Samsung spend is up but can it offest TSMC slowing?

Samsung spend is up but can it offest TSMC slowing?
by Robert Maire on 01-17-2020 at 6:00 am

TSMC Wafer

Samsung is warming up and spending again
Samsung gave its preliminary report for Q4 and it was well better than prior muted expectations. It doesn’t take long for Samsung’s business units to respond to business trends in either direction and we have already heard of increased spending plans on the part of Samsung.… Read More


Full Solution for eMRAM Coming in 2020

Full Solution for eMRAM Coming in 2020
by Tom Simon on 12-19-2019 at 6:00 am

Trimming for eMRAM in Tessent

It’s amazing to think that Apollo moon mission used computers that were based on magnetic core memories. Of course, CMOS memories superseded them rapidly. However, over the decades since, memory technologies have advanced significantly, in terms of density, power and new types of technologies, e.g NAND Flash. Ever since the… Read More


IEDM 2019 – TSMC 5nm Process

IEDM 2019 – TSMC 5nm Process
by Scotten Jones on 12-16-2019 at 10:00 am

IEDM is in my opinion the premiere conference for information on state-of-the-art semiconductor processes. In “My Top Three Reasons to Attend IEDM 2019” article I singled out the TSMC 5nm paper as a key reason to attend.

IEDM is one of the best organized conferences I attend and as soon as you pick up your badge you are handed a memory… Read More


The Tech Week that was December 9th 2019

The Tech Week that was December 9th 2019
by Mark Dyson on 12-15-2019 at 6:00 am

In a week that finally saw some good news in the trade war between US & China, here is a summary of all the key semiconductor and technical news from around the world that you may have missed.

On Friday, US and China announced agreement on the so called phase one agreement, as a result the extra tariffs due to be imposed on S180billion… Read More


Top Three Reasons to Attend the Synopsys Fusion Compiler Event!

Top Three Reasons to Attend the Synopsys Fusion Compiler Event!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-22-2019 at 10:00 am

As a professional semiconductor event attendee I can pretty much tell if an event will be successful by looking at the agenda. What I look for is simple, customer presentations. Not company presentations or partner presentations but actual customer case studies presented by name brand companies. For this event Google, Intel,… Read More


U.S.-China trade war continues

U.S.-China trade war continues
by Bill Jewell on 11-22-2019 at 6:00 am

Electronics production

The trade dispute between the U.S. and China continues to drag on. According to Reuters, U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened to raise tariffs further on Chinese imports if no deal is reached. Tariffs affecting most consumer electronics imports from China are scheduled to go into effect on December 15, according to… Read More


2020 Semiconductor Foundry Landscape Update!

2020 Semiconductor Foundry Landscape Update!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-15-2019 at 6:00 am

When I first started working with the foundries 25 years ago I would have never imagined that I would make a career out of it, which I most certainly have. Fortunately, I recognized early on that not only are the foundries the cornerstone of the semiconductor ecosystem, they are also a very important economic bellwether, absolutely.… Read More


Samsung 2019 Technology Day Recap!

Samsung 2019 Technology Day Recap!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-01-2019 at 6:00 am

Samsung is a complicated company with a VERY long history. We attempted to capture the Samsung Experience in chapter 8 of our book “Mobile Unleashed: The Origin and Evolution of ARM Processors In Our Devices”. If you are a registered SemiWiki member you can download a free PDF copy in our Books section.

Here is the chapter 8 … Read More


Is Samsung having problems with 7NM? Do long lines at TSMC prove that?

Is Samsung having problems with 7NM? Do long lines at TSMC prove that?
by Robert Maire on 09-19-2019 at 2:00 pm

Reports of increasing TSMC 7NM lead times
There have been a number of increasing media reports about lengthening leads times for TSMC 7NM process. From what we have been able to determine its not due to TSMC having a yield bust or other production issues, it is simply one of stronger than expected demand.

There have been reports of … 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