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Commentary / Analysis

• Intel Reasserts Semiconductor Market Leadership in 2011 (Monday Dec. 05, 2011)
  After three years of seeing its dominant position in the global semiconductor market whittled away by aggressive competition from Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Intel Corp. is set to reverse the trend in 2011, with a combination of strong sales and an acquisition allowing the company to rebuild its margin of market leadership.
  
  
• Opinion: AMD roadmap change benefits TSMC? (Thursday Nov. 24, 2011)
  Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s (AMD) roadmap is about to see some significant changes according to sources at the company.
  
  
• Reports: AMD cancels Globalfoundries 28nm APUs (Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011)
  Microprocessor vendor Advanced Micro Devices Inc. has decided to cancel APUs that Globalfoundries Inc. was set to make for it on 28-nm process technology, according to online reports.
  
  
• Power Management Semiconductors Market Growth Slows in 2011 (Wednesday Nov. 23, 2011)
  The market in 2011 for power management semiconductors will grow more slowly than expected, stymied by a general slowdown in consumer spending and the disruption caused by the March Japanese earthquake.
  
  
• IHS Reduces 2011 Semiconductor Forecast (Friday Nov. 18, 2011)
  IHS has reduced its global semiconductor market forecast for 2011—but still predicts a slight rise in revenue compared to 2010 because of continued growth in the third quarter. Global semiconductor revenue in 2011 now is expected to rise by 1.2 percent compared to 2010, according to a preliminary forecast.
  
  
• Gartner Says Semiconductor Inventory Correction Dampening Sales in Second Half of 2011 (Friday Nov. 18, 2011)
  As many semiconductor vendors announced relatively weak sales for the third quarter of 2011, and pre-announced poor guidance for the fourth quarter, the anticipated inventory correction is well under way, according to Gartner, Inc.
  
  
• Where the Smart Money Goes in Semiconductors (Thursday Nov. 17, 2011)
  When you think of profitable semiconductor categories, what comes to your mind? In a good year, NAND and DRAM can be very profitable. Considering Intel's size and position in the market, Micro Logic would be another good guess. But the smart money goes to the Analog market for long-term, stable profitability.
  
  
• Wireless Connectivity ICs to Surpass $8 Billion in 2011 with Broadcom, Qualcomm, CSR, Texas Instruments, and Many Others Set to Reap the Rewards (Monday Nov. 14, 2011)
  The total market for standards-based wireless connectivity ICs is expected to exceed 3.5 billion units per annum in 2011. “Broadcom leads the market with Qualcomm, CSR, and Texas Instruments all snapping at its heels,” says Peter Cooney, practice director, semiconductors. “The market will total more than $11 billion per annum by 2014.”
  
  
• Has the layoff wave begun? (Friday Nov. 11, 2011)
  Fears about a wave of successive layoffs by semiconductor firms were stoked last week when two chip makers gave out walking papers
  
  
• Intel listed as ARM graphics partner (Thursday Nov. 10, 2011)
  According to the slide set distributed by ARM to accompany its announcement of the Mali-T658 graphics core Intel is a semiconductor partner within the "Mali graphics ecosystem."
  
  
• Extreme Results Expected in a 2011 Semi Market Forecast to Grow 2% (Wednesday Nov. 09, 2011)
  Although low single-digit growth is forecast for the total semiconductor market this year, there are several companies expected to register results that are quite different.
  
  
• Report: ST sees chip market likely at bottom (Wednesday Nov. 09, 2011)
  Carlo Bozotti, CEO of Europe's largest chip company STMicroelectronics, has said that his company has seen bookings recovering over the last few weeks, according to a MarketWatch report.
  
  
• TSMC sees signs of market turning up (Monday Nov. 07, 2011)
  
  
  
• TSMC: 28-nm tech, demand 'on plan' (Monday Nov. 07, 2011)
  Maria Marced, European president of foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., has pushed back against claims by market researchers at Gartner Inc. that foundries are having problems with yield on 28-nm process technologies.
  
  
• Analyst calls 'bottom' of IC downturn (Friday Nov. 04, 2011)
  The semiconductor industry downturn has hit bottom, and "phase one" of an upturn for chips has begun, according to a Wall Street analyst.
  
