Who will Manufacture Apple’s Next SoC?

Who will Manufacture Apple’s Next SoC?
by Daniel Nenni on 08-07-2014 at 8:00 pm

Just to review: The brain inside the current Apple iPhone 5s is the A7 SoC manufactured by Samsung using a 28nm process. The A6 (iPhone 5) and A5 (iPhone 4s) are based on Samsung 32nm. The rest of the Apple SoCs also used Samsung processes. I think we can all now agree that the coming Apple A8 SoC (iPhone 6) will use the TSMC 20nm process.… Read More


eSilicon and the Ten Minute Quote

eSilicon and the Ten Minute Quote
by Paul McLellan on 08-01-2014 at 8:01 am

One of the challenges in bringing a design into production is getting a quote that includes all the various stages of the process. The quote cycle typically takes a couple of weeks. It is also pretty wasteful. A typical design might be quoted by 3 manufacturers and so 2 out of 3 quotes are wasted expense because the design is lost to a … Read More


Temperature – The Fourth Aspect to Look at in SoC Design

Temperature – The Fourth Aspect to Look at in SoC Design
by Pawan Fangaria on 07-25-2014 at 2:00 pm

In my career in semiconductor industry, I can recall, in the beginning there was emphasis on design completion with automation as fast as possible. The primary considerations were area and speed of completion of a semiconductor design. Today, with unprecedented increase in multiple functions on the same chip and density of the… Read More


Xilinx: Revenue Down, Profit Up, FinFET on Schedule

Xilinx: Revenue Down, Profit Up, FinFET on Schedule
by Paul McLellan on 07-22-2014 at 11:59 pm

Xilinx announced their results today and had their conference call this afternoon, which I listened to. For them this is 1Q fiscal 2015 which means you have to be careful since there is a big difference between talking about fiscal quarters and calendar quarters. Xilinx’s conference calls are interesting for a couple of … Read More


Samsung Foundry Explained!

Samsung Foundry Explained!
by Daniel Nenni on 07-19-2014 at 7:00 pm

Rather than watch the World Cup battle for third place, my beautiful wife and I spent last Saturday afternoon at the CASPA Wearables Symposium. The most interesting presentation was from Samsung because it included slides on their foundry offering. In regards to wearables, I still don’t see the ROI I need to buy one, yet. We are getting… Read More


Cadence Announces Quantus Next Generation Extraction

Cadence Announces Quantus Next Generation Extraction
by Paul McLellan on 07-14-2014 at 7:00 pm

Today Cadence announced their next generation extraction solution called Quantus QRC. Actually they are technically announcing it tomorrow, since it is being announced at CDNLive in Korea where it is already Tuesday morning.

As with the other recently announced tools that end in -us, Tempus (timing signoff) and Voltus (power… Read More


The Intel Resurgence?

The Intel Resurgence?
by Daniel Nenni on 06-30-2014 at 8:00 am

There is an interesting article on Seeking Alpha about Intel. Interesting because it is written by someone with both fabless semiconductor experience and a talent for strategic thinking. It’s a good read and like most Seeking Aplha semiconductor articles the comments are hilarious. Give the guy a penny and click over HERE, he … Read More


This is How We Get One Million Design Starts!

This is How We Get One Million Design Starts!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-28-2014 at 10:00 am

One of the most interesting demos at #51DAC was the eSilicon GDS II online quote system for TSMC. Probably because eSilicon was one of the most interesting companies exhibiting this year. While writing the book “Fabless: The Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry” we took a close look at the history of fabless semiconductor… Read More


Cliff Hou’s DAC Keynote

Cliff Hou’s DAC Keynote
by Paul McLellan on 06-23-2014 at 10:21 am

Cliff Hou had two major appearances at DAC this year. He gave the opening day keynote…and he wrote the forward to Dan and my bookFabless: the Transformation of the Semiconductor Industry which about 1500 lucky people got a copy of courtesy of several companies, most notably eSilicon who sponsored the Tuesday evening post-conference… Read More


TSMC (TSM) is Having Another SoC Year!

TSMC (TSM) is Having Another SoC Year!
by Daniel Nenni on 06-18-2014 at 9:00 am

TSMC’s stock has more than doubled in the last five years. Coincidentally that is when I started blogging about TSMC. QCOM stock has experienced a similar doubling during this time as have other TSMC customers. The question is: What is next for TSMC? As I have mentioned before, you would be better off taking stock tips from your dog… Read More