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Commentary / Analysis

• Samsung makes $3.4bn Q1 chip loss (Monday May. 01, 2023)
  Samsung’s Q1 revenue was down 18% y-o-y at $47.6 billion for an operating profit down 95% y-o-y at $478.5 million.
  
  
• Alphawave to suspend shares (Friday Apr. 28, 2023)
  Alphawave is to suspend its shares on the LSE from next Tuesday after its shares fell 20% this morning following an admission that KPMG had delayed issuing its accounts.
  
  
• Revenue Decline of Global Top 10 IC Design Houses Expanded to Nearly 10% in 4Q22, Decline Expected to Continue into 1Q23, Says TrendForce (Thursday Apr. 27, 2023)
  TrendForce reports that adverse factors such as weak overall consumption, restrictions from China, and the slowdown of corporate IT spending and CSP demand have impacted the revenue performance of the world’s top 10 IC design houses in 4Q22, leading to a QoQ decline of 9.2%, or approximately US$33.96 billion.
  
  
• Arm reported to be building a chip (Monday Apr. 24, 2023)
  Arm is building a chip to be fabbed at a foundry, reports the FT.
  
  
• EU agrees Chips Act terms (Thursday Apr. 20, 2023)
  The terms of a bill to go to the EU parliament and European Council before being ratified as the European Chips Act have been finalised. The discussions on the terms have taken 14 months.
  
  
• TSMC could partner with Bosch for 28nm fab in Germany (Monday Apr. 17, 2023)
  Lead foundry TSMC could partner with Robert Bosch and two other automotive suppliers to create a joint-venture 300mm fab in Germany that will target a 28nm process technology, according to reports in Digitimes.
  
  
• Arm could be on the hook for $8.5bn of Softbank debt (Monday Apr. 17, 2023)
  If Arm does not file for its public offer by the end of September it could become liable for $8.5 billion of Softbank debt for which it was made a guarantor.
  
  
• Softbank reduces Alibaba holding to 3.8% (Friday Apr. 14, 2023)
  Softbank has sold shares worth $7.2 billion in Alibaba reducing its shareholding to 3.8% says the FT. Last year Softbank sold $29 billion worth of Alibaba stock
  
  
• Strict Restrictions Imposed by US CHIPS Act Will Lower Willingness of Multinational Suppliers to Invest; Chinese Semiconductor Development Will Be Limited for Next Decade, Says TrendForce (Friday Apr. 14, 2023)
  TrendForce reports that the US Department of Commerce recently released details regarding its CHIPS and Science Act, which stipulates that beneficiaries of the act will be restricted in their investment activities—for more advanced and mature processes—in China, North Korea, Iran, and Russia for the next ten years.
  
  
• Hardware Root of Trust: The Key to IoT Security in Smart Homes (Thursday Apr. 13, 2023)
  To establish a foundation of trust, IoT device makers need to get identities and keys into their devices and keep these assets secure.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Equipment Billings Reach Industry Record $107.6 Billion in 2022, SEMI Reports (Thursday Apr. 13, 2023)
  Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment increased 5% from $102.6 billion in 2021 to an all-time record of $107.6 billion last year, SEMI, the industry association representing the global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain, reported today.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Decrease 4% Month-to-Month in February (Friday Apr. 07, 2023)
  SIA today announced global semiconductor industry sales totaled $39.7 billion during the month of February 2023, a decrease of 4.0% compared to the January 2023 total of $41.3 billion and 20.7% less than the February 2022 total of $50.0 billion.
  
  
• Post-Quantum Cryptography: Are You Ready? (Thursday Apr. 06, 2023)
  Most experts suggest large-scale quantum computers will become a reality within the next decade and advise that being prepared is the best policy.
  
  
• ChatGPT leaking Samsung chip secrets is iceberg's tip (Thursday Apr. 06, 2023)
  Samsung – amongst others – is wrestling with whether to ban employees accessing ChatGPT, after the controversial AI chatbot started sharing confidential information, according to reports.
  
  
• CEO interview: Paul Wells of SureCore on low power memory and China (Tuesday Apr. 04, 2023)
  Paul Wells, CEO of SureCore talks to Nick Flaherty about the recent technology advancements in SRAM memory and the business in China.
  
