5/3nm Wars Begin


Several foundries are ramping up their new 5nm processes in the market, but now customers must decide whether to design their next chips around the current transistor type or move to a different one at 3nm and beyond. The decision involves the move to extend today’s finFETs to 3nm, or to implement a new technology called gate-all-around FETs (GAA FETs) at 3nm or 2nm. An evolutionary step f... » read more

Week In Review: IoT, Security, Autos


The United States signed trade agreements with the China (phase one agreement) and North American countries Mexico and Canada this week. The SIA (Semiconductor Industry Association), which represents the U.S. semiconductor industry, applauded the agreements. Still to be worked out is the second part, or phase two, of the U.S.’s agreement with China. AI/Edge M&A Apple is acquiring edge... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Market research The worldwide semiconductor market is forecast to reach $409 billion in 2019, down 12.8% over 2018, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. Memory fell by 33.0% in 2019, while analog dropped 7.9% and logic declined by 4.3%, according to the WSTS. In 2020, the IC market is expected to recover and grow by 5.9%, according to the WSTS. Optoelec... » read more

Week In Review: Design, Low Power


Apple and Imagination inked a new multi-year license agreement under which Apple has access to a wider range of Imagination’s intellectual property in exchange for license fees. In 2017, Apple had announced it would be developing its own graphics chips and phasing out use of Imagination's IP. Imagination, which had recently restructured, saw its stock price fall by half in the wake of the new... » read more

What Worked, What Didn’t In 2019


2019 has been a tough year for semiconductor companies from a revenue standpoint, especially for memory companies. On the other hand, the EDA industry has seen another robust growth year. A significant portion of this disparity can be attributed to the number of emerging technology areas for semiconductors, none of which has reached volume production yet. Some markets continue to struggle, a... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers and OEMs TrendForce has released its projected foundry rankings for the fourth quarter of 2019. TSMC remains in first place, followed by Samsung, GlobalFoundries and UMC, according to the firm. “TrendForce projects the foundry industry’s 4Q19 revenue performance to exceed previous expectations,” according to the firm. “Nonetheless, the ongoing U.S-China trade war and uncerta... » read more

A New Dawn For IP


The IP industry is changing again. The concept started as build once, use everywhere, but today it is more like architect once, customize everywhere. Few designs can afford sub-optimal IP for their application. The need for customized IP is driven by both leading-edge designs and the trailing markets, although for different reasons. While this customization is causing IP companies to transfo... » read more

5 Major Shifts In Automotive


Much of the automotive industry has begun repositioning and retrenching over the past few months, pushing back the projected rollout for fully autonomous vehicles and changing direction on power sources and technology used in the next-generation of electric vehicles. Taken together, these shifts mark a significant departure for traditional automakers, which find themselves playing catch-up t... » read more

Preparing For The Great Auto War


The internal combustion engine's days are numbered, and what comes next is going to cause one of the biggest upheavals in the history of business. Before semiconductors and electronics, it was the auto industry that defined economies of scale. In fact, the auto industry became the model on which the entire electronics industry was built. It always was assumed that the mainframe, minicomputer... » read more

Planning For Panel-Level Fan-out


Several companies are developing or ramping up panel-level fan-out packaging as a way to reduce the cost of advanced packaging. Wafer-level fan-out is one of several advanced packaging types where a package can incorporate dies, MEMS and passives in an IC package. This approach has been in production for years, and is produced in a round wafer format in 200mm or 300mm wafer sizes. Fan-out... » read more

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