Joanne Itow

  (all posts)
Joanne Itow is managing director of manufacturing at Semico Research.

Author's Latest Posts

A Different Foundry Model
By Joanne Itow - 17 Oct, 2019 - Comments: 0

As the pursuit to produce advanced semiconductors that keep up with the Moore’s Law treadmill becomes more and more challenging, many companies are seeking other ways to provide the next ‘must-have’ electronic products. In fact, many companies have realized that the need for doubling performance is no longer the main attribute necessary to deliver successful solutions for IoT, automotive,... » read more

Q1 2019 Unit Drop Impacts Wafer Demand For 2019
By Joanne Itow - 23 May, 2019 - Comments: 0

The Semico Wafer Demand Model update for Q1 2019 now results in a 5.9% decline in wafer demand for 2019. Along with process technology and productivity, Semico’s Wafer Demand Model is highly dependent on semiconductor unit sales. In the Q1 2019, total semiconductor units dropped by 7.4% compared to Q4 2018 and 3.8% compared to Q1 2018. The drop in units is significant because of the broad spe... » read more

Trade Disputes Increase Market Uncertainty
By Joanne Itow - 04 Dec, 2018 - Comments: 0

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization held its bi-annual forecast meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona last month, and one of the topics that seemed to be on everyone’s mind is the impact of tariffs and the trade tensions between the United States and China. The need to impose tariffs on U.S. imports of semiconductors is perplexing and frequently confusing. President Trum... » read more

Market Trends For Large Volume Semi Products
By Joanne Itow - 24 Sep, 2018 - Comments: 0

Material and capacity shortages typically prompt changes in normal operating procedures, especially purchasing strategies. If the uncertainty regarding world trade policies and tariffs are added on top of the shortages, the impact results in unusual gyrations in industry sales data and possible misleading signals. Discretes, analog and opto are the three largest semiconductor product categories... » read more

AI Accelerating Discovery
By Joanne Itow - 25 Apr, 2018 - Comments: 0

In early April 2018, the Materials Research Society held their spring meeting and exhibit at the Phoenix, Arizona convention center. With more than 110 symposium presentations, it was difficult to select which sessions to attend. But one forum caught my eye, “AI for Materials Development”. These days AI seems to be everywhere. As we all speculate about the impact of AI on autonomous driv... » read more

Wafer Demand: Under Pressure But Still Growing
By Joanne Itow - 19 Mar, 2018 - Comments: 1

Wafer demand grew 10.7% in 2017 while total semiconductor units grew 13.4%. Due to the tight supply of silicon wafers and increased prices, most manufactures placed an even higher priority on improving yields. The industry’s focus on yield improvements is relentless but especially important when the cost of key input materials is on the rise. In 2017 the semiconductor products that con... » read more

Memory Market: Will History Repeat Itself?
By Joanne Itow - 24 Jan, 2018 - Comments: 0

While updating the Semico Fab Database and capital investment projections for 2018, China's investment in memory capacity sparked a lot of discussion at our weekly Semico roundtable. Will China's investment in memory production capacity be successful, or will it just ruin the party for all memory players? Here are some of the highlights of our discussion. Additional data and insights are includ... » read more

Semiconductor Wafer Demand: Growing Pains
By Joanne Itow - 20 Nov, 2017 - Comments: 0

Semico Research is forecasting total semiconductor unit growth to exceed 13% this year, the first double-digit growth year since 2010. The exceptional unit growth is what the industry hopes for, but it does come with some growing pains. MOS logic, optoelectronics, MEMS and sensors, and even analog and discrete products are experiencing more than 10% unit growth in 2017. The challenge is that... » read more

MCU Sales Up in 2017 And 2018
By Joanne Itow - 24 Oct, 2017 - Comments: 0

Microcontroller (MCU) sales are expected to grow over 9% this year while units increase over 16%. IoT and automotive are the major reason for the growth in general MCUs; however, the product group has been transitioning into several distinct segments that are being buried within the data of the broad MCU market. Over the past five years total MCU revenues have essentially remained flat; however... » read more

Foundry Roadmaps: Real Solutions, Or Just Hedging?
By Joanne Itow - 19 Jun, 2017 - Comments: 1

Major semiconductor foundries have revealed their advanced technology roadmaps for the next few years. They’re all investing billions of dollars into the development of process technologies and packaging options. The number of alternatives has been described as ‘dizzying’. How can all the foundries remain profitable? How does the customer decide which ‘route’ to take? For the 2... » read more

← Older posts

  • Sponsors

About

Navigation

Connect With Us

Copyright ©2013-2024 SMG   |  Terms of Service  |  Privacy Policy