Rick Merritt, EETimes
7/14/2014 07:05 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif. – A post-silicon era is coming quickly, a veteran semiconductor executive at IBM said after his company announced it will spend as much as $3 billion in the next five years on R&D programs to drive to and beyond the limits of silicon.
The spending does not represent an increase or any specific new programs at IBM Research. Rather, it is a statement of IBM's commitment to core hardware technology amid reports that the company is looking to sell its two chip fabs.
Analysts and insiders have said IBM may sell its East Fishkill, N.Y., and Burlington, Vt., fabs this year, most likely to Globalfoundries, but retain its research efforts. IBM is not commenting on the reports, but it did summarize its extensive research efforts across a broad array of chip-related programs.