Qualcomm today announced three new chipsets for entry level and mid-range smartphones – Snapdragon 720G, Snapdragon 662, and Snapdragon 460. The first one promises to bring many of the Elite Gaming features of the 765G with support for HDR, dynamic color range and high-quality synchronized sound with Qualcomm aptX Adaptive.… Read More
A Webinar About Electrical Verification – The Invisible Bottleneck in IC DesignElectrical rule checking (ERC) is a standard part…Read More
Signal Integrity Verification Using SPICE and IBIS-AMIHigh-speed signals enable electronic systems by using memory…Read More
imec on the Benefits of ASICs and How to Seize ThemIn an era where product differentiation increasingly depends…Read More
MZ Technologies Launches Advanced Packaging Design Video SeriesIn a significant move aimed at empowering semiconductor…Read MoreIEDM 2019 – Imec Interviews
Imec is one of the premier semiconductor research organizations and at IEDM they presented dozens of papers. I had the opportunity to see several of the papers presented and interview 3 of Imec’s researchers.
Jan Van Houdt, DMTS ferroelectric and exploratory memory
I have had very interesting discussions with Imec researchers… Read More
TSMC Q4 2019 “2020 Bellwether” Conference Call Summary
After returning from a week in Southern China I found the TSMC Q4 2019 conference call even more interesting. In China they are preparing for the New Year’s Celebration so everything is very festive but what struck me hardest was the massive investment in infrastructure and security. Semiconductors are of course a big part… Read More
The Tech Week that was January 13-17 2020
In a week where the “phase 1” trade deal between US and China was finally signed, here is all the key news from the semiconductor and technology sector around the world.
After 2 years of an ever increasing trade war, the US and China have signed the so called Phase 1 deal aimed at reducing trade frictions.
Just as important as what is … Read More
Chinese consumers in 2020 5 trends to watch
My friends at McKinsey just released their annual look at the Chinese consumer. As always, they have interviewed thousands across China to draw out “what is different this year?” They start however from the key point that has not changed – that over the 2000s China has accounted for almost one third of the growth in global household… Read More
Don’t Blame Trump for Auto Downturn
There is a temptation to blame U.S. President Donald J. Trump for everything that is right or for everything that is wrong in the world today. Either that or blame Brexit. It’s just possible that Uber, instead, ought to be considered the target of shame for everything from traffic fatalities to global warming.
The automotive… Read More
Samsung spend is up but can it offest TSMC slowing?
Samsung is warming up and spending again
Samsung gave its preliminary report for Q4 and it was well better than prior muted expectations. It doesn’t take long for Samsung’s business units to respond to business trends in either direction and we have already heard of increased spending plans on the part of Samsung.… Read More
Cycling and CES 2020
It’s a new year, so time to share with you all things cycling being shown at CES. Yes, most of CES is devoted to new TV displays, futuristic automobiles, all things 5G, laptops and mobile phones, but there’s a growing segment of consumer products for fitness, and cycling happens to be my fitness passion. Riding a bike … Read More
Banks are Developing Digital Currencies and Opening Themselves to Cyber Risk!
Cybersecurity will be hard pressed to take on the new challenges of bank managed digital currencies.
Banks are developing their own digital currencies. The introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC) is the beginning of an interesting trend that will change the cybersecurity dynamic for banking as it opens up an … Read More
China in 2020: Lower profits, more bankruptcies, and new challenges doing business
This is the fifth and final part of the series
For many industrial businesses, 2019 has been tough. Profits lower across the board – light and heavy industry, state-owned and private businesses. Labor costs rising while ex-factory prices are not. Access to debt restricted. The gap between high performers and laggards widened


Quantum Computing Technologies and Challenges