An Open Letter to Qualcomm CEO

An Open Letter to Qualcomm CEO
by Pawan Fangaria on 08-05-2015 at 12:00 pm


Dear Steve,

Let me first clarify about myself that I am a humble blogger at Semiwiki and admire your company as the #1 Semiconductor Fabless Company and #4 in terms of overall semiconductor sales of the top10 semiconductor companies in the world as per 2014 data. Also, I must mention another point of admiration that your company is… Read More


MediaTek Breaks the ‘Core’ Barrier, Again

MediaTek Breaks the ‘Core’ Barrier, Again
by Majeed Ahmad on 05-16-2015 at 7:00 am

Who says Asian companies can’t innovate? Just look at how Taiwan’s MediaTek Inc. has conceived a 64-bit system-on-chip (SoC) that features 10 Cortex-A cores in a tri-cluster configuration. MediaTek’s Helio X20 processor is also the first mobile SoC that boasts ARM’s latest CPU and GPU cores. Moreover,… Read More


Linley: Mobile Peaked in 2013?

Linley: Mobile Peaked in 2013?
by Paul McLellan on 04-28-2015 at 7:00 am

Last week was the Linley Mobile Conference. Mobile is a huge semiconductor market and, outside of Intel, is the main driver for next generation process technologies. A new generation of mobile phones comes along, fills the leading edge fabs for a year or two and then moves on to the next generation. Nothing comes close to requiring… Read More


Qualcomm LTE Modem Competitors? Samsung, Intel, Mediatek, Spreadtrum, Leadcore… or simply CEVA!

Qualcomm LTE Modem Competitors? Samsung, Intel, Mediatek, Spreadtrum, Leadcore… or simply CEVA!
by Eric Esteve on 04-03-2015 at 9:35 am

What is common between the 4G LTE modems from Samsung, Intel, Mediatek, Spreadtrum or Leadcore? All these chips are architecture with CEVA XC4000 family supporting 4G LTE-Advanced, LTE, HSPA/+, W-CDMA, TD-SCDMA, and legacy GSM/GPRS/EDGE. Samsung organization is vertical, the company design and manufacture DRAM, NAND and… Read More


SoCs in New Context Look beyond PPA

SoCs in New Context Look beyond PPA
by Pawan Fangaria on 03-21-2015 at 7:00 am

If we look back in the last century, performance and area were two main criteria for semiconductor chip design. All design tools and flows were concentrated towards optimizing those two aspects. As a result, density of chips started increasing and power became a critical factor. Now, Power, Performance and Area (PPA) are looked… Read More


Who Leads Semiconductor Innovation?

Who Leads Semiconductor Innovation?
by Pawan Fangaria on 02-25-2015 at 5:30 pm

Semiconductor business is highly dependent on technology and that changes very rapidly in the semiconductor space. It’s important to recognize the importance of research and innovation activities in this space. In my last article on 7nm technology node, one respondent commented, very rightly, “It’s important to have competition… Read More


Can Android1 Lead the Way for Google in New Smartphone Market?

Can Android1 Lead the Way for Google in New Smartphone Market?
by Pawan Fangaria on 11-12-2014 at 7:00 pm

I had been wanting to write about it since Google’sbig bang announcement of Android1 in India in Sep this year and their associated strategy to capture some of the large pockets of Smartphone market within a matured or declining cell phone market and maturing overall market of Smartphone. Since I wrote my last article hereon maturation… Read More


TSMC (TSM) is Having Another SoC Year!

TSMC (TSM) is Having Another SoC Year!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-18-2014 at 9:00 am

TSMC’s stock has more than doubled in the last five years. Coincidentally that is when I started blogging about TSMC. QCOM stock has experienced a similar doubling during this time as have other TSMC customers. The question is: What is next for TSMC? As I have mentioned before, you would be better off taking stock tips from your dog… Read More


Intel is Still Missing Mobile!

Intel is Still Missing Mobile!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-07-2014 at 9:00 am

Paul McLellan was on assignment in Hong Kong last week so I attended the Linley Mobile Conference and was not surprised Intel did not present. During the networking sessions I asked more than a dozen people why and the answers were pretty focused on “Intel still does not play well with others” and “Intel’s current mobile offerings… Read More


Fab-U-Less! The 2013 Global Semiconductor Awards!

Fab-U-Less! The 2013 Global Semiconductor Awards!
by Daniel Nenni on 12-17-2013 at 9:00 pm

It was a dinner with more than a thousand semiconductor professionals from around the world keynoted by Author and Editor in Chief of Forbes Magazine Steve Forbes. What more could a humble blogger ask for? Even at $250 a plate it was well worth it just to mingle amongst the people who make this industry so great.

Global Semiconductor
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