Donald Trump’s demand that Apple must make iPhones in the U.S. actually isn’t that crazy

Donald Trump’s demand that Apple must make iPhones in the U.S. actually isn’t that crazy
by Vivek Wadhwa on 05-21-2016 at 7:00 am

Donald Trump has promised that “we’re gonna get Apple to start building their damn computers and things in this country, instead of in other countries.” He said this ata speech at Virginia’s Liberty University andseveralother events. It is very likely that he is not serious; Trump tends to say things he couldn’t possibly mean. … Read More


Semiconductor capital spending slow in 2016

Semiconductor capital spending slow in 2016
by Bill Jewell on 05-01-2016 at 12:00 pm

The outlook for semiconductor capital expenditures (capex) in 2016 is weak. Gartner’s January 2016 forecast called for a decline of 4.7%. IC Insights in February projected a 0.8% decline. The table below shows the Gartner forecast along with the capex forecasts from the top three spenders (Intel, Samsung and TSMC) which… Read More


Shifting Asia Electronics Production

Shifting Asia Electronics Production
by Bill Jewell on 03-25-2016 at 7:00 am

Japan emerged as the largest supplier of consumer electronics in the 1980s. The Japan surge was driven by lower cost labor than in the U.S. and Europe as well as innovative products from companies such as Sony, Toshiba and Panasonic (formerly Matsushita). By the 1990s much consumer electronics production shifted to South Korea… Read More


How China can Lead in the Semiconductor Industry

How China can Lead in the Semiconductor Industry
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-06-2016 at 8:00 pm

Since a few years China has been very aggressive in acquiring semiconductor companies around the world. Last year, Chinese government along with PE (Private Equity) and other investors in China announced an ambitious plan under which more than $150 billion were to be invested over next 5 to 10 years in developing semiconductor… Read More


Semiconductor, Oil, and GDP – Correlated? What’s Expected?

Semiconductor, Oil, and GDP – Correlated? What’s Expected?
by Pawan Fangaria on 02-10-2016 at 7:00 am

In last 3 decades of semiconductor market, the largest growth in IC sales was at 33% in 2010. At that time global recession had started due to financial crisis and in 2009 oil prices fell more than 30%. It appeared that oil prices were negatively correlated with semiconductor market growth. Today again there is another sharp decline… Read More


Smart Phones and the Chinese Marketplace

Smart Phones and the Chinese Marketplace
by Daniel Payne on 02-10-2016 at 6:00 am

My first mobile phone was from Motorola and it was fondly called the “brick phone” because of its crude shape. That phone helped me be more efficient while living and working in Silicon Valley, because long commute times in the car were common. At one time Motorola was the best-selling mobile phone brand in the world,… Read More


Intel – "Inside" good markets, outside bad- Huge potential in Memory & Photonics

Intel – "Inside" good markets, outside bad- Huge potential in Memory & Photonics
by Robert Maire on 09-11-2015 at 2:00 am

Intel’s lack of exposure to handsets/China is now a positive rather than a negative

Intel’s strength in “cloud” & servers avoids much consumer weakness in China & developing Markets

Crosspoint has huge upside- Coupled with Photonics it fortifies Intel server dominance

The shoe is on the otherRead More


China (and Cupertino) Are Killing Korea in Mobile

China (and Cupertino) Are Killing Korea in Mobile
by Paul McLellan on 08-04-2015 at 7:00 am

Samsung, #1 in the mobile phones based on unit shipments, has two big problems in mobile. Apple’s iPhone; and China in general and Huawei in particular in the Android world where they live. They have just announced their fifth quarter of decline. Revenue was down 8% year on year but operating profit declined 38%. They sold … Read More


SEMICON Day 1: IoT Everywhere…and China

SEMICON Day 1: IoT Everywhere…and China
by Paul McLellan on 07-14-2015 at 5:00 pm

The first day of SEMICON West for me is usually imec day. They have a full day of presentations. But I saw the most interesting ones in Brussels recently so I decided to go to the SEMI/Gartner day instead. They run in parallel ballrooms in the Marriot on 4th street.

To me there were two big themes. One was the unavoidable internet of things… Read More


SITRI and Coventor Partner to Scale Up MEMS in China

SITRI and Coventor Partner to Scale Up MEMS in China
by Pawan Fangaria on 05-28-2015 at 12:00 pm

When it comes to wearable technology and the rapidly emerging world of IoT, sensors and MEMS are on the frontlines. They collect and transfer raw data such as pressure, temperature and motion and process it with algorithms critical to making sure the right information gets to humans and/or machines so the right reaction is enabled.… Read More