TSMC Fabs Operating Close to Capacity after Earthquake
TSMC’s disaster recovery plans helped with the quick restoration of production at its fabs after Taiwan was hit with a 7.2 magnitude earthquake.
Breaking News
Intel Drops Tower Deal as China Withholds Approval
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake:
Intel’s goal for itself in the foundry business has suffered a setback with China’s rejection of the Tower Semiconductor acquisition. It is a deep wound that should have been anticipated. Now that the inevitable has happened, the question arises: what was Intel’s fallback plan for gaining the edge it had sought from the Tower offer?
Intel Corp. says its acquisition plans for Tower Semiconductor have been cancelled.
Read More »Intel Drops Tower Deal as China Withholds Approval
Big Names in Automotive Go All in on RISC-V
What’s at stake:
The world’s biggest automotive chip suppliers – Robert Bosch, Infineon Technologies, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, and Qualcomm – have banded together to “invest in a company aimed at advancing the adoption of RISC-V globally by enabling next-generation hardware development.” Why now and what does it mean for the future of Arm.
RISC-V scored a major coup with the announcement that some of the electronics industry’s biggest suppliers of automotive semiconductors have teamed up to set up a joint venture focused on the open standard instruction set architecture.
Infineon Technologies AG, Nordic Semiconductor, NXP Semiconductors, Robert Bosch and Qualcomm said the the JV, based in Germany, would be equally shared among them as a “single source to enable compatible RISC-V based products, provide reference architectures, and help establish industry standards,” according to the group’s spokesperson.
The company will focus initially on automotive applications while apparently leaving room for further expansion into other product areas, including mobile and IoT. Nonetheless, the announcement’s seismic impact will likely affect, first and foremost, automakers and tier ones.
Read More »Big Names in Automotive Go All in on RISC-V
Intel Pans Inward for Foundry Boss; Is Tower Deal in Trouble?
By Bolaji Ojo
What’s at stake:
The executive Intel has appointed to head its foundry division has no experience managing a contract chipmaker. Was Intel tired of waiting for regulators to approve its quest for Tower Semiconductor, the contract chipmaker it was expected to tap for a seasoned general manager?
Tower Semiconductor Ltd. boss Russell Ellwanger will not be heading Intel Corp.’s foundry services business.
Read More »Intel Pans Inward for Foundry Boss; Is Tower Deal in Trouble?
Ex-CTO of Foxconn’s EV Biz Levels Charges, Forced to Quit
By Judith Cheng
William Wei, who helped Foxconn launch its ambitious EV platform, has sued for wrongful termination two Foxconn executives, current CEO and chairman Young Liu and HR chief Emily Hsia. Wei, formerly CTO of Foxconn’s EV business, says he was forced to resign and is now seeking compensation of Taiwan dollars $62 million (about US $2.06 million).
In Wei’s place, Foxconn has hired Jun Seki as Chief Strategy Officer for EV. Seki, a seasoned executive who worked for Nissan Motor and the world’s largest electric motor maker Nidec Corp in Japan, now reports directly to Foxconn chairman and CEO Young Liu.
Read More »Ex-CTO of Foxconn’s EV Biz Levels Charges, Forced to Quit
Intel Alliance Offers U.S. ‘Trusted’ Design, Foundry Services
As it seeks a mix of new fab customers, Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is launching an alliance with leading chip designers to offer U.S.-based manufacturing at advanced process technology nodes.
Read More »Intel Alliance Offers U.S. ‘Trusted’ Design, Foundry Services
Autonomy Race: Nvidia Ups Ante With 2,000 TOPS ‘Superchip’
What’s at stake:
Nvidia is rolling out a 2,000 TOPS central compute engine for highly automated vehicles – something no other chipmaker has offered. Is the new processor overkill? Moreover, is the processing power the main concern for OEMs worried about AV safety?
Cruise Gambles on a Build-Your-Own Strategy
What’s at stake?
Autonomous vehicle company Cruise confirmed it is dumping Nvidia’s GPU and developing its own central compute engine for its AV. Cruise also said it is developing a chip for its radar and for other custom chips. Unclear is whether such an extreme measure – build instead of buy – will eventually help or hurt the fledgling AV company’s prospects.
Intel Scores Major Win with MediaTek Foundry Agreement
Intel Foundry Services gets a significant boost by signing MediaTek as a foundry customer.
ASML Results Show Asia Will Retain Chip Production Dominance
By Bolaji Ojo
Semiconductors will continue to be manufactured and consumed principally in Asia for the foreseeable future even if efforts by governments to revive and increase chip production in Europe and North America succeed and surpass current expectations. That is the conclusion reached by the Ojo-Yoshida Report after reviewing the latest regional sales data from ASML N.V., the world’s No. 1 supplier of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
Read More »ASML Results Show Asia Will Retain Chip Production Dominance