As you all know I am a big fan of the ASIC business model. It was critical in the transformation of the fabless semiconductor industry and still plays a critical part in our success. In fact, the ASIC business model is leading the way for systems companies to make their own chips. Remember, Apple started with the ASIC business model … Read More
China moves from manufacturer to full supplier
CES 2017 wrapped up last week in Las Vegas. The show had over 175,000 attendees and over 3,800 exhibiting companies, according to the organizer, the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). The U.S. had the most companies exhibiting at CES with 1,755. China was close behind at 1,575 companies according to Benjamin Joffe’s article… Read More
CTO Interview: Mohamed Kassem of efabless
Tell us about your personal vision for efabless
You recall that efabless is building a community of analog and mixed signal designers and providing the crowdsourcing platform that lets them (1) create and market their own new designs and (2) respond to customer requests for on-demand IP and ICs. I see us at the forefront of bringing… Read More
Semiconductors flat for second straight year
The global semiconductor market posted strong 11.6% growth in 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] quarter 2016 from 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] quarter, according to WSTS. This strength is reflected in the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] quarter revenue growth reported by the major semiconductor suppliers. Of the 12 companies, half (Intel, Samsung, Broadcom, TI, Micron… Read More
ARM and Open Silicon Join Forces to Fight the IoT Edge Wars!
I spent the last several days doing a deep dive into the world of IoT security and what I’ve learned has scared the pants off me. Various analysts predict that there will be over 30 billion connected IoT devices by the year 2020 growing from 9.9 million in 2013. A quick audit of my home identified over 40 connected devices including everything… Read More
Advanced Semiconductor Process Cost Trends
The cost trend for leading edge semiconductor technologies is a subject of some controversy in the industry. Cost is a complex issue with many interacting factors and much of the information out in the industry is in my opinion misleading or incorrect. In this article, I will discuss each of the factors as well as present a view of … Read More
CEO Interview: Jack Harding of eSilicon
I recently spoke with Jack Harding, CEO of eSilicon Corporation and Duy-Loan Le, one of eSilicon’s Board members about eSilicon’s progress in Vietnam, a large design location for the company. eSilicon also gives back in the region through its association with Sunflower Mission, a U.S. based non-profit organization that is committed… Read More
Webinar: ARM Security Solution for IoT
Yossi Weisblum will be presenting ARM’s IoT security solution during the Open Silicon webinar that I am moderating next week. Yossi manages product marketing for ARM’s CryptoCell subsystem. He has an extensive background in product marketing across several platforms, including connectivity, wireless, multimedia and mobile.… Read More
The post election Semicap bubble just burst in one day
Back to a more normal reality… Market gets”De-Fanged”… Where to from here? The “Icarus” Effect… Much of the market, and especially Tech & “FANG” (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix & Google) stocks gave back most all of their post election day gains in one session.… Read More
The efabless $15,000 Design Challenge!
efabless is one of the more interesting companies we have worked with over the last six years. Interesting because it is disruptive and because it is all about enabling design starts, the life blood of the semiconductor industry.… Read More
Rethinking Multipatterning for 2nm Node