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Commentary / Analysis

• SIA Reports November Chip Sales (Jan. 04, 2010)
  Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose to $22.6 billion in November, a 3.7 percent increase from October when sales were $21.8 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) reported today.
  
  
• The ARM Cortex-M3 and the convergence of the MCU market (Jan. 04, 2010)
  If ARM's achievements in smart phones (>80 percent market share are anything to go by, the Cortex-M3 may spark a rapid consolidation of the microcontroller market, dramatically reducing the number of competing architectures on offer.
  
  
• Analysis: To-do-list for the next MIPS CEO (Dec. 30, 2009)
  As John Bourgoin, leader of MIPS Technologies for more than a decade as president and CEO, retires on this Thursday (Dec. 31st), his successor will find plenty on his plate. The new chief's to-do list includes: defending its turf against ARM; further proliferating its cores in new markets; and re-energizing the company as a new offensive player in the IP processor market.
  
  
• Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Declined $29 Billion in 2009 (Dec. 21, 2009)
  The semiconductor industry will post a revenue decline for just the sixth time in the last 25 years, with worldwide revenue totaling $226 billion in 2009, an 11.4 percent decline from 2008, according to preliminary estimates by Gartner, Inc.
  
  
• Counterpoint:With MIPS still growing, battle isn't over (Dec. 15, 2009)
  A recent EE Times article indicated that today's embedded processor wars are being waged by two main players—Intel and ARM. Yet the title of that article, "ARM wants every MIPS socket," indicates—and rightly so—that there is another important player in the mix.
  
  
• Interview: ARM wants every MIPS socket (Dec. 11, 2009)
  As recently as five years ago, ARM's competitors included a host of IP processor companies such as MIPS, ARC and Tensilica. Now, like it or not, the field of serious processor competition has dramatically narrowed to, well, ARM vs. Intel Corp.
  
  
• Analyst: FPGA firms to outgrow semi industry by 2X (Dec. 09, 2009)
  Xilinx and Altera, which together control more than 85 percent of the programmable logic market, are poised to grow twice as fast as the broader semiconductor industry going forward, a Wall Street analyst said
  
  
• Panelists look at IP quality versus design productivity (Dec. 09, 2009)
  fundamental problem in the industry is to analyze and implement the tradeoffs between improving IP quality and losing design productivity. During a panel discussion at the IP-ESC 2009 Conference last week in Grenoble, France, IP buyers and sellers confronted experiences and issues.
  
  
• Analysis: strategic versus ROI-driven VC (Dec. 07, 2009)
  We knew this was going to be a tough year for many startups. Venture capitalists needed to eke their money out. It is natural they would be withholding it from some because of the uncertainty that the global economic crisis had brought and the delay it introduced into the growth of various markets.
  
  
• Is design and reuse an impossible dream, ask panelists (Dec. 04, 2009)
  A panel session at the IP-ESC 2009 Conference this week in Grenoble, France, examined IP design and reuse from a business and technology perspective and urged IP and SoC providers to reach compromises.
  
  
• IP providers, SoC told to go for compromises (Dec. 04, 2009)
  According to the participants in the panel session at the IP-ESC 2009 Conference, the global economic depression has made SoC designers aware of the fact that, by outsourcing critical IP, they could not only cut design time but also improve time-to-market.
  
  
• Panelists question fabless model viability (Dec. 04, 2009)
  Is fabless still fabulous? In a panel session at the IP-ESC 2009 Conference this week in Grenoble, France, panelists discussed the evolution of semiconductor business models and confronted views on whether the fabless model is dead or alive and kicking.
  
  
• ARM exec gives hints for IP business model optimization (Dec. 01, 2009)
  In a keynote at the IP-ESC 2009 Conference this week in Grenoble, France, Eric Schorn, vice president of marketing, processor division ARM Ltd, compiled a How-To list of basic steps to optimize IP business models and better deliver value to the customer.
  
  
• Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue in 2010 to Rebound to 2008 Levels (Nov. 16, 2009)
  Worldwide semiconductor revenue is on pace to total $226 billion in 2009, an 11.4 percent decline from 2008 revenue of $255 billion, according to the latest outlook by Gartner, Inc. This forecast is better than the third quarter projections when Gartner forecast semiconductor revenue to decline 17 percent in 2009.
  
  
• Comment: oops NXP did it again (Nov. 12, 2009)
  NXP BV continues to trade on its technology and the latest decision to license its Mifare technology to STMicroelectronics is as intriguing as any of the recent business moves that have gone before.
  
