TSMC 2021 Technical Symposium Actions Speak Louder Than Words

TSMC 2021 Technical Symposium Actions Speak Louder Than Words
by Daniel Nenni on 06-01-2021 at 1:00 pm

TSMC Symposium 2021

The TSMC Symposium kicked of today. I will share my general thoughts while Tom Dillinger will do deep dives on the technology side. The event started with a keynote by TSMC CEO CC Wei followed by technology presentations by the TSMC executive staff.

C.C. Wei introduced a new sound bite this year that really resonated with me and that… Read More


3rd Party Semiconductor Intellectual Property Market Update

3rd Party Semiconductor Intellectual Property Market Update
by Richard Wawrzyniak on 05-12-2021 at 6:00 am

IP Market

The 3rd Party Semiconductor Intellectual Property (IP) market has seen great innovation in the products it offers to System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designers over the last ten years. If any market segment in the semiconductor industry typifies the intense evolutionary pressures that the entire electronics market has undergone, … Read More


Is IBM’s 2nm Announcement Actually a 2nm Node?

Is IBM’s 2nm Announcement Actually a 2nm Node?
by Scotten Jones on 05-09-2021 at 6:00 am

Slide1

IBM has announced the development of a 2nm process.

IBM Announcement

What was announced:

  • “2nm”
  • 50 billion transistors in a “thumbnail” sized area later disclosed to be 150mm2 = 333 million transistors per millimeter (MTx/mm2).
  • 44nm Contacted Poly Pitch (CPP) with 12nm gate length.
  • Gate All Around (GAA), there are several ways
Read More

You know you have a problem when 60 Minutes covers it!

You know you have a problem when 60 Minutes covers it!
by Robert Maire on 05-03-2021 at 2:00 pm

60 Minutes Chip Shortage

-Chip shortage on 60 Minutes- Average Joe now aware of chip issue
-Intel sprinkling fairy dust (money) on New Mexico & Israel
-Give up on buy backs and dividends
-Could Uncle Sam give a handout to Intel?

You normally don’t want to answer the door if 60 Minutes TV crew is outside as it likely doesn’t mean good things.… Read More


Lam Research performing like a Lion – Chip equip on steroids

Lam Research performing like a Lion – Chip equip on steroids
by Robert Maire on 04-29-2021 at 10:00 am

NASDAQ LRCX LAM

– Business is about as good as it gets- $75B WFE in 2021?
– China remains strong at 32% despite SMIC lack of license
– NAND remains 48% of revs versus 31% foundry
– DRAM steady @ 14% – Service was record $1.3B

Strong results in a strong market

Lam reported revenues of $3.85B and EPS of $7.49 for the March… Read More


It’s not a Semiconductor Shortage It’s Demand Delirium & Poor Planning

It’s not a Semiconductor Shortage It’s Demand Delirium & Poor Planning
by Robert Maire on 04-25-2021 at 10:00 am

Biden Chip Shortage

-The semiconductor industry is not to blame its the customers
-How do you fix something that’s not really broken?
-Long taken for granted, semi’s are sexy again
-Pawns in a Political Power Play?

Its not the chip makers that screwed up. It’s the customers that stressed the system beyond breaking

The semiconductor… Read More


How to Spend $100 Billion Dollars in Three Years

How to Spend $100 Billion Dollars in Three Years
by Scotten Jones on 04-25-2021 at 6:00 am

Slide1 1

TSMC recently announced plans to spend $100 billion dollars over three years on capital. For 2021 they announced $30B in total capital with 80% on advanced nodes (7nm and smaller), 10% on packaging and masks and 10% on “specialty”.

If we take a guess at the capital for each year, we can project something like $30B for 2021 (announced),… Read More


MRAM Magnetic Immunity – Empirical Study Summary

MRAM Magnetic Immunity – Empirical Study Summary
by Mads Hommelgaard on 03-28-2021 at 10:00 am

MRAM Magnetic Immunity

The main threat for the wide adoption of MRAM memories continues to be their lack of immunity to magnetic fields. MRAM magnetic immunity (MI) levels has seen significant research over the years and new data is continuously published from the main MRAM vendors.

This data, however, is rarely compared to magnetic field exposure scenarios… Read More


Foundry Fantasy- Deja Vu or IDM 2?

Foundry Fantasy- Deja Vu or IDM 2?
by Robert Maire on 03-26-2021 at 8:00 am

Foundry Profit 2020

– Intel announced 2 new fabs & New Foundry Services
– Not only do they want to catch TSMC they want to beat them
– It’s a very, very tall order for a company that hasn’t executed
– It will require more than a makeover to get to IDM 2.0

Intel not only wants to catch TSMC but beat them at their own Read More


Intel Takes Another Shot at the Enticing Foundry Market

Intel Takes Another Shot at the Enticing Foundry Market
by Terry Daly on 03-26-2021 at 6:00 am

Intel IDM 2.0

Intel made a big splash on March 23, 2021 by doubling down on manufacturing with the creation of Intel Foundry Services (IFS). The big announcement was supported by potential customers such as Qualcomm, Cisco, Ericsson, Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and IBM. With an accompanying $20B investment, the EDA and equipment industries,… Read More