with US export controls.
SEMI Takes the Jim Hogan and Simon Butler Conversation Virtual
As I originally reported a few weeks ago, the Jim Hogan fireside chat with Methodic’s CEO and founder Simon Butler was moved to a virtual event on May 1. The event was produced by the Electronic System Design (ESD) Alliance, a SEMI Strategic Technology Community. Bob Smith, executive director of ESDA, moderated the event. I am happy… Read More


TSMC Formally Sues Ex-SVP Over Alleged Transfer of Trade Secrets to Intel