Unlike the last CES, this year I saw compelling technology, technology that will definitely drive the semiconductor industry and make the analyst fortunetellers look bad yet again. Anyone who thinks semiconductor growth next year will be in single digits is absolutely wrong, TSMC will grow even more, 20%+. First and foremost however, the GlobalFoundries CES party!
The venue was small but the food was good and it was well attended. It was in a “fantasy” suite at the Palms Casino Resort. There was a glass DJ booth with a pole in the middle but I didn’t see any Firemen.
My favorite EDA CEO was there (Walden Rhines) with his beautiful wife. His Wall Street name is Walden but I get to call him Wally. Wally spends more time on the road than I do but I spend more time in the customer trenches and with the foundries so we had plenty to talk about (a blog in itself). We also talked about the EDAC CEO Panel, business in general, and kids. His daughters are a few years ahead of mine so I was interested to see what my two teenage daughters have in store for me. Mrs. Rhines charmed me completely, wow! Mentor Graphics has 15 new hires, 1 promotion or change, 10 recent departures, and 19 new job opportunities Per my Monday morning tweet: 
#Globalfoundries Plans to Double CAPEX to $5.4B! Had drinks with CFO Robert Krakauer @ #CES
Bob Krakauer, GlobalFoundries CFO, is a very nice, easy speaking guy, with a serious semiconductor background. Bob was President of MagmaChip and worked for Altera, and ChipPac. The big buzz at the party was the GlobalFoundries $5.4B CAPEX number which is HUGE! Expect TSMC to beat that number but the takeaway here is that ATIC is serious about the foundry business and GlobalFoundries will have whatever capitol it will need to be successful, believe it. GLOBALFOUNDRIES has 18 new hires, 5 promotions or changes, 9 recent departures, and 10 new job opportunities .
I spoke with Simon Segars (ARM) and Mojy Chain, these guys were all smiles and with good reason. Hiring Mojy was one of GlobalFoundries’ smartest moves, partnering with ARM even smarter. As I bet in a previous blog, this CES conference belonged to ARM, even without the Windows announcement. ARM owns mobile devices, mobile devices will drive semiconductor for 2011 and beyond, ARM and GlobalFoundries are intimate partners, you do the math.$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Intel versus ARM (Linaro)
November 28, 2010 Daniel Nenni More than 2,500 companies will be exhibiting and more than 120,000 people will be attending the next Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and it is an easy bet that ARM processors will dominate the show yet again. In fact, my money is on ARM to dominate future generations of computing platforms (smartphones) due in large part to one simple word…… Linaro!
This is
Jason Gorss, Technology Communications Manager for GlobalFoundries. Jason is 7 feet tall so no way was I going to get a picture next to him.
These guys are more picture compatible, see how tall I look? Michael Buehler-Garcia from Mentor and Rich Goldman from Synopsys, both strong supporters of Social Media, leading edge guys, good senses of humor, and fun to drink with! After the GlobalFoundries party I went with my photographer to a mansion for a sushi party. Las Vegas Sushi parties are not what you may think. Unfortunately those pictures come under the “What happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas” rule so I can’t post them.
What would you do if you were the CEO of Intel?