Rigid-Flex Cabling is Cool! (and requires unique EDA support)

Rigid-Flex Cabling is Cool! (and requires unique EDA support)
by Tom Dillinger on 08-15-2016 at 10:00 am

The three F’s of electronic product development are: form, fit, and function. Although the F/F/F assessment typically refers to the selection of the right component, it most definitely also refers to the selection of the proper cabling between assemblies. The requirements for cables are varied, and demanding: ability… Read More


TSMC and Pokemon Go!

TSMC and Pokemon Go!
by Daniel Nenni on 08-09-2016 at 4:00 pm

As Pokemon Go invades the world, let me give you a firsthand player’s description of the game and why the next generation of augmented reality apps will energize the fabless semiconductor ecosystem and greatly benefit TSMC.

While I am not a “gamer” per say, I am a technologist and am always looking for new semiconductor market drivers.… Read More


KLAC accelerates business into Q4 and where are we on the KLAM deal?

KLAC accelerates business into Q4 and where are we on the KLAM deal?
by Robert Maire on 08-09-2016 at 12:00 pm

While no one was really paying attention, and the company didn’t have an earnings call anyway, KLAC put up a strong beat. Revenues came in at $919M versus street of $842M and EPS came in at $1.77 easily beating $1.42 street.

However this was at the expense of the September quarter as it appears that business in the September quarter… Read More


Why is AMD Stock Jumping?

Why is AMD Stock Jumping?
by Daniel Nenni on 07-30-2016 at 7:00 am

One of my favorite pastimes is listening to the quarterly investor calls of the leading semiconductor companies. I can then match up the talking points with the calls I do with Wall Street, the conferences I attend, and the other data points I have collected while working inside the fabless semiconductor ecosystem for more than … Read More


Stressed out about Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) or Electrical Overstress (EOS)?

Stressed out about Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) or Electrical Overstress (EOS)?
by bkeppens on 07-28-2016 at 12:00 pm

Do not lose sleep worrying that your integrated circuits might fail during EOS/ESD events. Join us for the 38th annual EOS/ESD Symposium in Anaheim, CA in September. Experts on the field will address the latest research on EOS and ESD in the rapidly changing world of electronics.

As electronics continue to become commonplace in… Read More


ASML pays $3.1B for Hermes to get E-beam inspection

ASML pays $3.1B for Hermes to get E-beam inspection
by Robert Maire on 06-21-2016 at 7:00 am

Cheap versus year ago but expensive on fundementals – Net negative for KLAC/LRCX & AMAT. ASML bought Hermes Microvision for much the same reason as the Cymer acquisition – to support EUV. ASML could have made a counter offer for KLAC (as we had suggested previously) but this obviously would have been much more expensive… Read More


Semiconductor market going negative?

Semiconductor market going negative?
by Bill Jewell on 06-09-2016 at 7:00 am

Several recent forecasts for the 2016 semiconductor market point to a decline. The title of this post is the same as we used for in October 2015. In October, Semiconductor Intelligence projected the market would grow 1.0% in 2015 despite several predictions of the market going negative. 2015 finished with a slight 0.2% decline.… Read More


Intel’s New Strategy Is The Right One For The Company

Intel’s New Strategy Is The Right One For The Company
by Patrick Moorhead on 06-06-2016 at 7:00 am

Intel has been the focus of a lot of attention in the last week due to the company’s major restructuring announcement which came on the heels of Intel’s most recent earnings announcement. The majority of analyses that immediately followed the company’s announcement focused singularly on the layoffs, which amount to 11% of the … Read More


Free Webinar: Designing Low-Power IoT Systems

Free Webinar: Designing Low-Power IoT Systems
by Daniel Nenni on 06-05-2016 at 7:00 am

As I have written before, IoT looks to be a key driver for design starts and future semiconductor revenue growth which is why we wrote “PROTOTYPICAL” and included a field guide to FPGA Prototyping. If you want to get funding for your new IoT chip project, having a working prototype is a good thing, absolutely. If you want to take a look… Read More


TSMC Update at #53DAC!

TSMC Update at #53DAC!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-31-2016 at 4:00 pm

TSMC is having an interesting year for sure. I was at the TSMC Symposium in Hsinchu last week and everyone was talking about the new 16FFC process. Silicon is out and it is exceeding expectations leading some people (me included) to believe that TSMC 16FFC will be the next TSMC 28nm in regards to popularity. To be clear, 16FFC is currently… Read More