Fabless Business Model Not Working, Say CEOs

By David Manners -- Electronics Weekly, 12/8/2005

The fabless semiconductor business model is dysfunctional, and can only be got to work again if there are some significant technical breakthroughs, according to a number of company chief executives.

“The current way of doing things is broken. Innovation is stalled, and the cost of customization is prohibitive. It will cost $50 million to develop a 65nm chip,” Ronnie Vasishta, CEO of Israeli firm eASIC, told the recent IFF2005 conference.