Power is Everything
During Apollo 13 after the oxygen tank in the service module exploded forcing the crew to use the lunar module as a life boat to get back home, John Aaron – an incredibly gifted NASA engineer who was tasked with getting the Apollo 13 crew back home safely – flatly stated “Power is everything…we’ve… Read More
AMAT reports strong Q and even better guidance
Last quarter we said that AMAT got its mojo back and it appears to have even picked up speed going into the end of a strong year.
The display business which had been less than reliable in years past has come up with back to back home runs. Applied is growing both its top and bottom line at well above the sluggish market rates and is clearly… Read More
Semiconductors negative in 2016, positive in 2017
Note: the table and text below have been revised from an earlier post to correct the numbers for STMicroelectronics.
Semiconductor companies posted a wide range of results in 2nd quarter 2016. Intel, Micron Technology and Renesas Electronics all had declines in revenue in 2Q 2016 versus 1Q 2016. Samsung Semiconductor, Qualcomm… Read More
Lam beats on EPS & Revs and good Q1 (Sept) guide
Continues to Outgrow in a Flat Capex Environment. Is September the 2016 Peak with a softer December? Lam reported June, Q4 , revenues of $1.55B and EPS of $1.80, handily beating estimates and besting relatively high expectations for a positive spin and outlook for H2. Guidance was for a Sept quarter of $1.625B in revs and $1.77 in … Read More
KLAC accelerates business into Q4 and where are we on the KLAM deal?
While no one was really paying attention, and the company didn’t have an earnings call anyway, KLAC put up a strong beat. Revenues came in at $919M versus street of $842M and EPS came in at $1.77 easily beating $1.42 street.
However this was at the expense of the September quarter as it appears that business in the September quarter… Read More
efabless SemiWiki FAQ
The first post on efabless generated some interesting questions that I will re-post here. Again, crowdsourcing is an iterative process so your help is greatly appreciated:
Please forgive me my ignorance, but what is the difference between efabless and ChipEstimate?… Read More
efabless: Think GitHub for ICs and IP
For those of you who don’t know, GitHub is the crowdsourcing version of the defacto industry standard GIT source code management software. Currently, more than 14 million people have deposited more than 35 million software projects (mostly open-source) on GitHub making it the largest host of source code in the world.
Now think… Read More
Coming Up Next: ARM IoT ASICs!
The History of ASICs is well documented in our book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” which illustrates the earliest forms of design start driven collaboration. The history of ARM is well documented in our book “Mobile Unleashed” which illustrates an entire company culture based on design start driven… Read More
Brexit impact on semiconductors
On July 1, Daniel Nenni posted his thoughts on the impact of Brexit (the vote by the UK to leave the European Union) on semiconductors. In general I agree with his points. Below is my take on the issue.
The long term impact of Brexit is uncertain. The UK will likely negotiate a trade agreement with the EU which includes free trade between… Read More
IMEC-Horizontal Nanowires for 5nm at the VLSI Technology Symposium
At the VLSI Technology Symposium, IMEC presented a paper entitled “Gate-All-Around MOSFETs based on Vertically Stacked Horizontal Si Nanowires in a Replacement Metal Gate Process on Bulk Silicon Wafers”. I have wanted to blog about this paper since the symposium was held but also wanted to tie it in with an interview… Read More
Flynn Was Right: How a 2003 Warning Foretold Today’s Architectural Pivot