Oops, we did it again! Memory Companies Investment Strategy

Oops, we did it again! Memory Companies Investment Strategy
by Claus Aasholm on 05-08-2024 at 8:00 am

Opps We Did it Again Semiconductor Memory 4

We are in the semiconductor market phase where everybody disagrees on what is going on. The market is up; the market is down. Mobile phones are up…. oh no, now they are down. The PC market is up—oh no, we need to wait until we can get an AI PC. The inflation is high—the consumer is not buying.

For us in the industry, the 13-week financial … Read More


Cadence Debuts Dynamic Duo III with a Basket of Goodies

Cadence Debuts Dynamic Duo III with a Basket of Goodies
by Bernard Murphy on 04-18-2024 at 6:00 am

Dynamic Duo III min

I am a fan of product releases which bundle together multiple high-value advances. That approach reduces the frequency of releases (no bad thing) in exchange for more to offer per release, better proven through solid partner validation. The Dynamic Duo III release falls in this class, offering improvements in performance, capacity,… Read More


No! TSMC does not Make 90% of Advanced Silicon

No! TSMC does not Make 90% of Advanced Silicon
by Scotten Jones on 03-11-2024 at 2:00 pm

Slide1

Throughout the debate on fab incentives and the Chips Act I keep seeing comments like; TSMC makes >90% of all advanced silicon, or sometimes Taiwan make >90% of all advanced silicon. This kind of ill-defined and grossly inaccurate statement drives me crazy. I just saw someone make that same claim in the SemiWiki forums and… Read More


Intel Direct Connect Event

Intel Direct Connect Event
by Scotten Jones on 02-23-2024 at 12:00 pm

Figure 1

On Wednesday, February 21st Intel held their first Foundry Direct Connect event. The event had both public and NDA sessions, and I was in both. In this article I will summarize what I learned (that is not covered by NDA) about Intel’s business, process, and wafer fab plans (my focus is process technology and wafer fabs).

Business
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ISS 2024 – Logic 2034 – Technology, Economics, and Sustainability

ISS 2024 – Logic 2034 – Technology, Economics, and Sustainability
by Scotten Jones on 02-19-2024 at 8:00 am

Slide4

For the 2024 SEMI International Strategy Symposium I was challenged by members of the organizing committee to look at where logic will be in ten years from a technology, economics, and sustainability perspective. The following is a discussion of my presentation.

To understand logic, I believe it is useful to understand what makes… Read More


IEDM 2023 – Imec CFET

IEDM 2023 – Imec CFET
by Scotten Jones on 01-17-2024 at 6:00 am

29 1 Wed Horiguchi 3 final Page 04

At IEDM 2023, Naoto Horiguchi presented on CFETs and Middle of Line integration. I had a chance to speak with Naoto about this work and this write up is based on his presentation at IEDM and our follow up discussion. I always enjoy talking to Naoto, he is one of the leaders in logic technology development, explains the technology in … Read More


IEDM 2023 – Modeling 300mm Wafer Fab Carbon Emissions

IEDM 2023 – Modeling 300mm Wafer Fab Carbon Emissions
by Scotten Jones on 01-09-2024 at 6:00 am

Figure 1

For the first time ever, IEDM held a sustainability session at the 2023 conference. I was one of the authors who presented an invited paper, the following is a summary of my presentation.

Call to Action

From the United Nations [1]:

“Climate Change is the defining issue of our time, and we are at a defining moment.”

“Without drastic … Read More


Is Intel cornering the market in ASML High NA tools? Not repeating EUV mistake

Is Intel cornering the market in ASML High NA tools? Not repeating EUV mistake
by Robert Maire on 12-24-2023 at 9:00 am

High NA EUV
  • Reports suggest Intel will get 6 of 10 ASML High NA tools in 2024
  • Would give Intel a huge head start over TSMC & Samsung
  • A big gamble but a potentially huge pay off
  • Does this mean $4B in High NA tool sales for ASML in 2024?

News suggests Intel will get 6 of first 10 High NA tools made by ASML in 2024

An industry news source, Trendforce, reports… Read More


Semiconductors Headed Toward Strong 2024

Semiconductors Headed Toward Strong 2024
by Bill Jewell on 11-20-2023 at 6:00 am

Semiconductor Market Change 4Q23

The global semiconductor market is now solidly in a turnaround. WSTS revised its data for 2Q 2023 growth over 1Q 2023 to 6.0% from 4.2% previously. 3Q 2023 was up 6.3% from 2Q 2023. With our Semiconductor Intelligence forecast of 3% growth in 4Q 2023, the year-to-year growth in 4Q 2023 will be a positive 6%. This will set the stage for… Read More


KLAC- OK quarter in ugly environment- Big China $ – Little Process $ – Legacy good

KLAC- OK quarter in ugly environment- Big China $ – Little Process $ – Legacy good
by Robert Maire on 10-29-2023 at 10:00 am

KLAC Tencor
  • KLA has an OK quarter in an ugly market- bouncing along bottom
  • Like Lam & ASML, China was huge at 43% represents more risk
  • 2/3 Foundry/logic, 1/3 memory – Process tools were weak
  • No change, stable , no visibility on recovery
Quarter and guide were good in continued ugly industry

As expected KLAC reported earnings at the … Read More