The Significance of Apple’s 64 Bit A7

The Significance of Apple’s 64 Bit A7
by Ed McKernan on 09-11-2013 at 9:00 pm

The disappointment amongst analysts is palpable. Dreams of low cost iphones for the masses were kicked away when Apple introduced their two new iphones at the same price points as the old ones. Clearly Apple is playing a different game than what most others are anticipating as the market runs to 5BU. The market has split into the land… Read More


Breaking news: Microsoft acquires Apple!

Breaking news: Microsoft acquires Apple!
by Eric Esteve on 09-11-2013 at 4:51 am

Despite the relative success of their latest smartphone, iPhone15s, the Cupertino firm had never been able to renew with the success of legendary iPhone5s, launched ten years ago, in 2011. As of today, we don’t know if Microsoft will keep iPhone and iPad product lines, or decide to provide these with a lethal injection…

Some history:… Read More


Wall St. Takes the Wheel at Wintel

Wall St. Takes the Wheel at Wintel
by Ed McKernan on 08-26-2013 at 5:45 pm

It now appears that Steve Ballmer was suddenly given his walking papers at the urging of an activist investor (ValueAct) and with the concurrence of Bill Gates. Wall Street’s growing impatience tends to coincide when the Innovators Dilemma scenario has taken hold of a company that has been unable to overcome its challengers. Why… Read More


Microsoft Signals the Return of "Expensive Hardware, Cheap Software"

Microsoft Signals the Return of "Expensive Hardware, Cheap Software"
by Ed McKernan on 08-23-2013 at 12:00 pm

The announcement that Steve Ballmer will step down from Microsoft within the next 12 months and just weeks after kicking off a vast re-org focused on mobile devices can only mean that the future is coming much faster than Bill Gates or Steve Ballmer had ever expected and that without a radical adoption of hardware everywhere, it will… Read More


20nm IC production needs more than a ready Foundry

20nm IC production needs more than a ready Foundry
by Pawan Fangaria on 08-23-2013 at 11:00 am

I think by now all of us know, or have heard about 20nm process node, its PPA (Power, Performance, Area) advantages and challenges (complexity of high design size and density, heterogeneity, variability, stress, lithography complexities, LDEs and so on). I’m not going to get into the details of these challenges, but will ponder… Read More


Apple Goes All Amazonian

Apple Goes All Amazonian
by Ed McKernan on 08-01-2013 at 4:00 pm

In the world of Tech Goliaths, the seemingly low tech, not for profit Amazon continues to amaze investors with a high and rising stock price. More so than Google, Amazon is considered to have retail all wrapped up with the end game being sky-high warehouses and continuous truck rolls up and down our scenic neighborhoods. Walmart … Read More


Apple iOS7 Will Drive The Next Semiconductor Cycle

Apple iOS7 Will Drive The Next Semiconductor Cycle
by Ed McKernan on 07-08-2013 at 12:00 am

We have entered the Summer lull, the quiet period before what is likely to be Apple’s largest volume launch of smartphones ever. While the launches are coming in like clockwork, it is the magnitude of the ramp that is likely to surprise many and it will be due not just to the features of iOS7, but also to the adoption of a well-worn Microsoft… Read More


Smartphone Shipment Explosion Sustained by $50-$75 devices, Mostly in China

Smartphone Shipment Explosion Sustained by $50-$75 devices, Mostly in China
by Eric Esteve on 07-01-2013 at 9:21 am

Until recently, talking about smartphone incredible shipment growth was understood as shipments of A5 iPhone or Galaxy Note, and this was true. Devices priced at $500 or more are shipping like baguette in Paris, but this fact is only true in Europe, Korea, Japan or USA. Does that means that people living populated countries like… Read More


What is inside the iPhone5s? Samsung or TSMC?

What is inside the iPhone5s? Samsung or TSMC?
by Daniel Nenni on 06-26-2013 at 6:00 pm

As a semiconductor professional and an Apple customer I’m very interested to see what is inside the iPhone5s. Rumors are spreading, photos are leaking, creating a nice build up to the next release of the mobile device that changed the world.

Honestly, last year I was a bit disappointed with the iPhone5. Inside is the A6 SoC which uses… Read More


Intel Plays to the 4 Horsemen of the Mobile Software World

Intel Plays to the 4 Horsemen of the Mobile Software World
by Ed McKernan on 06-13-2013 at 1:00 am

Just at the moment we look for the mobile market to consolidate, it fractures along new fault lines as old allies become enemies and new business models appear in order to spur the ecosystem giants forward. It was not long ago that Android was let loose in an attempt to prove that the Mobile World is Flat. Ah but Samsung decided that it… Read More