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Commentary / Analysis

• Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 15.8% Year-to-Year in April; New Industry Forecast Projects Market Growth of 16.0% in 2024 (Monday Jun. 10, 2024)
  SIA today announced global semiconductor industry sales were $46.4 billion during the month of April 2024, an increase of 15.8% compared to the April 2023 total of $40.1 billion and 1.1% more than the March 2024 total of $45.9 billion.
  
  
• Q1 2024 Global Semiconductor Equipment Billings Edge Down 2% Year-Over-Year, SEMI Reports (Thursday Jun. 06, 2024)
  Global semiconductor equipment billings contracted 2% year-over-year to US$26.4 billion in the first quarter of 2024, while quarter-over-quarter billings dropped 6% during the same period
  
  
• Arm looking for 50% of Windows PC market (Thursday Jun. 06, 2024)
  Arm CEO Renee Haas has told Reuters that Arm could have a 50% share of the Windows PC market by 2029.
  
  
• Fifth generation ARM Cortex-X for 3nm AI chip designs (Thursday May. 30, 2024)
  
  
  
• GDDR7 Adds Headroom to Meet AI Pressures (Thursday May. 16, 2024)
  Recent advances in artificial intelligence may appear revolutionary, but JEDEC is keeping an evolutionary approach for Graphics Double Data Rate (GDDR) standards, even as it’s being increasingly used for AI applications.
  
  
• Is Graphcore Deal Finally About to Close? (Monday May. 13, 2024)
  Since last fall, rumors have been circulating about Graphcore: having raised huge amounts of funding from some key strategic investors, the company was close to running out of funding and was looking for a buyer.
  
  
• Arm revenues up 47%; shares fall (Thursday May. 09, 2024)
  Arm’s calendar Q1 (FY Q4) revenues were up 47% y-o-y at $928 million for a profit of $391 million.
  
  
• Softbank reported to be in talks to buy Graphcore (Thursday May. 09, 2024)
  Graphcore, the Bristol IPU developer, is said to be in talks with Softbank about a sale of a company for around $500 million, reports Bloomberg.
  
  
• Arm Brings Transformers to IoT Devices (Monday May. 06, 2024)
  The next generation of Arm’s Ethos micro-NPU, Ethos-U85, is designed to support transformer operations, bringing generative AI models to IoT devices.
  
  
• A Conversation with GlobalFoundries Europe's Manfred Horstmann (Monday May. 06, 2024)
  Dresden has been a microelectronics hub since its days as an East German city. Building on that strong foundation has been a win for GlobalFoundries and for Europe at large, says GlobalFoundries’ top executive on the continent.
  
  
• Worldwide Silicon Wafer Shipments Dip 5% in Q1 2024, SEMI Reports (Thursday May. 02, 2024)
  Worldwide silicon wafer shipments decreased 5.4% quarter-over-quarter to 2,834 million square inches in the first quarter of 2024, a 13.2% drop from the 3,265 million square inches recorded during the same quarter last year
  
  
• TSMC's A16 Process Moves Goalposts in Tech-Leadership Game (Monday Apr. 29, 2024)
  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) has changed the tech leadership game with the announcement of its latest A16 chipmaking process, which analysts say may be a leap ahead of Intel’s 18A node.
  
  
• EDA toolset parade at TSMC's U.S. design symposium (Monday Apr. 29, 2024)
  The EDA trio—Cadence Design Systems, Siemens EDA, and Synopsys—is working hands in hand with TSMC to facilitate production-ready EDA tools for the mega-fab’s newest and most advanced processes.
  
  
• Altera in negotiation on private equity partner (Monday Apr. 29, 2024)
  Intel expects to see a partnership with private equity on the spin out of its Altera FPGA business later this year.
  
  
• Arm China's ex-CEO sets up RISC-V company (Monday Apr. 29, 2024)
  Allen Wu, the sacked CEO of Arm China who wouldn’t leave, has set up a RISC-V company called Zhongzhi Chip, according to TrendForce, citing WeChat.
  
