Billions And Billions Invested

By Mark LaPedus - 17 Apr, 2014 - Comments: 4

Over the years, next-generation [getkc id="80" kc_name="lithography"] (NGL) has suffered various setbacks and delays. But until recently, the industry basically shrugged its shoulders and expressed relatively little anxiety about the NGL delays. After all, optical lithography was doing the job in the fab and NGL would eventually materialize. Today, however, the mood is different. In fact, th... » read more

Test Challenges Rising For Mobile Devices

By Mark LaPedus - 20 Mar, 2014 - Comments: 0

Smartphone and tablets continue to advance at a dizzying pace. On the component side alone, the latest mobile devices are moving towards 64-bit application processors, multi-mode RF front-ends, higher-end cameras and flashy LCD screens. Some systems even boast fingerprint scanners and heart rate sensors. But an obvious part of the system continues to lag behind the curve—battery life. In r... » read more

Week In Review: Manufacturing, Design, Test

By Mark LaPedus - 24 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 0

Look for a nasty political campaign in Idaho, according to Bloomberg. Business leaders from Micron Technology and others in Idaho are endorsing the incumbent Republican candidate over a Tea Party challenger. The challenger, Bryan Smith, is a conservative Republican running for Idaho’s second congressional district. He is running against 16-year incumbent Mike Simpson. Simpson is supposedly pr... » read more

Mixed Signals Seen For Fab Tool Industry

By Mark LaPedus - 14 Jan, 2014 - Comments: 2

After a slight downturn in 2013, the semiconductor equipment market is expected to rebound and see solid growth in 2014, according to forecasters at SEMI’s Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) at Half Moon Bay, Calif. Gartner, IC Insights and VLSI Research separately projected strong growth in the fab tool industry in 2014. But on the downside, the number of large fab tool buyers continues to... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 23

By Mark LaPedus - 23 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus For some time, Apple’s iPhones have incorporated a separate RF switch and diversity switch from Peregrine Semiconductor (PSMI). The switches are based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) variant called silicon-on-sapphire (SOS). Murata takes Peregrine’s RF switches and integrates them into a module. Doug Freedman, an analyst with RBC Capital, said Apple is no longer using PSMI�... » read more

The Week In Review: Sept. 3

By Mark LaPedus - 03 Sep, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus The cellular chip supplier landscape is littered with corpses. So will 4G lead to the destruction of Qualcomm and Intel? That’s highly unlikely, according to a blog from Strategy Analytics. “With the recent announcement of a multimode LTE chipset from Intel, it seems likely that Qualcomm and Intel will maintain their status as the top two cellular radio chipset suppliers in... » read more

The Week In Review: July 8

By Mark LaPedus - 08 Jul, 2013 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus Fab tool vendors this week will gather at the annual Semicon West trade show in San Francisco. The mood is expected to be both gloomy and upbeat, at least based on one new and mixed forecast. The semiconductor equipment market is projected to fall 7.4% in 2013, but it will grow 27.1% in 2014, according to VLSI Research. The forecast for semis is up 10% in 2013 and 8.3% growth i... » read more

Firms Rethink Fabless-Foundry Model

By Ed Sperling - 31 Jul, 2012 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus As chipmakers move toward 20nm designs, finFETs and 3D stacked devices, the industry is beginning to re-think the fabless-foundry model. Leading-edge foundries are finally getting serious about the “virtual IDM” model, in which vendors will act more like integrated device manufacturers (IDMs), as opposed to being mere production partners. In this model, the found... » read more

Fabless-Foundry Model Under Stress

By Ed Sperling - 26 Jun, 2012 - Comments: 0

By Mark LaPedus The semiconductor roadmap was once a smooth and straightforward path, but chipmakers face a bumpy and challenging ride as they migrate to the 20nm node and beyond. Among the challenges seen on the horizon are the advent of 3D stacking, 450mm fabs, new transistor architectures, multi-patterning, and the questionable availability of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. ... » read more

ASMC: TSVs Needed as Scaling Challenges Mount

By Ed Sperling - 29 May, 2012 - Comments: 0

By David Lammers With the industry facing challenges in the introduction of EUV lithography and high costs for double patterning, TSV introductions have taken on heightened importance, participants said at the SEMI Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Conference (ASMC), held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. in mid-May. Risto Puhakka, president of market research firm VLSI Research Inc., said the g... » read more

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Billions And Billions Invested

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