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Bachelor Thesis in the Semiconductor Industry

J

julz

Guest
Hey,

currently I am doing my bachelor thesis as a kind of market analysis of the semiconductor industry.
At first I want to give a nice overview of the specific characteristics of this industry.
Thus I need some good sources (Papers, books), which I could use?

Do you have any recommendations or tips for me :)?

I would be very pleased if anyone could help me with my research.
Thanks in advance!
 
julz said:
Hey,

currently I am doing my bachelor thesis as a kind of market analysis of the semiconductor industry.
At first I want to give a nice overview of the specific characteristics of this industry.
Thus I need some good sources (Papers, books), which I could use?

Do you have any recommendations or tips for me :)?

I would be very pleased if anyone could help me with my research.
Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Daniel Nenni and Paul McLellan's book "Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry" should be a good start. Also on YouTube you can find an excellent discussion between Morris Chang (founder of TSMC), John Hennessy (President of Stanford and co-founder of MIPS Computer), and Jen-Hsun Huang (Founder and CEO of nVidia).

Stanford Engineering Hero Lecture: Morris Chang in conversation with President John L. Hennessy - YouTube
 
When you say "semiconductor industry" what do you mean?

  • IDM companies like Intel
  • Foundries like TSMC
  • Fabless design companies like Qualcomm
  • Software companies in EDA
  • Semiconductor IP companies
  • Semiconductor equipment vendors
 
At the beginning of my thesis I want to summarize the semiconductor market by giving a quick overview.
Explaining the main players (IDM, fabless, Hybrid / fab-lite, foundries) and the supply chain (not very detailed).
Later on my focus is on the fabless companies and their development from 2002-2015.
 
julz said:
At the beginning of my thesis I want to summarize the semiconductor market by giving a quick overview.
Explaining the main players (IDM, fabless, Hybrid / fab-lite, foundries) and the supply chain (not very detailed).
Later on my focus is on the fabless companies and their development from 2002-2015.
Click to expand...

If you would like someone to proof read it I would be glad to help.
 
I've analyzed the different business models and from my point of view fabless companies / fabless-foundry model has following pro and cons:
pro: - small companies can easily enter the market (no huge investment for a fab is needed)
- Innovation driver for niche markets. Thus ideas can be brought to the market quickly
- Fabless companies can search their optimal partner for each step in the supply chain (Manufacturing, Assembly, Testing...)
- No fixed Assets - makes them more flexibel in case of subsiding boom

cons: - Fabless companies are dependent on its partner/s (foundries) => capacity, quality
- Doesn't have the detailed information of the complete process => Process change for example
- Smaller fabless companies have no bargaining power caused by low volume (relatively)

Do u agree with me? Or have I interpreted my findings wrong? I would be very pleased if you could give me a short feedback and maybe also express some additional thoughts / opinions
 
julz said:
I've analyzed the different business models and from my point of view fabless companies / fabless-foundry model has following pro and cons:
pro: - small companies can easily enter the market (no huge investment for a fab is needed)
- Innovation driver for niche markets. Thus ideas can be brought to the market quickly
- Fabless companies can search their optimal partner for each step in the supply chain (Manufacturing, Assembly, Testing...)
- No fixed Assets - makes them more flexibel in case of subsiding boom

cons: - Fabless companies are dependent on its partner/s (foundries) => capacity, quality
- Doesn't have the detailed information of the complete process => Process change for example
- Smaller fabless companies have no bargaining power caused by low volume (relatively)

Do u agree with me? Or have I interpreted my findings wrong? I would be very pleased if you could give me a short feedback and maybe also express some additional thoughts / opinions
Click to expand...

I do not agree with the cons.

Fabless companies have a choice of foundries for capacity, quality, and pricing. TSMC, Samsung, GF, UMC, SMIC. As a result of the competition with Samsung, TSMC is moving much faster and reducing costs. Look at the new TSMC 16FFC process for example. It is a very low cost FinFET process.

Fabless companies do have intimate process knowledge, it is required for advanced process nodes. Using TSMC as an example, key customers are early collaborators since TSMC does not have the required design experience. The same goes for IP companies (ARM, Synopsys and Cacence) and EDA Tool companies. Foundry process development really is one big collaboration.

Smaller companies are at a disadvantage because there are so many of them and foundries have a fixed amount of time to spend with customers. But there are companies like eSilicon and Open-Sillicon using the ASIC business model that help small companies for just this reason. There is even a new company called eFabless.com that will do the same using open source EDA and IP.

https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/content/section/3006-esilicon.html

https://www.semiwiki.com/forum/content/section/5456-open-silicon.html

The fabless semiconductor ecosystem really is an amazing thing. I think your research here will be very rewarding.
 
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