TSMC ♥ UMC?

TSMC ♥ UMC?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-18-2015 at 8:00 pm

The relationship between TSMC and UMC is one of the more interesting ones in the fabless semiconductor ecosystem in my opinion. Both are headquartered in Hsinchu Taiwan and it is very hard to visit one company without seeing the other as they have facilities right across the street from each other. They also share humble beginnings… Read More


FD-SOI Foundry

FD-SOI Foundry
by Paul McLellan on 03-16-2015 at 7:00 am

At the end of last month during ISSCC there was a forum organized by the SOI Consortium. It took place in San Francisco at the Palace Hotel (which, if you have never been there, is famous for converting its old entryway for carriages into an amazing dining room, and for a bar with a huge painting by Maxfield Parrish of the Pied Piper valued… Read More


Apple Leaks Chip Sources?

Apple Leaks Chip Sources?
by Daniel Nenni on 03-15-2015 at 10:00 pm

Take a look at the figure below and tell me this information did not come from inside Apple. The question is: Was it voluntary or involuntary? Inquiring minds want to know! There are some minor surprises which I will get to in a minute but the actual source information is spot on to what I have heard the past few quarters. This spicy little… Read More


FinFET Design Enablement

FinFET Design Enablement
by Daniel Payne on 03-10-2015 at 1:00 pm

We read about FinFET technology in the semiconductor press daily now, thanks to Intel introducing their TriGate transistors starting in 2011 and creating a race with foundries and IDMs to switch from planar CMOS nodes. To get some perspective about the progress of FinFET IP and EDA tools I spoke with two experts from Synopsys, Swami… Read More


Intel and Samsung in Barcelona

Intel and Samsung in Barcelona
by Paul McLellan on 03-06-2015 at 7:00 am

This week it was Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Everyone who is anyone in mobile is there. Unfortunately I’m not since Barcelona is one of my favorite cities to visit. Two companies that set high expectations before the show were Samsung and Intel.

Samsung announced the new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones on Sunday.… 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


GlobalFoundries 2014: a Year of Change

GlobalFoundries 2014: a Year of Change
by Paul McLellan on 02-23-2015 at 7:00 am

GlobalFoundries at the end of 2014 is a very different company from what it was a the beginning of the year.

At the start of 2014, GF was a company with:

  • a CEO in Ajit Manocha who was reputed to be just a safe pair of hands while the company found a new CEO
  • several 200mm fabs in Singapore (the old Chartered fabs) running mature processes,
Read More

Freescale and Samsung

Freescale and Samsung
by Paul McLellan on 02-17-2015 at 6:58 pm

It is impossible to keep a secret in this business. Everyone knows that Freescale is being shopped around and there is interest.

From Yahoo Finance:
The parties that Freescale is speaking to could not be learned. The New York Post first reported that Freescale was working with investment banks to explore a sale. Freescale sharesRead More


7nm node is arriving, which ones will continue past 2020?

7nm node is arriving, which ones will continue past 2020?
by Pawan Fangaria on 02-17-2015 at 6:30 pm

‘Laughing Buddha’ is eternal, but for semiconductor industry, I must say it’s ‘laughing Moore’. Moore made a predictive hypothesis and the whole world is inclined to let that continue, eternally? When we were at 28nm, we weren’t hoping to go beyond 20/22nm; voices like ‘Moore’s law is dead’ started emerging. Today, we are already… Read More


Mobile 2014 and the Future

Mobile 2014 and the Future
by Paul McLellan on 02-17-2015 at 7:00 am

The numbers are in now and so we can look at the top suppliers into the mobile market for 2014, and then a look out to what the future might bring. Before getting to the companies it is worth looking just how dominant the Chinese market is, at 32% of the entire world market compared to, for example, US’s 9%. China Mobile alone has … Read More