Good news is good to hear, particularly these days! The behavior of the Design IP market in 2019 is extremely positive, when the semiconductor market has seen a decline worst than in 2009 (economy crisis) or 2001 (internet bubble collapse). Analysis this 5.2% growth in detail will help to understand the future of the IP market, as… Read More
Short vs Long Term Covid19 Impact
-Short term Covid19 impact is primarily logistics related
-Longer term impact is more systemic/demand driven
-Impact will wind through supply chain over several qtrs
-Other issues, such as trade, remain an overhang
Short term versus long term in the semiconductor industry
The stocks declines over the last months seem to indicate… Read More
Online Class: Advanced CMOS Technology 2020 (The 10/7/5 NM Nodes)
Our friends at Threshold Systems have a new ONLINE class that may be of interest to you. It’s an updated version of the Advanced CMOS Technology class held last February. This is normally a classroom affair but to accommodate the recent COVID-19 travel restrictions it is being offered virtually.
As part of the previous class we did… Read More
Why I’m Lowering Semiconductor Equipment Revenue Growth to -6.9% in 2020
Because of significant $4 billion in equipment pull-ins in Q4 from sales in Asia, I was reducing my semiconductor wafer front-end (WFE) equipment revenue growth from an earlier +5% to 0% in 2020. Now, based on CORVID-19, I am further reducing revenue growth to -6.9%.
Chart 1 also shows the cyclical nature of semiconductors and semiconductor… Read More
UPDATE: Everybody Loves a Winner
Building a successful startup is hard, very hard. Creating a new category along the way is even more difficult. Those that succeed at both endeavors are quite rare. This is why an upcoming ESD Alliance event is a must-see in my view. The event is entitled “Jim Hogan and Methodics’ Simon Butler on Bootstrapping a Startup to Profitability… Read More
Filling the ASIC Void – Part 2
I concluded my last post on the topic with an inventory of the key attributes needed to fill the ASIC void created by the relentless consolidation in semiconductors. There were five items, as follows:
- Design and manufacturing expertise in a market that requires custom chips
- Differentiating IP and the skills to integrate it into
Newsflash Chip Equip Blockade Back on!
Blocking chip sales to Huawei back on front burner
Covid19 & China Trade are equally bad
Long lived Uncertainty could “plague” industry sales going forward
Political Predictability worse than Disease Predictability
Reuters broke a story today that the proposed licensing of chip equipment to prevent “bad… Read More
Filling the ASIC Void – Part 1
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


Silicon Insurance: Why eFPGA is Cheaper Than a Respin — and Why It Matters in the Intel 18A Era