Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Trade wars Talks between the United States and China continue to stall and the two nations are still embroiled in a trade war. So this week, U.S. President Donald Trump would like to impose a 10% tariff on the remaining $300 billion list of China-based imports starting Sept. 1, according to a report from Reuters. This in turn will impact the electronics and IC industries. In response to the... » read more

Blog Review: July 31


Cadence's Meera Collier checks out a study that uses AI and natural language processing techniques to infer new discoveries in materials science from published academic literature and considers how it could be used in the future. Synopsys' Taylor Armerding considers whether the NIST Secure Software Development Framework, the latest standard aimed at improving software security, can succeed. ... » read more

Cloudy Outlook Seen For IC Biz


After a slowdown in the first half of 2019, chipmakers and equipment vendors face a cloudy outlook for the second half of this year, with a possible recovery in 2020. Generally, the semiconductor industry began to see a slowdown starting in mid- to late-2018, which extended into the first half of 2019. During the first half of this year, memory and non-memory vendors were negatively impacted... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Deals Apple will pay $1 billion to buy Intel's smartphone modem unit. Under the terms of the agreement, Apple will hire 2,200 Intel employees and acquire Intel's IP and equipment. The deal, expected to close in Q4, puts an end to Intel's attempts to win a piece of the smartphone market. But the chipmaker retains the right to develop modems for non-smartphone applications, including PCs, IoT de... » read more

Semicon West Debrief


AI vs. energy. Quantum for everyone. Biofabrication of human organs on a mass scale. Slowing advancements from Moore’s law. In the midst of a market dip, optimism reigned as keynote and AI Design Forum speakers addressed both looming challenges and explosive market opportunities during July 9-10 presentations at SEMICON West 2019 in San Francisco. SEMICON West again proved to be a magnet f... » read more

Blog Review: July 24


Synopsys' Taylor Armerding notes that while two Florida cities may have saved taxpayers millions by paying ransomware demands, doing so is likely setting up a ransomware tsunami that threatens other municipalities. In a video, Cadence's Jacek Duda digs into what's going on with the upcoming USB4 standard and what will change compared to USB 3.x. Mentor's Colin Walls shares a few embedded ... » read more

Changes In Smart Manufacturing


Tom Salmon, vice president of collaborative technology platforms at SEMI, talks with Semiconductor Engineering about what’s changing in smart manufacturing, the impact of more data and AI, what the ROI looks like for these kinds of investments, and how that affects overall equipment efficiency. While the biggest bang will come from advanced nodes, it also is targeted at advanced packaging. » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Chipmakers TSMC posted mixed results for the second quarter. It also presented a mixed outlook for the third quarter, according to various reports. TSMC and Samsung are in the midst of a foundry battle at 7nm and 5nm. “TSMC raised its 2019 capex outlook to over $11B, up from prior guidance of $10B-$11B. The increased capex is to support 5nm and 7nm ramps, with accelerated 5G investment a... » read more

200mm Cools Off, But Not For Long


After years of acute shortages, 200mm fab capacity is finally loosening up, but the supply/demand picture could soon change with several challenges on the horizon. 200mm fabs are older facilities with more mature processes, although they still churn out a multitude of today’s critical chips, such as analog, MEMS, RF and others. From 2016 to 2018, booming demand for these and other chips ca... » read more

Electronics Industry Business Cycles Look Promising


Although total electronics industry manufacturing activity is still far from expanding (3/12 is below 1.0), key global electronic industry monthly time series appear to have reached their 3/12 bottoms and now have begun to improve (Chart 1). Currently shipments are still shrinking, but at slowing rates. However real growth will only occur when these 3/12s exceed 1.0. Growth rates vary b... » read more

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