tag: economics

Playing With Bubbles
By Ed Sperling - 26 Mar, 2015 - Comments: 0

The first is in the social media world, where there simply are too many sites for a fixed population of users. Much has been written about this trend, including in this blog, and the big question is whether there is enough new business in new markets such as the IoT to soften the landing. The IoT has a long way to go, and a long way to grow. That growth will propel everything from the desig... » read more

ATE: The Road Ahead
By Jeff Chappell - 19 Mar, 2015 - Comments: 0

Watching the ATE market is like having a front-row seat to watch the semiconductor industry's ups and downs, with none of the hype to confuse you. So 2014 was a very good market for SoC test, and it likewise a good year for SoCs. As we head into the latter half of this year and into 2016, however, a projected downturn in the mobile arena will likely put a crimp in those earnings. The prob... » read more

Tech Talk: Moore’s Law
By Ed Sperling - 16 Mar, 2015 - Comments: 0

Aki Fujimara, CEO of D2S, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about the the technical challenges of scaling device and functionality, and the economics on cost per gate. [youtube vid=hBXtSCRbR64] » read more

Obsolescence Isn’t Always Good
By Ed Sperling - 26 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 2

One of the main reasons smartphones are pervasive around the globe is that their cost is subsidized. They can be replaced every couple of years with minimal pain as designs get slicker, more energy-efficient, and new features are added such as better screens or better performance. That works particularly well when a consumer's out-of-pocket expenses after trading in an older model are basically... » read more

Challenges For IC Security
By Ernest Worthman - 05 Feb, 2015 - Comments: 0

Keeping chips secure is really a foot race between the good guys and the bad guys. Going forward, expect heavily funded, grouped efforts to place tremendous pressure on security envelopes. This includes everything from simple home devices, such as routers, to the most critical infrastructures, such as power, telecom, transportation, and soon, the IoT. Fig. 1: Courtesy of Blade Genexis I... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 28
By Ed Sperling - 28 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Mentor Graphics' John Day points to the growing presence of automakers in Silicon Valley. The latest émigré is Ford, which is setting up a research and innovation center in Palo Alto, but the company is hardly alone. Electronics could well become the real differentiators in vehicles. ARM's Andrew Sloss points to an intriguing relationship between data and economic growth—not to mention m... » read more

Redefining Progress
By Ed Sperling - 22 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

After lots of wrangling over the whether Moore's Law is alive, dead, or languishing at somewhere in between, that discussion now seems about as relevant as the look and feel of Apple's early Macintosh operating system—an issue that back in the 1980s spawned a very public war with Microsoft. Today that argument is about as relevant as whether Betamax was better than VHS. Whether it's Moor... » read more

Manufacturing And Packaging Changes For 2015
By Brian Bailey - 22 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

This year more than 26 people provided predictions for 2015. Most of these came from the EDA industry, so the results may be rather biased. However, ecosystems are coming closer together in many parts of the semiconductor food chain, meaning that the EDA companies often can see what is happening in dependent industries and in the system design houses. Thus their predictions may have already res... » read more

Semiconductors By The Numbers
By Ed Sperling - 22 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

Five economists presented their observations and predictions on a broad range of issues, from cycles to wafer fab materials to geopolitics and how they will affect semiconductor manufacturing at this month's SEMI's Industry Strategy Symposium. Comparing their different viewpoints would be to take them out of context, because their starting points are so different. To avoid confusion, Semicon... » read more

EDA Up, Japan Continues To Slide
By Ed Sperling - 16 Jan, 2015 - Comments: 0

EDA numbers grew 5.7% in the third quarter, propelled by demand for PCB tools in the booming automotive market and IP sales around the globe, according to the latest statistics from the EDA Consortium. The classic EDA tools business was down slightly for the quarter, but PCB tools jumped 9.7%. "There are new capabilities for packaging and wiring for automotive," said Wally Rhines, board ... » read more

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