The global semiconductor market grew 13.7% in 2018, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). Each year, we at Semiconductor Intelligence review semiconductor forecasts and compare them to the final WSTS data. We used projections which were publicly released from late 2017 through early 2018, prior to the … Read More
Historically, the semiconductor and semiconductor equipment industry were inextricably linked due to the cyclical nature of the chip industry. An increase in semiconductor revenues was followed within a short period with an increase in equipment revenues, as semiconductor companies purchased equipment to make more chips… Read More
I was invited to give a talk at the Business of Cleans Conference held by Linx Consulting in Boston on April 9th. I am not a cleans expert but rather was invited more to give an overview talk on process technology trends and the impact on cleans. In this write up I will discuss my presentation. I discussed each of the three main leading-edge… Read More
I was invited to present at Nikon’s LithoVision event held the day before the SPIE Advanced Lithography Conference in San Jose. The following is a write up of the talk I gave. In this talk I discuss the three main segments in the semiconductor industry, NAND, DRAM and Logic and how technology transitions will affect lithography.… Read More
What does it mean for the skyrocketing memory sector? In a last minute plot twist, Bain capital appears to be the winner in the auction of the Toshiba memory unit. The Bain consortium includes a strange cast of characters including Apple, Dell, Seagate, Kingston Technology, Innovation Network Corp of Japan and Development Bank… Read More
The 2017 semiconductor market is shaping up as the strongest since 2010 – when the market grew 32% as it bounced back from the 2008-2009 downturn. According to World Semiconductor Trades Statistics (WSTS), the second quarter 2017 semiconductor market was up 5.8% from 1Q 2017 and up 23.7% from a year ago. Much of the market vitality… Read More
Every SoC that connects to an analog sensor or device requires AMS (Analog Mixed-Signal) circuit simulation for design and verification, so this year at #54DAC the organizers at Synopsys hosted another informative AMS panel session over lunch time on Monday. What makes this kind of panel so refreshing is that the invited speakers… Read More
The semiconductor market was down 0.4% in first quarter 2017 from 4Q 2016 and up 18.1% from a year ago, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). The 0.4% decline in 1Q 2017 versus 4Q 2016 is strong compared to an average 4% decline from 4Q to 1Q over the previous five years. The relative strength in 1Q 2017 was driven… Read More
SEMICON Southeast Asia was held this week in Penang, Malaysia. Over 6500 people attended the conference to learn about the latest trends and equipment in semiconductor manufacturing.
Dr. Dan Tracy, Senior Director Industry Research and Statistics at SEMI, presented an optimistic outlook for the semiconductor equipment market… Read More
Note: the table and text below have been revised from an earlier post to correct the numbers for STMicroelectronics.
Semiconductor companies posted a wide range of results in 2nd quarter 2016. Intel, Micron Technology and Renesas Electronics all had declines in revenue in 2Q 2016 versus 1Q 2016. Samsung Semiconductor, Qualcomm… Read More
