TSMC – Solid Q3 Beat Guide- 5G Driver – Big Capex Bump – Flawless Execution

TSMC – Solid Q3 Beat Guide- 5G Driver – Big Capex Bump – Flawless Execution
by Robert Maire on 10-19-2019 at 6:00 am

TSMC puts up solid QTR, Capex increase for 5NM and capacity increase, 5G/mobile remains driver- HPC good 7NM, 27% of revs- Very nice margins!

In line quarter-Good guide
TSMC reported revenues of $9.4B and EPS of $0.62 , more or less in line with expectations, perhaps a touch below ” whisper” expectations which had been… Read More


IEDM 2019 to Highlight Innovative Devices for an Era of Connected Intelligence

IEDM 2019 to Highlight Innovative Devices for an Era of Connected Intelligence
by Scotten Jones on 08-28-2019 at 6:00 am

The IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting is in my opinion the leading technology conference to understand the current state-of-the-art in semiconductor process technology. Held each year in early December in San Francisco it is a must attend conference for anyone following technology development. The following is… Read More


Chapter 3 – Moore’s Law is Unconstitutional!

Chapter 3 – Moore’s Law is Unconstitutional!
by Wally Rhines on 07-26-2019 at 6:00 am

(Adapted from a presentation first given under this title in 1989 and subsequently expanded in presentations over a period of nearly thirty years)

In 1965, Gordon Moore, then R&D Manager for Fairchild Semiconductor, published a paper in “Electronics” magazine predicting the trend for semiconductors in the next ten years. … Read More


The Coming Tsunami in Multi-chip Packaging

The Coming Tsunami in Multi-chip Packaging
by Tom Dillinger on 07-12-2019 at 6:00 am

The pace of Moore’s Law scaling for monolithic integrated circuit density has abated, due to a combination of fundamental technical challenges and financial considerations.  Yet, from an architectural perspective, the diversity in end product requirements continues to grow.  New heterogeneous processing units are being… Read More


Chapter 1 – Predicting Trends in the Semiconductor Industry

Chapter 1 – Predicting Trends in the Semiconductor Industry
by Wally Rhines on 07-05-2019 at 6:00 am

Figure 1 is the most basic of all the predictable parameters of the semiconductor industry, even more so than Moore’s Law.  It is the learning curve for the transistor.  Since 1954, the revenue per transistor (and presumably the cost per transistor, if we had the data from the manufacturers) has followed a highly predictable learning… Read More


The Integrated Circuit

The Integrated Circuit
by John East on 06-10-2019 at 5:00 am

The “20 Questions with John East” series continues

Noyce and the rest of the traitorous eight left Shockley without a clue as to what they would do next.  They believed in semiconductors and knew that they were the very best semiconductor guys in the world.  Their hope was to find a company who would hire them en masse.  After some false… Read More


Synchronizing with Sunlin Chou

Synchronizing with Sunlin Chou
by Sunit Rikhi on 05-29-2019 at 1:38 pm

Sometimes we get to see, up close, leaders who make a truly enormous contribution to society. Dr. Sunlin Chou was one such leader and I was a fortunate fellow traveler. Sunlin led the exponential rise of transistors for 35 years, accelerating the waves of revolutionary digital technologies serving humanity.

Fifty years have … Read More


Intel Q3 2018 Jibber Jabber

Intel Q3 2018 Jibber Jabber
by Daniel Nenni on 10-29-2018 at 7:00 am

This is what happens when you have a CFO acting as a semiconductor CEO, and Robert Holmes is a career CFO with zero semiconductor experience or education. Granted, no way did he write the opening statement, but it was full of jibber jabber anyway. The real disappointing jibber jabber was from our own Murthy Renduchintala on the status… Read More


ASML most immune to slow down due to lead times Not LRCX

ASML most immune to slow down due to lead times Not LRCX
by Robert Maire on 10-21-2018 at 7:00 am

ASML reported EUR2.78B in revenues with EUR2.08B in systems. 58% was for memory. EUV was EUR513M with 5 systems. Importantly orders were for EUR2.20B in systems at 64% memory and 5 EUV tools. This was likely better than expectations given the overall industry weakness. EPS of EUR1.60 was more or less in line with expectations. Guidance… Read More


An update on the Design Productivity Gap

An update on the Design Productivity Gap
by Tom Dillinger on 08-03-2018 at 12:00 pm

Over a decade ago, a group of semiconductor industry experts published a landmark paper as part of the periodic updates to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, or ITRS for short (link). The ITRS identified a critical design productivity gap. The circuit capacity afforded by the Moore’s Law pace of technology… Read More