I'm curious to hear any thoughts from industry experts (or otherwise!) on PDF Solutions' opportunity going forward, particularly as it pertains to:
1) their opportunity as yield ramp experts serving tier 2 foundries on 28nm and below (GF, Samsung, SMIC and UMC are customers). This of course is dependent on these foundries' ability to compete with TSMC at these nodes.
2) their entry into the voltage contrast market with their new design-for-inspection e-beam system, opening them up to a good chunk of Hermes' market.
PDFS never seems to get a lot of attention given its somewhat niche role in the supply chain. This may change as they attempt to basically triple their addressable market (outlined at their analyst day last November). But a lot of their success seems to be in the hands of others, given tier 2 foundries' relatively fragile positioning at the leading edge behind TSMC. Also, we're not yet at the point of market acceptance for their voltage contrast tool.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!
1) their opportunity as yield ramp experts serving tier 2 foundries on 28nm and below (GF, Samsung, SMIC and UMC are customers). This of course is dependent on these foundries' ability to compete with TSMC at these nodes.
2) their entry into the voltage contrast market with their new design-for-inspection e-beam system, opening them up to a good chunk of Hermes' market.
PDFS never seems to get a lot of attention given its somewhat niche role in the supply chain. This may change as they attempt to basically triple their addressable market (outlined at their analyst day last November). But a lot of their success seems to be in the hands of others, given tier 2 foundries' relatively fragile positioning at the leading edge behind TSMC. Also, we're not yet at the point of market acceptance for their voltage contrast tool.
Any thoughts would be appreciated!