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Commentary / Analysis

• 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.
  
  
• Synopsys Adds AI-Driven Tools, Acquires PUF Security Firm (Monday Mar. 25, 2024)
  Synopsys added to the excitement of events in Silicon Valley this week with the announcement of new AI-driven EDA tools, and the acquisition of SRAM PUF security IP firm Intrinsic ID.
  
  
• Arm Highlights Future of the Software-Defined Vehicle (Monday Mar. 25, 2024)
  The roar of the engine once defined the automotive industry. Today, a new symphony is emerging, orchestrated by lines of code and powered by cutting-edge processors.
  
  
• 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.
  
  
• 300mm Fab Equipment Spending Forecast to Reach Record $137 Billion in 2027, SEMI Reports (Wednesday Mar. 20, 2024)
  Global 300mm fab equipment spending for front-end facilities is forecast to reach a record US$137 billion in 2027 after topping US$100 billion for the first time by 2025
  
  
• After TSMC fab in Japan, advanced packaging facility is next (Monday Mar. 18, 2024)
  Japan’s efforts to reboot its chip industry are likely to get another boost: an advanced packaging facility set up by TSMC. That seems a logical expansion to TSMC’s $7 billion front-end chip manufacturing fab built in Kumamoto on Japan’s southern island Kyushu.
  
  
• Former Moortec executives create chip monitor startup (Thursday Mar. 14, 2024)
  Stephen Crosher and other former executives with Moortec Semiconductor Ltd. have founded Monic Semiconductor Ltd. (Plymouth, England).
  
  
• HBM3 Initially Exclusively Supplied by SK Hynix, Samsung Rallies Fast After AMD Validation, Says TrendForce (Wednesday Mar. 13, 2024)
  TrendForce highlights the current landscape of the HBM market, which as of early 2024, is primarily focused on HBM3. NVIDIA’s upcoming B100 or H200 models will incorporate advanced HBM3e, signaling the next step in memory technology.
  
  
• We'll Need Many More Fabs to Meet $1 Trillion by 2030 Goal (Wednesday Mar. 13, 2024)
  We’ve heard a lot in the last year about how the semiconductor industry could become a $1 trillion market by 2030 in the U.S. with its current growth trajectory. But it’s not as simple as that, as we don’t have the fab capacity.
  
  
• Global Top 10 Foundries Q4 Revenue Up 7.9%, Annual Total Hits US$111.54 Billion in 2023, Says TrendForce (Tuesday Mar. 12, 2024)
  The latest TrendForce report reveals a notable 7.9% jump in 4Q23 revenue for the world’s top ten semiconductor foundries, reaching $30.49 billion.
  
  
• Re-imagining Imagination Technologies (Monday Mar. 11, 2024)
  Imagination has had its share of challenges over the years, but key to its rebirth is a new management team and a new RISC-V CPU business.
  
  
• BrainChip Adds Edge Box to Chip and IP Offerings (Wednesday Mar. 06, 2024)
  BrainChip has become the latest edge AI chip maker to make its chips available in an “edge box” appliance, via Indian ODM VVDN.
  
  
• Imsys develops RISC-V core, looks to AI in space (Wednesday Mar. 06, 2024)
  Imsys in Sweden has developed a RISC-V processor core and is part of a project to develop an AI accelerator in space.
  
  
• Agile Analog's Christelle Faucon: "Diversity and Equality Are Critical" (Monday Mar. 04, 2024)
  Agile Analog’s Christelle Faucon discussed the role of the semiconductor industry in reshaping the future of our world.
  
  
• Interview: Mahesh Tirupattur, executive VP of Analog Bits - "Be Passionate, Fail Fast and Recover Quick" (Monday Mar. 04, 2024)
  In this episode of Silicon Grapevine, Mahesh Tirupattur, executive VP of Analog Bits, describes how he went from graduating in high voltage and power engineering, working on the Viking microprocessor at Sun Microsystems, and then his transition to Analog Bits.
  
  
• European Union Seeks Chip Sovereignty Using RISC-V (Friday Mar. 01, 2024)
  The European Union invests heavily in initiatives to achieve chip independence using the RISC-V open-source architecture. This effort is led by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, which has been a pioneer in the development of RISC-V technology.
  
  
• Partners Applaud Intel Foundry's Wider Ecosystem Approach (Friday Mar. 01, 2024)
  Last week, Intel hosted an event to launch Intel Foundry as a separate legal entity focused on delivering chips for the AI era, with the ability to serve both Intel products and external customers, including competitors.
  
  
• Largest CHIPS Act Awards Seen Coming for U.S. Companies (Monday Feb. 26, 2024)
  U.S. chipmakers Intel and Micron are likely to win the largest share of the $52 billion in CHIPS Act awards this year, analysts told EE Times.
  
  
• Arm Updates CSS Designs for Hyperscalers' Custom Chips (Thursday Feb. 22, 2024)
  Arm recently upgraded its Arm Neoverse Compute Subsystem (CSS) designs with new CPU cores, aimed at companies building their own custom chips for the data center.
  
  
• Intel Foundry Services Head Sees Advanced Packaging as "On Ramp" to Growth (Thursday Feb. 22, 2024)
  Intel Foundry Services (IFS) General Manager Stuart Pann has benefitted from unexpected demand for advanced packaging services from customers like Cisco, he told EE Times in an exclusive interview.
  
  
• What does Renesas' acquisition of PCB toolmaker Altium mean? (Monday Feb. 19, 2024)
  Renesas, the semiconductor industry’s serial acquirer, has announced to snap PCB design toolmaker Altium nearly a month after announcing the purchase of gallium nitride (GaN) design house Transphorm.