  
• The Future of Semi Innovation from Disruptive Memory to Chiplets with Alphawave Semi (Monday Apr. 03, 2023)
  TechArena host Allyson Klein chats with Alphawave Semi’s Letizia Guiliano about the future of semiconductor innovation across memory, optical and interoperable chiplet solutions and how her company is poised to deliver leadership innovation rooted in standards.
  
  
• Interview: Aart de Geus on AI-driven EDA (Thursday Mar. 30, 2023)
  EE Times has an exclusive video interview with Aart de Geus to talk about the AI-driven EDA, generative AI, talent, and the future of EDA.
  
  
• CXL Testing Leverages PCIe Expertise (Thursday Mar. 30, 2023)
  Every open standard needs a robust ecosystem if it is to be widely adopted—and that includes testing and verification capabilities. Just as vendors have rallied around the rapidly evolving Compute Express Link (CXL) specification to announce a variety of products, so have players offering tools to help make sure these products perform reliably and play nice with each other.
  
  
• China forms its own chiplet standard amid isolation (Thursday Mar. 30, 2023)
  The China Chiplet Industry Alliance has released the ‘Chiplet Interconnection Interface Standard’ known as ACC1.0, according to the Financial Association Press.
  
  
• Report: Arm proposes change to IP royalty model (Wednesday Mar. 29, 2023)
  Processor intellectual property licensor Arm Ltd. is looking to increase sales by changing in its royalty model from one based on chip value to one based on equipment value, according to the Financial Times.
  
  
• 2026 All-Time High in Store for Global 300mm Semiconductor Fab Capacity After 2023 Slowdown, SEMI Reports (Monday Mar. 27, 2023)
  After strong growth in 2021 and 2022, the 300mm capacity expansion is expected to slow this year due to soft demand for memory and logic devices.
  
  
• Designing MPUs/MCUs with Functional Safety (Monday Mar. 27, 2023)
  Chipmakers are very clear about what functional safety means for their microprocessor/microcontroller (MPU/MCU) designs for automotive applications.
  
  
• Sensor Fusion Explores AI to Prep for ADAS, AV Designs (Monday Mar. 27, 2023)
  Sensor fusion has been discussed for years for a diverse array of applications. However, it acquires a highly specialized design premise when it comes to automotive applications like advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles (AVs).
  
  
• MIPI A-PHY Specification Levels Up In-Vehicle Connectivity (Monday Mar. 27, 2023)
  In a Q&A, the MIPI A-PHY working group chairs weighed in on the future of A-PHY and MASS. Edo Cohen of Valens and Raj Kumar Nagpal of Synopsys are co-chairs of the working group, and Ariel Lasry of Qualcomm serves as vice chair.
  
  
• Global Fab Equipment Spending on Track for 2024 Recovery After 2023 Slowdown, SEMI Reports (Thursday Mar. 23, 2023)
  Global fab equipment spending for front-end facilities is expected to decrease 22% year-over-year (YoY) to US$76 billion in 2023 from a record high of US$98 billion in 2022 before rising 21% YoY to US$92 billion in 2024 to reclaim lost ground.
  
  
• CEO Interview: Ian Lankshear, EnSilica (Thursday Mar. 23, 2023)
  UK chip designer EnSilica is looking to capitalise on the increasing drive for car makers and large industrial companies to develop their own chips.
  
  
• Total Revenue of Top 10 Foundries Fell by 4.7% QoQ for 4Q22 and Will Slide Further for 1Q23, Says TrendForce (Monday Mar. 13, 2023)
  Although TSMC and GlobalFoundries Actually Managed to Raise Revenue Market Share in 4Q22, Top Five Foundries All Inevitably Faced Massive Reduction in Orders
  
  
• EU Chips Act: Key Intellectual Property Considerations (Friday Mar. 10, 2023)
  This article highlights some of the key areas that semiconductor companies should be thinking about ahead of the act’s coming into force.
  
  
• TSMC's 3-nm progress report: Better than expected (Thursday Mar. 09, 2023)
  TSMC, which vowed to kickstart its 3-nm process node in the second half of 2022, barely made it by cutting the ribbon on this cutting-edge manufacturing node on December 29 at its expanded fabrication unit in Southern Taiwan Science Park (STSP).
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Decrease 5.2% Month-to-Month in January (Monday Mar. 06, 2023)
  SIA today announced global semiconductor industry sales totaled $41.3 billion during the month of January 2023, a decrease of 5.2% compared to the December 2022 total of $43.6 billion and 18.5% less than the January 2022 total of $50.7 billion.