Chip Industry Week in Review


Samsung and SK hynix joined OpenAI's Stargate initiative to ensure there will be enough memory chips to meet the needs of AI data centers. The goal is to produce up to 900,000 DRAM wafer starts per month. OpenAI also inked agreements to explore the development of next-gen data centers in Korea. Axcelis Technologies (ion implantation systems) will merge with Veeco Instruments (compound semic... » read more

Chip Industry Week in Review


Cadence plans to buy Hexagon AB's design and engineering business to accelerate expansion in physical AI and system design and analysis. Cadence will pay ~US$3.1 billion in cash and issue stock, with the deal expected to close in early 2026. PWC issued a 104-page in-depth analysis of semiconductor technology and markets, highlighting a broad swath of changes: $1T in annual revenue by 2030, ... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


GlobalFoundries plans to acquire MIPS, adding RISC-V processor IP and PPA optimization software capabilities to its foundry offerings. MIPS will continue to operate as a standalone business within GF. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025. The EU rolled out new general-purpose AI rules this week to limit copyright infringement, protect public safety, and require transparency... » read more

Chip Industry Week In Review


Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger retired on Dec. 1, according to the company. He will be replaced by two interim co-CEOs, David Zinsner, who also continues to serve as CFO  and Michelle Johnston Holthaus, who has been named CEO of Intel Products. In addition, Frank Yeary was named interim executive chairman. Intel has been under pressure investors as non-traditional rivals, including Arm and NVIDIA, co... » read more

Startup Funding: August 2021


More than $3.5 billion in funding was funneled into 35 startups last month, much of that scattered across the globe. Several Chinese companies received significant funding as the country bulks up domestic production of wafers and GPUs. In addition, with attention increasing on the need for electric vehicles and renewable energy, big investments went into battery manufacturing startups. One comp... » read more

Can Germany’s Auto Industry Keep Pace?


Germany's strength for the past half-century has been its automotive industry. The big question now is whether that also will become its biggest vulnerability. Challenged on all fronts by fundamental shifts in automotive technology, the German auto industry is struggling to transform itself from precision metal bending to advanced electronics, and so far its future in the face of competitors... » read more

Reliability Becomes The Top Concern In Automotive


Reliability is emerging as the top priority across the hottest growth markets for semiconductors, including automotive, industrial and cloud-based computing. But instead of replacing chips every two to four years, some of those devices are expected to survive for up to 20 years, even with higher usage in sometimes extreme environmental conditions. This shift in priorities has broad ramificat... » read more

Week in Review: IoT, Security, Auto


Internet of Things Lowe’s, the home improvement retailer, is giving up on the smart home market. The company is putting its Iris Smart Home business up for sale as part of a reorganization. The retailer made a big splash at CES 2015 with its Innovation Lab offerings, which included retail service robots and the Holoroom “home improvement simulator.” The Iris product line includes multipl... » read more

The Darker Side Of Consolidation


Another wave of consolidation is underway in the semiconductor industry, setting the stage for some high-stakes competitive battles over market turf and sowing confusion across the supply chain about continued support throughout a product's projected lifetime. The consolidation comes as chipmakers already are grappling with rising complexity, the loss of a roadmap for future designs as Moore... » read more

Giant Auto Industry Disruption Ahead


The move to self-driving vehicles over the next decade or so will result in a massive restructuring of entire segments of the global economy that have evolved to create and support automobiles and the people who drive them. The shift will create many new jobs-particularly for semiconductors and electronic systems-and conservatively it will eliminate hundreds of thousands of existing ones. It... » read more

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