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Commentary / Analysis

• HP and the vanishing systems engineer (Thursday Nov. 08, 2012)
  Systems engineers are a vanishing breed at Hewlett-Packard. I suspect that’s the case for many OEMs, and I’m concerned what that means.
  
  
• Top 20 Semiconductor Suppliers' Sales Growth Rates Forecast to Range from Great (+31%) to Terrible (-17%) in 2012. (Thursday Nov. 08, 2012)
  GlobalFoundries, Qualcomm, and TSMC expected to register strong double-digit growth this year.
  
  
• Global Semiconductor Sales Up Slightly in September (Wednesday Nov. 07, 2012)
  SIA today announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $24.79 billion for the month of September 2012, a 2 percent increase from the prior month when sales were $24.30 billion.
  
  
• Qualcomm, MediaTek and Intel Together Held Three-Fourths of Cellular Baseband Revenue Share in 1H 2012 (Wednesday Nov. 07, 2012)
  According to Strategy Analytics, Qualcomm topped the cellular baseband market with 51 percent revenue share in the first half of 2012 on the strength of its leading position in CDMA, W-CDMA and LTE basebands.
  
  
• Imagination won't kill MIPS (Wednesday Nov. 07, 2012)
  Things could hardly turned out better for MIPS Technologies in the latest patent acquisition deal in which ARM and Imagination Technologies are carving up the company.
  
  
• Apple mulls switch away from Intel chips (Tuesday Nov. 06, 2012)
  When Apple Inc. switched from using IBM processors to Intel chips in its venerable Macintosh computer line almost seven years ago, it was a big deal.
  
  
• Big.little test results show promise, ARM reports (Monday Nov. 05, 2012)
  ARM reported a test chip using its A15 and A7 cores saved 50 percent on power consumption without sacrificing performance. It also revealed a road map for enabling software for the so-called big.little initiative which pairs a large and small core.
  
  
• Android Marks Fourth Anniversary Since Launch with 75.0% Market Share in Third Quarter, According to IDC (Monday Nov. 05, 2012)
  The Android smartphone operating system was found on three out of every four smartphones shipped during the third quarter of 2012 (3Q12).
  
  
• ARM's expansion challenge (Monday Nov. 05, 2012)
  ARM this week sketched out a vision of moving methodically into servers and deeper into embedded. There's an architecture, a vision, a market need and an evolving ecosystem. A lot of great generals throughout history had similar ambitions but overreached and outran their supply lines. What's different today?
  
  
• ARM's East cites power as key IC design driver (Monday Nov. 05, 2012)
  The prospect of both climate change and "unsustainable" data growth means engineers should focus on reducing power consumption in their device designs, according to Warren East, CEO of ARM
  
  
• Microprocessor server benchmarks seen as irrelevant (Friday Nov. 02, 2012)
  Server design--and by extension microprocessor and component considerations--are now driven by new-media companies such as Facebook and Google, whose system specifications render traditional benchmarks useless.
  
  
• Slideshow: ARM A57 core revealed (Thursday Nov. 01, 2012)
  ARM provided the first peak at its Cortex A57 high-end 64-bit core at ARM Tech Con here Wednesday (Oct. 31). The A57 aims to provide maximum performance in a mobile power envelope, extending ARM’s reach into networking and server systems.
  
  
• ARM tips 64-bit 'big-little' processors, partners (Wednesday Oct. 31, 2012)
  Processor IP licensor ARM disclosed details on Tuesday (Oct. 30) of its next generation of big-little processors that support 64-bit processing and addressing. The Cortex-A53 and -A57 processors are aimed at 20-nm implementation.
  
  
• Quad patterning a possibility at 10nm, says TSMC (Tuesday Oct. 30, 2012)
  Quad patterning may be needed for 10-nm process technology if extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography is not ready in 2015 or so when Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. expects to start early production of the technology.
  
  
• Two burning questions for ARM (Tuesday Oct. 30, 2012)
  ARM will flex its muscles at its annual ARM TechCon here this week, an event to which I bring two questions.
  
  
• Communications and Auto to Out-Pace IC Market Growth Through 2016 (Monday Oct. 29, 2012)
  The communications and automotive IC markets are forecast to out-pace the growth of the total IC market through 2016 according to data in IC Insights’ soon-to-be-released IC Market Drivers 2013.
  
