The AI PC: A New Category Poised to Reignite the PC Market

The AI PC: A New Category Poised to Reignite the PC Market
by Jonah McLeod on 10-20-2025 at 10:00 am

Fig 1

The PC industry is entering its most significant transformation since the debut of the IBM PC in 1981. That original beige box ushered in a new era of productivity, reshaping how corporations and individuals worked, communicated, and created. More than four decades later, the AI PC is emerging as a new category — one that promises… Read More


TSMC’s Business Update and Launch of a New Strategy

TSMC’s Business Update and Launch of a New Strategy
by admin on 07-30-2024 at 10:00 am

TSMC Fab Utilization 2024

What looks like a modest market expansion strategy is all but modest.

Insights into the Semiconductor Industry and the Semiconductor Supply Chain.

As usual, when TSMC reports, the Semiconductor industry gets a spray of insights that help understand what goes on in other areas of the industry. This time, TSMC gave more insight … Read More


Semiconductor Hard or Soft Landing? CHIPS Act?

Semiconductor Hard or Soft Landing? CHIPS Act?
by Robert Maire on 07-02-2022 at 6:00 am

Off the cliff without skidmarks

-Chip cycle will come down. Only question is landing impact
-What does cyclical end do to re-shoring & build out plans?
-Is it less demand, excess supply or both? Does it matter?
-CHIP Act rescue efforts get desperate switching to threats

Any landing you can walk away from is a good one

For those of us who have been in the semiconductor… Read More


Emergency Response Getting Sexy

Emergency Response Getting Sexy
by Roger C. Lanctot on 03-02-2022 at 6:00 am

Emergency Response Getting Sexy

For 20 years the concept of emergency response has been one of the most tired, uninteresting sectors of the automotive industry. General Motors introduced OnStar automatic crash notification 26 years ago and that application has long been considered the end of the story.

The shutoff of 3G wireless networks and the resulting … Read More


Apple and OnStar: Privacy vs. Emergency Response

Apple and OnStar: Privacy vs. Emergency Response
by Roger C. Lanctot on 01-30-2022 at 8:00 am

Apple and OnStar Privacy vs. Emergency Response

In the season 6 premiere of Showtime’s “Billions,”, financier Michael Prince and his lieutenant are remotely monitoring Wags’ heart rate thanks to an Oura-like smart ring as he works out on a Peloton stationary bike. The remote observers conclude Wags is having a heart attack and dispatch emergency medical technicians to his… Read More


Its all about the Transistors- 57 Billion reasons why Apple/TSMC are crushing it

Its all about the Transistors- 57 Billion reasons why Apple/TSMC are crushing it
by Robert Maire on 10-20-2021 at 8:00 am

Apple M1

The Apple event today was essentially a reveal of the latest and greatest silicon coming out of the Apple/TSMC partnership and how far ahead of everything else it is. The Mac was simply an aluminum container for the new silicon.

More importantly the event and specs of the TWO new chips, the M1 Pro and the M1 Max demonstrate that the M1… Read More


TSMC Wafer Wars! Intel versus Apple!

TSMC Wafer Wars! Intel versus Apple!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-18-2021 at 10:00 am

Intel TSMC SemiWiki

The big fake news last week came from a report out of China stating that TSMC won a big Intel order for 3nm wafers. We have been talking about this for some time on SemiWiki so this is nothing new. Unfortunately, the article mentioned wafer and delivery date estimates that are unconfirmed and from what I know, completely out of line. … Read More


Apple’s Orphan Silicon

Apple’s Orphan Silicon
by Paul Boldt on 07-11-2021 at 6:00 am

T2 die anno lr

Apple’s recent Spring Loaded Event brought us M1-based iMacs.  After the MacBook Air and 13” MacBook Pro in the fall, iMacs are the third Mac to jettison Intel processors.  With this transition Apple’s T2 chip enters End of Life status, so to speak.  The T2 is a bit of an enigma and now it does not have much time left.

We know it performs… Read More


From Silicon To Systems

From Silicon To Systems
by Daniel Payne on 05-31-2021 at 10:00 am

digitalization min

The annual Siemens Digital Industries Software user group event was held virtually on May 26th, which made it easy to attend from my home office, although selecting from the list of speakers was a challenge, because they offered 475 sessions, wow. My focus is EDA, so I listened to Joseph Sawicki, the Executive Vice President, IC … Read More


“For Want of a Chip, the Auto Industry was Lost”

“For Want of a Chip, the Auto Industry was Lost”
by Robert Maire on 02-11-2021 at 10:00 am

Auto Assembly Line

Semiconductor production can’t be turned on and off like a switch

Semiconductor fabs have to run 24/7 to make money. They have to be running full all the time to fully utilize the high running costs and in the case of new fabs, high capital costs.

Unlike a brake pad factory hat can hire and fire people at will and source readily … Read More