  
• TI talks future-proofing for Omap (Friday Nov. 04, 2011)
  Tomorrow’s mobile application processor will not only be capable of rendering holographic displays, high-definition augmented reality, real-time voice translation, natural speech interaction and multi-view synthesis, but may also be able to handle neuro, fuzzy-based and even humanistic intelligence according, to Texas Instruments Inc.
  
  
• Foundries have 28-nm yield issues, say execs (Thursday Nov. 03, 2011)
  Although foundry chip manufacturing will continue to grow faster than the overall chip market for the next few years, it is currently facing challenges at the leading-edge 28-nm manufacturing node, according to market analysis company Gartner and others.
  
  
• Calxeda could spur 32-bit microserver market (Wednesday Nov. 02, 2011)
  Confirmation of the partnership between Hewlett Packard Co. and Texas startup Calxeda Inc. to develop ARM-based servers has added more fuel to discussions about microservers, and which process technology is best poised to serve the market.
  
  
• Chinese processors power supercomputer (Monday Oct. 31, 2011)
  China has reported the development of a supercomputer based on a domestically developed microprocessor, according to a New York Times report.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 2.7% in September (Monday Oct. 31, 2011)
  SIA today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25.8 billion for the month of September, an increase of 2.7 percent from the prior month when sales were $25.1 billion. Overall quarter-over-quarter sales increased 2.1 percent and on a year-to-date basis sales grew 2.2 percent.
  
  
• Cadence CEO laments loss of VC in semis (Thursday Oct. 27, 2011)
  Collaboration and more semiconductor VC investment is what’s needed to continue innovation in the hi-tech space, said Lip-Bu Tan, president and chief executive officer of Cadence Design Systems.
  
  
• UMC sees utilization falling below 70% in Q4 (Thursday Oct. 27, 2011)
  UMC reported double-digit sales declines in the third quarter on both a sequential and annual basis and said it expects capacity utilization to slip to below 70 percent in the fourth quarter, down from more than 90 percent at the beginning of the year.
  
  
• Report: HP readies ARM-based servers (Thursday Oct. 27, 2011)
  Hewlett-Packard Co. plans to sell servers with ARM-based processors made by startup Calxeda Inc., according to a report Wednesday (Oct. 26) by the Bloomberg news service.
  
  
• TSMC's R&D chief sees 10 years of scaling (Wednesday Oct. 26, 2011)
  The path is clear for continued semiconductor scaling using FinFETs for the next decade, down to the 7-nm node, according to Shang-Yi Chiang, senior vice president of R&D at foundry giant TSMC.
  
  
• One on one with lead designer of Cortex-A7 (Wednesday Oct. 26, 2011)
  The key to ARM Holdings plc's "big-little" dual core scheme is the ability to switch as quickly and seamlessly as possible between processing on the Cortex-A15 MPCore and the new Cortex-A7 core, according to Peter Greenhalgh, an ARM engineer who served as the lead designer on the A7.
  
  
• Why Intel is not inside TVs, smartphones (Tuesday Oct. 25, 2011)
  I've got a theory why Intel is struggling to get a foothold in TVs and cellphones—it's a lack of humility or, put less kindly, hubris.
  
  
• Tablet PC Architectures Dominated by ARM and iOS; New Kindle Could Light a Fire Under Android (Tuesday Oct. 25, 2011)
  Shipments of tablet PCs with ARM processors are expected to grow 211% Y/Y in 2011 to 59.9 million units, while tablet PCs with x86 processors (typically used in notebook and netbook PCs) are not expected to experience strong growth until 2013, according to the newly-launched DisplaySearch Tablet Quarterly report.
  
  
• Cadence CEO: Chip execs eye China, India (Monday Oct. 24, 2011)
  Chief executives of companies, including semiconductor companies, are in the process of asking themselves on how best to address the Chinese and Indian markets, as these markets are the ones that are on top of everyone's mind, according to Lip-Bu Tan, president and CEO of EDA vendor Cadence Design Systems Inc.
  
  
• Intel Ivy Bridge CPUs may launch in March (Monday Oct. 24, 2011)
  Intel Corp.’s 22-nm Ivy Bridge CPUs will likely launch in March, one quarter later than originally planned, but well within Intel’s revised timeframe of “Spring 2012.”
  
  
• ARM unleashes 'little dog' on Intel's tail (Friday Oct. 21, 2011)
  While ARM is certainly making a rather big deal over its "big-little" A7/A15 core combo, its partners may not be completely sold on the idea.