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Commentary / Analysis

• The #ARM Diaries, Part 1: How ARM's Business Model Works (Friday Jun. 28, 2013)
  What will follow over the next few posts are a bunch of disclosures, some related some not, attempting to bring everyone up to speed on where ARM is today and where ARM will be in the near future. The best place to start is with ARM’s business model.
  
  
• PCIe takes on mobile, Thunderbolt, more (Friday Jun. 28, 2013)
  PCI Express Gen 3 will ride the MIPI M-PHY in tablets and smartphones thanks to one of several new specs from the PCI SIG.
  
  
• ARM, Imagination team up on UK electronics plan (Friday Jun. 28, 2013)
  The CEOs the world's leading processor IP licensors, ARM Holdings plc and Imagination Technologies Group plc, have set aside their commercial rivalry to work together on a blueprint to boost electronics business in the UK.
  
  
• The rise of the ARM clone (Wednesday Jun. 26, 2013)
  One wonders if it will different this time around. Or will ARM litigate into extinction any free, open-source, or commercial implementations of the ARM instruction set architecture, just as the company did a decade ago?
  
  
• Can China Alone Drive Semiconductor Growth? (Wednesday Jun. 26, 2013)
  Production of electronic equipment (including computers, communications, consumer, etc.) has been sluggish over the last year in all key regions of the world except China.
  
  
• TSMC signs up Apple for three-year FinFET deal (Monday Jun. 24, 2013)
  Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. is set to supply Apple with processors using its FinFET process at the 16- and 10-nm nodes, after beginning with 20-nm planar CMOS, according to a report from Digitimes that referenced unnamed sources.
  
  
• Does Huawei have its eye on Nokia? (Friday Jun. 21, 2013)
  Nokia's stock surged after reports speculating that the struggling Finnish handset maker would be an acquisition target of Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei. Huawei has since refuted the reports.
  
  
• Semiconductor Inventory Falls in Q1 as Outlook for Electronics Demand Rises (Friday Jun. 21, 2013)
  Total inventory held by semiconductor suppliers declined significantly in the first quarter as excess stockpiles created during the global economic malaise of 2012 were cleared away, done in anticipation of a resurgence in consumer demand for electronic products expected by the second half of 2013.
  
  
• North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts May 2013 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.08 (Friday Jun. 21, 2013)
  North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.32 billion in orders worldwide in May 2013 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.08
  
  
• Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Spending to Decline 5.5 Percent in 2013 (Thursday Jun. 20, 2013)
  Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment spending is projected to total $35.8 billion in 2013, a 5.5 percent decline from 2012 spending of $37.8 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.
  
  
• Project looks to re-RISC the ARM (Wednesday Jun. 19, 2013)
  "Why can't my robot sing and dance at the same time?" asked Professor David May as he proposed a processor that implements a simplified ARM instruction set architecture
  
  
• SoC Silicon and Software Design Cost Analysis: Costs for Higher Complexity Continue to Rise (Wednesday Jun. 19, 2013)
  Today, everywhere we turn we hear speakers give presentations at conferences and industry events despairing how the rise in silicon design costs is hampering the semiconductor industries growth path.
  
  
• Nvidia to license graphics IP to other chip vendors (Wednesday Jun. 19, 2013)
  Marking a dramatic shift in business strategy, Nvidia announced today that it will begin licensing current and future GPU and modem technology to other silicon vendors.
  
  
• What is ST's plan B? (Friday Jun. 14, 2013)
  A month or so back ST announced that ST would be divided into two product-oriented business segments that would each be financially sustainable. The first block comprises analog, power, sensors and automotive. The second is the remaining digital activities including embedded processing, microcontrollers and processors for digital consumer applications.
  
  
• How will TSMC cope after Chang? (Wednesday Jun. 12, 2013)
  TSMC could be set to annouce Morris Chang's successor as CEO sometime toward the end of 2013. But whoever gets the job will be trying to fill the largest pair of shoes working in semiconductors.
  