  
• Chip inventory levels remain low, says VLSI (Nov. 12, 2009)
  Chip inventory levels remain low by historical standards, despite reports by some chip makers of higher inventories that have risen for much of the year, according to market research firm VLSI Research.
  
  
• Commentary: What's next for troubled SMIC? (Nov. 11, 2009)
  In just one day alone, China's SMIC suffered three major setbacks. On Tuesday (Nov. 10), it lost a big patent suit, its chief executive, and, in some respects, its independence.
  
  
• Comment: Is Abu Dhabi targeting Intel rather than TSMC? (Nov. 09, 2009)
  With Waleed Al Muhairi, chief operating officer of Abu Dhabi government investment vehicle Mubadala Development Co., predicting Abu Dhabi would be making chips at home within four years, we are reminded that the Gulf states' aspirations to get into the chip business are long-enduring. But when Al Muhairi said Abu Dhabi wants to compete with Intel was that hubris?
  
  
• Top ten Chinese chip design houses ranked (Nov. 05, 2009)
  The Chinese IC design sector was worth 23.52 billion yuan (about $3.44 billion) in 2008, up 4.2 percent compared with 2007, according a report by Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (Taipei, Taiwan)
  
  
• Exec details ST's ARM Cortex-A9 licensing choice for HDTVs (Oct. 29, 2009)
  In an interview with EE Times, Laurent Remont, director, R&D/Architecture Group, Home Entertainment and Displays Group at STMicroelectronics NV (Geneva, Switzerland), provided details on ST's decision to build its next-generation HDTV consumer device around the high-performance ARM architecture.
  
  
• Viewpoint: IP cores are in their own world (Oct. 27, 2009)
  A recent, informal survey of several sellers, buyers and users of semiconductor IP cores produced an interesting view of current business conditions and what the future might bring.
  
  
• MIPS in handsets: Why not? (Oct. 26, 2009)
  ISA in PCs is due to Microsoft Windows' exclusive support. MIPS lost a great opportunity when Microsoft dropped MIPS support from early versions of Windows NT.
  
  
• Analysis: Inside the ARM-Xilinx deal (Oct. 23, 2009)
  There's a lot that's not being said about the deal announced earlier this week by ARM and Xilinx. What is known is that Xilinx has licensed ARM's Cortex processor IP, and that the two companies are developing next-generation AMBA interconnect technology. But if you read between the lines, you can see where the partnership is likely headed.
  
  
• ARM CTO: power surge could create 'dark silicon' (Oct. 22, 2009)
  Without fresh innovations, designers could find themselves by 2020 in an era of "dark silicon," able to build dense devices they cannot afford to power, according to the chief technology officer of ARM Ltd. at the company's annual tech conference where FPGAs and netbooks were also hot topics.
  
  
• ARM stretches out with A5 core, graphics, FPGAs (Oct. 22, 2009)
  Just a mile down the road from the headquarters of archrival Intel Corp., ARM Ltd. opens its annual Silicon Valley technical conference today announcing a new core to anchor its high-end line of mobile and embedded processors. The move represents one of several directions in which ARM is flexing its muscle to address new and old competitors and opportunities.
  
  
• Round-table split on future of semiconductor startups (Oct. 22, 2009)
  A discussion panel organized here by Cadence Design Systems Inc. (San Jose, Calif.) revealed some of the dynamic tension between the fabless chip startup community and their key suppliers — the EDA companies and the foundries. Held immediately before an evening meeting intended to put hopeful startups in front of venture capitalists, the round-table aired a number of issues facing startups but drew few conclusions.
  
  
• PC maker sees slow road for USB 3.0 (Oct. 21, 2009)
  Intel's decision to wait until 2011 to support USB 3.0 in PC chip sets will put mainstream adoption of the interconnect on hold for a year, said a senior technology manager at a top tier PC maker who also called for separate 60 GHz industry groups to unite in the wake of the failure of wireless USB.
  
  
• Comment: ARM, Xilinx and the future of programmable platforms (Oct. 19, 2009)
  The information provided to me so far about the ARM-Xilinx programmable systems collaboration was long on canned quotes and short on detail which of course leads to all sorts of questions and speculations.
  
  
• What worries exec from ARM? (Oct. 14, 2009)
  What worries ARM Holdings plc in terms of next-generation chip design?
  
  
• Counterpoint: Synergies could trigger a Synopsys-ARM merger (Oct. 13, 2009)
  Semiconductor intellectual property (IP) is a way for chip makers to share the cost of developing standard designs so that they can invest more in the differentiating features of their chips. For ARM to be controlled by any one of its customers or even a small group of its customers would break the IP business model.