The Semiconductor Industry Has High Hopes That Biden Will Change Tracks

The Semiconductor Industry Has High Hopes That Biden Will Change Tracks
by Terry Daly on 12-13-2020 at 8:00 am

US China Semiconductor Biden

What is the “right track” for US-China trade relations?

The semiconductor industry has been squarely in the crosshairs of US-China trade tensions for four years. As the US faces a presidential leadership transition, will a Biden administration change the dynamic? The chip industry is counting on it, and China hopes so too.

In … Read More


IEDM 2020 Starts this Weekend

IEDM 2020 Starts this Weekend
by Scotten Jones on 12-10-2020 at 6:00 am

IEDM 2020 Logo

As I have discussed before, I believe that IEDM is the premier technical conference for understanding leading edge process technologies. Beginning this coming weekend, this year’s edition of IEDM will be held virtually, and I highly recommend attending.

The conference held a press briefing last Monday. The tutorial and short… Read More


How Intel Stumbled: A Perspective from the Trenches

How Intel Stumbled: A Perspective from the Trenches
by Daniel Nenni on 12-07-2020 at 6:00 am

Stacy and Bob Intel SemiWiki

Bloomberg did an interview with my favorite semiconductor analyst Stacy Rasgon on “How the Number One U.S. Semiconductor Company Stumbled” that I found interesting. Coupled with the Q&A Bob Swan did at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference I thought it would be good content for a viral blog.

Stacy RasgonRead More


Analog Bits is Supplying Analog Foundation IP on the Industry’s Most Advanced FinFET Processes

Analog Bits is Supplying Analog Foundation IP on the Industry’s Most Advanced FinFET Processes
by Mike Gianfagna on 12-02-2020 at 10:00 am

Analog Bits is Supplying Analog Foundation IP on the Industrys Most Advanced FinFET Processes

The industry recently concluded a series of technology events for the all the major foundries.  Done as virtual events this year, each one provided a significant update on technology platforms, roadmaps and ecosystem partnerships. These events are quite valuable to chip design teams who need to be aware of the latest in process,… Read More


No Intel and Samsung are not passing TSMC

No Intel and Samsung are not passing TSMC
by Scotten Jones on 12-02-2020 at 6:00 am

Slide1

Seeking Alpha just published an article about Intel and Samsung passing TSMC for process leadership. The Intel part seems to be a theme with them, they have talked in the past about how Intel does bigger density improvements with each generation than the foundries but forget that the foundries are doing 5 nodes in the time it takes… Read More


Webinar: 5 Reasons Why Others are Adopting Hybrid Cloud and EDA Should Too!

Webinar: 5 Reasons Why Others are Adopting Hybrid Cloud and EDA Should Too!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-27-2020 at 6:00 am

Rescale SemiWiki

With the complexity of transistors at an all time high and growing foundry rule decks, fabless companies consistently find themselves in a game of catch up. Semiconductor designs require additional compute resources to maintain speed and quality of development. But deploying new infrastructures at this current speed is a tall… Read More


China Semiconductor Bond Bust!

China Semiconductor Bond Bust!
by Robert Maire on 11-25-2020 at 10:00 am

China Semiconductor Bond Bust

– Tsinghua $198M Bond Bust
– Good for memory: Samsung Micron LG Toshiba –
– Not good for chip equipment
– Could China Credit Crunch hit more than foundry embargo?
– Damage to China memory positive for other memory makers
– Not good for chip equip if customers can’t get money

China’s… Read More


Can Samsung Foundry Really Compete with TSMC?

Can Samsung Foundry Really Compete with TSMC?
by Daniel Nenni on 11-20-2020 at 6:00 am

Samsung TSMC 3nm Battle SemiWiki

The semiconductor foundry business has been front page news of late and for good reason, it’s an exciting time in the semiconductor industry and the foundries are where it all begins. Unfortunately, most of the “exciting” news has been overblown but this topic is of great interest, to me at least. Having been intimately involved… Read More


TSMC to Build first US Fab in Arizona!

TSMC to Build first US Fab in Arizona!
by Daniel Nenni on 11-15-2020 at 10:00 am

TSMC North America SemiWiki

Well, it’s official, the TSMC Board of Directors approved an investment to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in Arizona with a paid-in capital of $3.5 billion. As history shows the investment may be more than that but $3.5B is a great starting point. This is being discussed in the SemiWiki Forum  and I have been gathering inside… Read More


Leading Edge Foundry Wafer Prices

Leading Edge Foundry Wafer Prices
by Scotten Jones on 11-06-2020 at 6:00 am

Slide1

I have seen several articles recently discussing foundry wafer selling prices for leading edge wafers, these articles all quote estimates from a paper by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). The paper is available here.

My company IC Knowledge LLC is the world leader in cost and price modeling of semiconductors… Read More