  
• Communications IC Market Forecast to Exceed the Computer IC Market for the First Time in History in 2013 (Tuesday Jun. 11, 2013)
  
  
  
• SEMI Reports First Quarter 2013 Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Figures; Billings US$ 7.31 Billion (Tuesday Jun. 11, 2013)
  SEMI today reported that worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment billings reached US$ 7.31 billion in the first quarter of 2013. The billings figure is 8 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2012 and 32 percent lower than the same quarter a year ago.
  
  
• Slight Uptick for Global Semiconductor Sales in April; Moderate Growth Projected for 2013 and 2014 (Friday Jun. 07, 2013)
  SIA today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $23.62 billion for the month of April 2013, a 0.6 percent increase from the previous month when sales were $23.48 billion, but down slightly from the April 2012 total of 24.06 billion.
  
  
• Intel's Haswell gets mixed reviews from analysts (Thursday Jun. 06, 2013)
  Intel's new microprocessor, Haswell, won’t revive a sagging PC market or give Intel a huge leg up in tablets from what I hear.
  
  
• Intel Holds Qualcomm at Bay to Lead 2012 Embedded Processor Vendor Share Ranking, But for How Much Longer? (Wednesday Jun. 05, 2013)
  According to preliminary findings from the 2013 edition of Semicast's Embedded Processing Service, Intel was the largest supplier of embedded processors in 2012, just ahead of Qualcomm. Broadcom maintained its position as third largest supplier, while Samsung traded places with Texas Instruments for fourth and fifth respectively.
  
  
• Fab Equipment Spending: Strong Second Half Pulls 2013 Up; over 23% Growth for 2014 (Wednesday Jun. 05, 2013)
  Fab equipment spending will grow two percent year-over-year (US$ 32.5 billion) for 2013 and about 23 to 27 percent in 2014 ($41 billion) according to the May edition of the SEMI World Fab Forecast.
  
  
• Intel, ARM on even footing in Net of Things, says IDC (Friday May. 31, 2013)
  More than 25 billion intelligent systems valued at $4 trillion could ship in 2020, said an IDC analyst helping create a new trade group for the sector.
  
  
• 2013 Semiconductor Forecast Lowered to 6% (Friday May. 31, 2013)
  The global semiconductor market was weaker than expected in 1Q 2013, down 4.5% from 4Q 2012 according to WSTS. Much of the softness was attributable to a major falloff in the PC market.
  
  
• Slow Global GDP Growth Weighs On IC Market (Thursday May. 30, 2013)
  Many of the preliminary 1Q13 GDP figures by country or region have now been reported. Based on the first quarter data, IC Insights has slightly lowered its worldwide GDP forecast from the 3.1% shown in the March Update to 3.0%.
  
  
• Intel is buyer of ST-Ericsson GPS unit (Wednesday May. 29, 2013)
  Intel has been revealed as the purchaser of the connectivity and global navigation satellite system (GNSS) business unit of ST-Ericsson NV (Geneva, Switzerland), a failed joint venture in mobile phone chips.
  
  
• Penetration of Verification IP (Friday May. 24, 2013)
  This blog is the third in the series of industry opinions about various aspects of the IP industry. Today, we turn our focus to verification IP and I asked how much adoption is there for verification IP? How does the market size for this compare to design IP?
  
  
• Industry needs to up its research game, says Intel (Thursday May. 23, 2013)
  Mike Mayberry, director of component research at Intel Corp. has looked down the highway of conventional silicon development and reckons things become foggy beyond about the 7-nm node.
  
  
• Broadcom: Time to prepare for the end of Moore's Law (Thursday May. 23, 2013)
  CTO Henry Samueli says Broadcom is starting to prepare customers for the end of CMOS scaling in the next 15 years, and it is working out plans for 3-D chip stacks.
  
  
• North American Semiconductor Equipment Industry Posts April 2013 Book-to-Bill Ratio of 1.08 (Wednesday May. 22, 2013)
  North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.17 billion in orders worldwide in April 2013 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 1.08, according to the April EMDS Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 1.08 means that $108 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
  
  
• Intel's new CEO shakes things up (Tuesday May. 21, 2013)
  Brian Krzanich outlines re-org in internal memo two days after taking the helm of the world's biggest chip maker.