It started slowly at first. Then it began picking up steam. I’m referring to consolidation in the semiconductor sector. I had a front-row seat for what consolidation did to the ASIC part of semiconductor and that is the topic of this discussion. I was the VP of marketing at eSilicon, the company that invented the fabless ASIC model.… Read More
COVID-19 Chip Cycle – How deep, long and what shape?
It is a demand driven downturn – harder to predict
It may not be “business as usual” after this virus
What systemic changes could the industry face?
Trying to figure out another cycle-driven by inorganic catalyst
Investors and industry participants in the semiconductor industry who are used to normal cyclical… Read More
Reducing Your ASIC Production Risk!
Managing the ASIC manufacturing is one of the biggest challenges of chip projects.
Building an ASIC supply chain requires specific expertise. Throughout the process you’ll be confronted with hundreds of decisions that will require specific knowledge in order to be addressed correctly, avoid costly mistakes and lose time. … Read More
Semiconductor COVID-19 Update!
Last week whilst China started to recover from COVID-19 outbreak, the rest of the world was seriously impacted by the growing number of cases as the number of cases and deaths outside of China grew higher than in China. With the rise, many governments around the world belatedly put in measures to prevent the further spread of the … Read More
COVID-19 and Semiconductors
The threat of COVID-19 (coronavirus) is continuing to spread. As of March 17, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 179,111 confirmed cases and 7,426 deaths. WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic as of March 11. Many countries have imposed severe restrictions to slow the spread of the disease, ranging from banning of large … Read More
Will the Q1 Haircut become Covid-19 Crew Cut in Q2?
- Corona impact growing exponentially in chip food chain
- YMTC in Wuhan may be “patient zero”
- Q1 revenue haircuts may turn into Q2 crewcuts
- Working from home really doesn’t work
When does a haircut become a crew cut in revenues?
All the major semiconductor equipment makers took a significant haircut to their Q1… Read More
SPIE 2020 – Applied Materials Material-Enabled Patterning
I wasn’t able to attend the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference this year for personal reasons, but Applied Materials was kind enough to set up a phone briefing for me with Regina Freed to discuss their Materials-Enabled Patterning announcement.
At IEDM Applied Materials (AMAT) tried to put together a panel across the entire… Read More
COVID-19 Collateral Chip Collision – Will Fabs & Foundries Flounder?
Corona Fab Impact –
lower production/raise prices
Chip production supply chain may break
It could temporarily fix memory oversupply
Could it risk the fall roll out of next Iphone
The ” Two week tango” – Waiting games at fabs
When a highly specialized piece of semiconductor equipment misbehaves to the… Read More
LithoVision – Economics in the 3D Era
Each year on the Sunday before the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference, Nikon holds their LithoVision event. This year I had the privilege of being invited to speak for the third consecutive year, unfortunately, the event had to be canceled due to concerns over the COVID-19 virus but by the time the event was canceled I had already… Read More
Coronavirus Chops SPIE Litho EUV Conference
Corona Curtails already quiet SPIE Litho conference
Our best guess is that attendance was off by 30% from last years SPIE conference due to a lack of travelers from many Asian areas obviously out of Corona fear. Even Intel, which is a few miles away was a virtual no-show with a mass cancellation.
More importantly, virtually all after… Read More
Rapidus, IBM, and the Billion-Dollar Silicon Sovereignty Bet