Qualcomm Meets Jerry Sanders at 28nm

Qualcomm Meets Jerry Sanders at 28nm
by Ed McKernan on 04-19-2012 at 8:26 pm

First the good news: 4G LTE design in activity is off the charts as OEMs building smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks are buying into the capability for product rollouts that will occur starting in September. Now the bad news: there’s not enough to go around until probably well into 2013. For a Company sitting on over $26B in cash,… Read More


Previewing Intel’s Q1 2012 Earnings

Previewing Intel’s Q1 2012 Earnings
by Ed McKernan on 04-17-2012 at 9:15 am

Since November of 2011 when Intel preannounced it would come up short in Q4 due to the flooding in Thailand that took out a significant portion of the HDD supply chain, the analysts on Wall St. have been in the dark as to how to model 2012. Intel not only shorted Q4 but they effectively punted on Q1 as well by starting the early promotion… Read More


Oasys Gets Funding from Intel and Xilinx

Oasys Gets Funding from Intel and Xilinx
by Paul McLellan on 04-10-2012 at 8:00 am

Oasys announced that it closed its series B funding round with investments from Intel Capital and Xilinx. The fact that any EDA company has closed a funding round is newsworthy these days; companies running out of cash and closing the doors seems to be a more common story.

Oasys has been relatively quiet, which some people have taken… Read More


Intel’s Fait Accompli Foundry Strategy

Intel’s Fait Accompli Foundry Strategy
by Ed McKernan on 04-05-2012 at 1:09 am

As many analysts have noted, it is difficult to imagine what Intel’s foundry business will look like one, two or even three years down the road because this is all new and what leading fabless player would place their well being in the hands of one who is totally new at the game. I would like to suggest there is a strategy in place that will… Read More


Intel will NOT build ARM chips!

Intel will NOT build ARM chips!
by Daniel Nenni on 04-01-2012 at 6:00 pm

As I mentioned in my previous blog “NVIDIA Claims TSMC 20nm will not Scale?” Jen-Hsun Huang is a very entertaining guy. I always listen to the NVIDIA conference calls because you never know what he will say next. Clearly he is a smart guy so you have to ask yourself why all the rhetoric?

In the Forbes article NVIDIA: Intel should let usRead More


Intel’s First 14nm Chip NOT an x86 Processor

Intel’s First 14nm Chip NOT an x86 Processor
by Ed McKernan on 03-22-2012 at 6:00 pm

Sometime early in 2013, Intel will tape out its first production chip for 14nm and it won’t be an x86 processor. It’s neither necessary nor prudent to lead with a new x86 processor when the one missing element that the mobile market desperately needs is nowhere to be found: an ultra low power 4G LTE chip that fits under the battery… Read More


Apple’s Leveling of the Semiconductor Industry

Apple’s Leveling of the Semiconductor Industry
by Ed McKernan on 03-20-2012 at 2:03 pm

Holman Jenkins, the distinguished writer of business trends for the Wall St. Journal, recently penned an article entitled “The End of Apple’s Roach Motel?” (Personally, I think that since Apple is in California, he should have used Hotel California in his title), questioning the iPhone and iPAD maker of its ability to continue… Read More


The Coming Gamer Tablet from…… Apple!

The Coming Gamer Tablet from…… Apple!
by Ed McKernan on 03-13-2012 at 11:25 am

After the introduction of the NEWiPAD, Apple has placed itself just two short steps away from dominating the computer market – including PCs. One step, which is widely reported, is a smaller iPAD with an 8” screen that aims for a $299 price point. Amazon will take the rest of the market under $299. The second step is purely speculation… Read More


Apple’s New iPAD and the End of PC Benchmarks

Apple’s New iPAD and the End of PC Benchmarks
by Ed McKernan on 03-09-2012 at 10:19 am

With the introduction of the “New iPAD”, we now have the 2012 benchmark for the tablet market, including the offerings that will come from Amazon later in the year. As has been noted earlier, with each new mobile product iteration Apple unmoors itself from the PC foundations of Microsoft, Intel and even nVidia and AMD. At the unveiling… Read More