TSMC Pushes out Equip Purchases – SIA and SEMI ask for Government Help

TSMC Pushes out Equip Purchases – SIA and SEMI ask for Government Help
by Robert Maire on 06-01-2020 at 9:00 am

TSMC China

TSMC pushing out equipment purchases
Covid/China trickles down to chip industry
SIA and SEMI ask for financial/govt help to keep up
The beginning of another down cycle?

We have heard from a number of sources that TSMC has started to push out equipment orders as concerns grow about the second half of the year.

Right now is the most logical… Read More


Time for Chip Diplomacy

Time for Chip Diplomacy
by Terry Daly on 05-29-2020 at 10:00 am

image 4

An industry caught in the crosshairs of geopolitics needs global emeritus leadership

The semiconductor industry is at the epicenter of great power politics. An ascendant China is on a quest for a unified global system with China as the leading power. The United States seeks to maintain its position as leader of the liberal democratic… Read More


Effect of Design on Transistor Density

Effect of Design on Transistor Density
by Scotten Jones on 05-26-2020 at 10:00 am

TSMC N7 Density Analysis SemiWiki

I have written a lot of articles looking at leading edge processes and comparing the process density. One comment I often get are that the process density numbers I present do not correlate with the actual transistor density on released products. A lot of people want to draw conclusions an Intel’s processes versus TSMC’s processes… Read More


China’s Position in the Global Semiconductor Value Chain

China’s Position in the Global Semiconductor Value Chain
by Bart van Hezewijk on 05-25-2020 at 6:00 am

China Semiconductor SemiWiki

In this third article about China’s role in the global semiconductor industry I analyse the current state of affairs of the Chinese semiconductor industry in different segments. In the previous articles, I looked at the possible effects of a US-China decoupling in the semiconductor industry and the impact of the Big Read More


eFPGA – What’s Available Now, What’s Coming and What’s Possible!

eFPGA – What’s Available Now, What’s Coming and What’s Possible!
by Daniel Nenni on 05-20-2020 at 6:00 am

Flex Logix Inference Accelleration

eFPGA is now widely available, has been used in dozens of chips, is being designed into dozens more and it has an increasing list of benefits for a range of applications. Embedded FPGA, or eFPGA, enables your SoC to have flexibility in critical areas where algorithm, protocol or market needs are changing. FPGAs can also accelerate… Read More


Cost Analysis of the Proposed TSMC US Fab

Cost Analysis of the Proposed TSMC US Fab
by Scotten Jones on 05-19-2020 at 10:00 am

TSMC US Fab SemiWiki

On May 15th TSMC “announced its intention to build and operate an advanced semiconductor fab in the United States with the mutual understanding and commitment to support from the U.S. federal government and the State of Arizona.”

The fab will run TSMC’s 5nm technology and have a capacity of 20,000 wafers per month (wpm). Construction… Read More


TSMC stops doing business with Huawei!

TSMC stops doing business with Huawei!
by Robert Maire on 05-18-2020 at 9:30 am

China Semiconductor Ban Huawei

Hours after agreeing to build a fab in US TSMC will stop selling to Huawei- Repercussions will reverberate through all tech: Semis, semi equip, chip customers, all collateral damage.

It has been reported by Nikkei and other sources that TSMC has stopped taking orders from Huawei in order to comply with US export controls.

HUAWEIRead More


Our US chip foundry comments confirmed by WSJ

Our US chip foundry comments confirmed by WSJ
by Robert Maire on 05-11-2020 at 10:00 am

Trump Intel TSMC China TAiwan

-Could GloFo come back?
-TSMC or Intel or both or neither?
-Samsung would be a long shot?
-Perhaps Apple could convince TSMC?

The Wall Street Journal put out an article that detailed what we had indicated in our newsletter 10 days ago, that the US government is looking at getting a US based foundry to protect our interests given our … Read More


Reliable Line Cutting for Spacer-based Patterning

Reliable Line Cutting for Spacer-based Patterning
by Fred Chen on 05-06-2020 at 6:00 am

Reliable Line Cutting for Spacer based Patterning

Spacer-defined patterning is an expected requirement for advanced semiconductor patterning nodes with feature sizes of 25 nm or less. As the required gaps between features go well below the lithography tool’s resolution limit, the use of cut exposures to separate features is used more often, especially in chips produced… Read More


Is Chip Embargo aimed at China, Huawei, TSMC or all three?

Is Chip Embargo aimed at China, Huawei, TSMC or all three?
by Robert Maire on 05-03-2020 at 10:00 am

China Semiconductor Trump SemiWiki

Is TSMC the real target, not just collateral damage?
Is equipment embargo threat to bring TSMC to heel?
Is an embargo a “Trifecta” of US strategic goals?

Maybe TSMC is a real target of chip equipment embargo not just potential collateral damage
It occurs to us when we talk about TSMC being caught in the middle between … Read More