category: Blogs – MD

category: IoT, Security & Automotive

2017 Off To A Good Start, January Up 10.6% Year Over Year
By Jim Feldhan - 16 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

January 2017 semiconductor sales exceeded $29 billion, representing a 10.6% increase over January 2016 and a decline of 10% from December 2016. The average weekly industry ship rate for January was $7.3 billion. Extending this ship rate for the year would produce an annual revenue of $380 billion or 10% growth. Semico is forecasting a couple of slow months and some price degradation on a few ke... » read more

What’s New On The MEMS Horizon?
By Mike Rosa - 16 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

In my previous blog post, I discussed emerging trends and the increased demand for MEMS; now I’ll focus on what we can expect in the immediate future in terms of new device technologies and MEMS-enabled products. While the more well-known MEMS such as accelerometers, gyroscopes, microphones and pressure sensors continue to grow in volume as they find new applications in things like wire... » read more

MEMS Microphones: A Bright Spot Among Commoditized Consumer Sensors
By Jun Yan - 16 Mar, 2017 - Comments: 0

MEMS microphones have emerged as a bright spot among consumer sensors, which in general are going through a rapid commoditization and profit-squeezing trend. To understand what’s driving the MEMS microphone market, consider that the Apple iPhone 7 and 7S each have 4 MEMS microphones. As reported by System Plus Consulting, the latest iPhones have “a front-facing top microphone, presumably f... » read more

Semiconductor Process Development: Finding A Faster Way To Profitability
By Katherine Gambino - 20 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

Building a chip fabrication facility requires billions of dollars in investment for land, buildings, processing equipment, chemical and hazardous material safety, not to mention the deployment of hundreds of highly experienced process engineering and manufacturing personnel. Bringing up an advanced semiconductor process in any fab, new or established, is a several-hundred-million dollar effort,... » read more

Semiconductor CapEx To Increase 4.3% In 2017
By Adrienne Downey - 20 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

Semiconductor capital expenditures are an important bellwether for the industry. Based on preliminary findings, Semico Research predicts 2017’s total will increase 4.3% to $69.7 billion, a record high, and a slightly larger increase than in 2016. Semico tracks more than 80 companies for CapEx and R&D spending, although many of those companies have merged, have been acquired, or gone ba... » read more

The Return Of Time Sharing
By Ed Sperling - 16 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

As early as the 1960s, it wasn't uncommon to hear that transistors would be free. Those were pretty bold statements at the time, considering most computers in those days cost $1 million, required special rooms, and budding computer scientists usually had to sign up to use mainframe computers for one-hour time slots—often in the middle of the night or on weekends. Still, those predictions ... » read more

What’s Next For NOR Flash?
By Mark LaPedus - 16 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

The flash memory market is the tale two of cities. Today, NAND and NOR are the two main flash memory types. Over the years, the NAND flash market has exploded. Targeted for data storage, NAND flash has moved into flash cards, solid-state storage drives (SSDs) and other products. The excitement for NAND continues to mount, as the technology is moving from planar to a 3D structure. In fact, 3D... » read more

China Moves To Top Spot In Fab Equipment Spending
By Clark Tseng - 16 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

By Clark Tseng, Dan Tracy & Gavin Wang of SEMI With 20, and possibly more, new fab projects underway or announced in China since 2016, spending on fab equipment will surge to $10 billion or more, annually, by 2018 and to even higher levels in the following two years. As a result, China is projected to be the top spending region for fab equipment in 2019 and 2020. Robert Maire, of Semicon... » read more

Better Chips, Better Cars
By Yan Qu - 16 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

There are literally thousands of electronic components in a new car, and those numbers are only going to increase as cars become smarter, safer, greener, and increasingly connected. As automakers and Tier 1 and Tier 2 companies shift their focus from mechanical to a combination of mechanical and electrical, there is an ongoing race among fabless companies to come up with innovative technolog... » read more

ECO Fill Can Rescue Your SoC Tapeout Schedule
By Vikas Gupta - 16 Feb, 2017 - Comments: 0

By Vikas Gupta and Bhavani Prasad Integrated circuit (IC) design and manufacturing is one of the most challenging engineering industries. As soon as a design engineer gets into “the groove” and feels comfortable taping out in a particular technology node, the next technology node shrink is already there to pose a new and greater set of challenges. While it almost goes without saying that... » read more

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