  
• TSMC plans 1.6nm process for 2026 (Friday Apr. 26, 2024)
  TSMC is planning a 1.6nm process, called A16, for production in 2026 alongside a wafer-scale chiplet substrate and an automotive chiplet process.
  
  
• Ceva multi-protocol wireless IP could simplify IoT MCU and SoC development (Thursday Apr. 25, 2024)
  Ceva’s new line up of IPs include Wi-Fi 6, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, next-generation Bluetooth, narrowband IEEE 802.15.4 (for Thread, ZigBee, Matter), and UWB (FiRA 2.0 for consumer applications and CCC Digital Key 3.0 for automotive applications).
  
  
• Controversial former Arm China CEO founds RISC-V chip startup (Thursday Apr. 25, 2024)
  A number of former Arm China employees have reportedly followed Allen Wu to new venture
  
  
• Leveraging Cryogenics and Photonics for Quantum Computing (Wednesday Apr. 24, 2024)
  While sureCore focuses on cryogenic semiconductor design, Quantum Computing works on photonics-based technologies.
  
  
• Huawei Mate 60 Pro processor made on SMIC 7nm N+2 process (Tuesday Apr. 23, 2024)
  Huawei’s latest smartphone, the Mate 60 Pro, contains a 7nm HiSilicon Kirin processor made on SMIC’s N+2 process, concludes TechInsights.
  
  
• U.S. Subsidy for TSMC Has AI Chips, Tech Leadership in Sight (Wednesday Apr. 17, 2024)
  U.S. subsidies for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) will yield the nation’s first production of AI chips and a strong shot at tech leadership, according to analysts surveyed by EE Times. The experts caution that a workforce shortage remains a key downside for the revival of the U.S. semiconductor industry.
  
  
• Semiconductor Capacity Is Up, But Mind the Talent Gap (Monday Apr. 15, 2024)
  The semiconductor industry is cyclical, with periods of high demand followed by periods of low demand. According to Deloitte, this is the sixth cycle since 1990.
  
  
• Electronic System Design Industry Posts $4.4 Billion in Revenue in Q4 2023, ESD Alliance Reports (Tuesday Apr. 09, 2024)
  Electronic System Design (ESD) industry revenue increased 14% to $4,423 million in the fourth quarter of 2023 from the $3,879.9 million logged in the third quarter of 2023.
  
  
• PCIe 7.0 specification reaches "half way point" (Monday Apr. 08, 2024)
  The latest version of PCI Express, PCIe 7.0, is on track for launch in 2025 with version 0.5 available today.
  
  
• Sondrel CEO steps down as chip firm faces re-organization (Monday Apr. 08, 2024)
  Graham Curren, is standing down as CEO of loss-making ASIC design services company Sondrel Holdings plc. The company has received financial support from ROX Equity Partners Ltd. and is now set to return to private ownership.
  
  
• NeuReality Boosts AI Acelerator Utilization With NAPU (Thursday Apr. 04, 2024)
  Startup NeuReality wants to replace the host CPU in data center AI inference systems with dedicated silicon that can cut total cost of ownership and power consumption.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Increase 16.3% Year-to-Year in February (Thursday Apr. 04, 2024)
  SIA today announced global semiconductor industry sales totaled $46.2 billion during the month of February 2024, an increase of 16.3% compared to the February 2023 total of $39.7 billion but a decrease of 3.1% from the January 2024 total of $47.6 billion.
  
  
• Proprietary Memories Are a High-Risk Endeavor (Tuesday Apr. 02, 2024)
  Semiconductor technologies live and die by industry standards, but are there times when it makes sense to build a heavily customized—even proprietary—memory device?
  
  
• China's Intel, AMD Ban Helps Local Rivals, Analysts Say (Friday Mar. 29, 2024)
  China’s ban on government use of Intel and AMD processors will help domestic competitors like Hygon build sales, according to analysts.
  
  
• Ex-DoD Official Says Chinese-Made PCBs Plague U.S. Systems (Monday Mar. 25, 2024)
  Chinese-made printed circuit boards (PCBs) in U.S. military systems and infrastructure like power grids probably gives China kill switches and other backdoors that the nation could use in the event of war, a former Department of Defense (DoD) official says.