  
• CEO Clemmer carving out NXP 2.0 strategy (Monday Oct. 29, 2012)
  Rick Clemmer, who took the reins as CEO of debt-ridden NXP Semiconductors nearly four years ago, expects to complete the Dutch chip maker's transition to NXP 2.0 by the end of 2013.
  
  
• ARM rides shotgun for AMD? (Monday Oct. 29, 2012)
  I am writing this at 38,000 feet on my way to California primarily to attend ARM TechCon, the conference and exhibition organized by EE Times' publisher UBM Electronics on behalf of processor intellectual property licensor ARM Holdings plc (Cambridge, England).
  
  
• Huawei using ASICs for first time (Thursday Oct. 25, 2012)
  Chinese telecom and networking equipment vendor Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. is using ASICs in some of its gear for the first time, displacing FPGAs supplied by Altera Corp.
  
  
• Core demand driving ARM revenue (Wednesday Oct. 24, 2012)
  ARM Ltd., citing strong demand for its processor core technology and rising royalty rates, reported $227.9 million in Q3 revenue, up 18 percent compared with the same period last year. Year-to-date revenues were up 14 percent to $650.3 million.
  
  
• ARM and Vivante see GPU SoC market share increases (Monday Oct. 22, 2012)
  Jon Peddie Research (JPR), the industry's research and consulting firm for graphics and multimedia, announced estimated mobile devices graphics chip shipments for the first half of 2012. Mobile devices include smartphones, tablets, and game consoles.
  
  
• AMD eyes ARM IP and realignment (Friday Oct. 19, 2012)
  On a conference call with analysts to discuss AMD's third quarter financial results the company's CEO Rory Read has outlined a change of business model that will see the company "building reusable IP blocks" to reduce development costs and improve speed of execution.
  
  
• McNamara comes clean on Adapt IP (Thursday Oct. 18, 2012)
  Recently, a gossip rag that will remain unnamed tried to make up a story about how Michael (Mac) McNamara of Cadence had demanded that he be given control of their C-to-Silicon tool and when he failed, left the company. That
  
  
• Xilinx cutting spending after lackluster quarter (Thursday Oct. 18, 2012)
  Xilinx Inc. Wednesday (Oct. 17) became the latest chip company to blame macroeconomic sluggishness for lackluster quarterly results and revenue forecasts.
  
  
• Mobile DRAM Revenue Hits Record High in Q2 (Thursday Oct. 18, 2012)
  Revenue for mobile dynamic random access memory (DRAM) rose to the highest level yet in the second quarter driven by increased bit shipments and relatively steady pricing, according to an IHS iSuppli DRAM Dynamics Brief from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS).
  
  
• Communications to Surpass Computers As Leading Application for ICs (Thursday Oct. 18, 2012)
  In a major shift for the IC industry, communications applications are forecast to surpass computer applications as the leading end-use for ICs starting in 2014 and lasting through at least 2016, according to data in IC Insights’ soon-to-be released IC Market Drivers 2013
  
  
• TSMC taps ARM's V8 on road to 16-nm FinFET (Wednesday Oct. 17, 2012)
  TSMC laid out roadmaps for 20-nm planar, 16-nm FinFET and 2.5-D stacks at its annual event here on Tuesday (Oct. 16). The Taiwan foundry will use ARM’s first 64-bit processor, the V8, as a test vehicle for the 16-nm FinFET process with the first tape out of a test chip probably within the next year.
  
  
• Does Amazon want TI's OMAP? (Monday Oct. 15, 2012)
  Retail giant and tablet maker Amazon is reportedly showing interest in picking up Texas Instruments' mobile chip business, according to reports.
  
  
• Japan set to save Renesas (Monday Oct. 15, 2012)
  Struggling Japanese chip company Renesas Electronics Corp. now looks set to be saved by a Japanese buy-out led by a government investment fund.
  
  
• Is Cisco Intel's $1 billion foundry deal? (Thursday Oct. 11, 2012)
  The word on the street in Bratislava, Slovakia, is that Intel's foundry operation has started or will start to make chips for Cisco. What is more the deal could be worth as much as $1 billion.