In a balancing global economy, it’s a common phenomenon that at certain times a few sectors or segments within the sectors grow much faster compared to others. And a few companies within the growing sectors lead those sectors. Both the growing sectors and the leading companies in those sectors become the centers of attraction. … Read More
Tag: ic insights
Smartphone Trends Revealed
I’ve been using cell phones since the 1980’s and I’ll never forget my first one, the Motorola DynaTAC (aka Brick Phone). The data plan was paid for by my EDA employer, and it did make me more productive because clients, prospects and co-workers could get a hold of me by simply dialing, not having to go through a secretary… Read More
Semiconductor market going negative?
The outlook for the semiconductor market for the remainder of 2015 is mixed. Intel’s 3Q 2015 revenues were up 10% from 2Q 2015 and guidance is for 2.3% growth in 4Q 2015. Most other companies which have announced 3Q 2015 results expect revenue declines in 4Q 2015. The most severe drops (based on the midpoint of company guidance) are… Read More
Are FinFETs too Expensive for Mainstream Chips?
One of the most common things I hear now is that the majority of the fabless semiconductor business will stay at 28nm due to the high cost of FinFETs. I wholeheartedly disagree, mainly because I have been hearing that for many years and it has yet to be proven true. The same was said about 40nm since 28nm HKMG was more expensive, which … Read More
Phablet Impact on PC Sales
Apple iPhone 6 and 6s users are recent converts to the latest growth trend in smart phones, large screens at 5.5″ in size and aiming even higher each year. I’ve owned a 5.5″ smart phone from Samsung for some 3 years now, so have immensely enjoyed the larger screen size to get my daily work done with: web browsing, … Read More
TSMC is the Top Dog in Pure-Play Foundry Business
We all have echoed the fact that the arrival of fabless business model in the semiconductor industry has transformed it completely. The book, “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” provides several stories around that. In the backdrop of that, one key point to ponder upon is the start of pure-play foundries;… Read More
Make American Semiconductor Great Again!
As I watched the GOP debate between the top 10 candidates last week I asked myself which one of those men would I pick to help the United States stay competitive in the semiconductor industry. I’m saddened to say that the only candidate even remotely qualified for that conversation in my opinion is Donald Trump. Of course I backed Ross… Read More
Semiconductor Mergers – Innovation or Consolidation?
About 3 years ago, I had written an article about consolidation in the semiconductor landscape where I had articulated 4 main reasons of consolidation – Macroeconomics, Business Leadership, Technology Leadership, and IP leadership. Back then, based on the state of affairs in the semiconductor industry, I had also mentioned… Read More
See What’s Pushing up IoT Revenues
The whole world’s eyes are at Internet of Things (IoT) market in various segments. The overall semiconductor ecosystem, starting from best suited technology nodes for IoT up to the final end products including sensors, microcontrollers, wireless chipsets, analog ICs, and so on are geared to avail the best opportunities from… Read More
Surprisingly Phablets Bucking the Trend
Amid a fiercely competitive market for computing devices, smartphones, tablets, and so on, a number of devices were created in this decade to invade into each other’s functionalities to either eat away other’s market share or retain their own. The key contenders were smartphones, Phablets, tablets and mini notebooks, whereas… Read More