5nm Fab Challenges


At a recent event, Intel presented a paper that generated sparks and fueled speculation regarding the future direction of the leading-edge IC industry. The company described a next-generation transistor called the nanowire FET, which is a finFET turned on its side with a gate wrapped around it. Intel’s nanowire FET, sometimes called a gate-all-around FET, is said to meet the device require... » read more

Predictions For 2016: Semiconductors, Manufacturing And Design


Seventeen companies sent in their predictions for this year with some of them sending predictions from several people. This is in addition to the CEO predictions that were recently published. That is a fine crop of views for the coming year, especially since they know that they will be held accountable for their views and this year, just like the last, they will have to answer for them. We beli... » read more

Will 5nm Happen?


Chipmakers are ramping up their 16/14nm finFET processes, with 10nm finFETs expected to ship sometime in late 2016 or early 2017. So what’s next? The foundries can see a path to extend the finFET transistor to 7nm, but the next node, 5nm, is far from certain and may never happen. Indeed, there are several technical and economic challenges at 5nm. And even if 5nm happens, only a few compani... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Savioke is creating autonomous robot helpers for the services industry, including hotels. The company has raised $15 million in Series A financing from lead investor Intel Capital, along with EDBI, the corporate investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, and Northern Light Venture Capital. Savioke will use the funding to expand sales, marketing and product developments for its ... » read more

Predictions For 2016: Markets


Seventeen companies sent in their predictions for this year with some of them sending predictions from several people. This is in addition to the CEO predictions that were recently published. That is a fine crop of views for the coming year, especially since they know that they will be held accountable for their views and this year, just like the last, they will have to answer for them. We beli... » read more

Blog Review: Jan. 13


Is it time for one of the Seven Wonders to return? In this week's top engineering and tech picks, Ansys' Justin Nescott highlights a project to rebuild the Colossus of Rhodes. Plus, new tech for cars and a hoodie for taking naps. From CES, Rambus' Aharon Etengoff expands on a talk about intelligent transportation systems and the need to balance technology which could help reduce accidents wi... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


2016 is starting off on the wrong foot. Samsung disclosed its preliminary results for the forth quarter. Samsung expects a difficult business environment in 2016, according to reports. Plus, Apple is seeing lower than expected demand. “We are lowering our March quarter iPhone units to 45M units (prior 54M) to reflect incremental softness and recent production cuts. Our sense is that iPhones a... » read more

The Week In Review: Design/IoT


EDA & IP EDA revenues increased 7.1% for Q3 2015, according to the EDA Consortium, upping the number to $1957.5 million, compared to $1828.1 million in Q3 2014. The four-quarters moving average also jumped by 8.8%. IC Physical Design & Verification saw the biggest gains, with a 14% increase compared to Q3 2014 and $407.9 million in revenue for the quarter. IP was runner up, with $652... » read more

CEO Outlook: 2016


Semiconductor Engineering talked with 10 CEOs from all sides of the Semiconductor Industry for a high-level view of what to expect this year—good and bad. What follows are excerpts of those conversations, which were compiled over the past month. Scott McGregor, president and CEO of Broadcom "We're going to see more M&A. In the past, you only did deals that made sense strategically or ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Samsung Electronics is expected to demonstrate three new technologies at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The technologies are part of Samsung’s so-called Creative Lab (C-Lab) projects. The first project, dubbed WELT, is a healthcare belt that helps people manage their waist size by measuring their daily habits and behaviors. “WELT is a smart wearable healthcare belt that looks... » read more

← Older posts Newer posts →