Prediction articles:
2020: A consumer electronics forecast for the year(s) ahead
AI Chips: What Will 2020 Bring?
CEO Outlook: 2020 Vision: 5G, China and AI are prominent, but big changes are coming everywhere
Top 10 Tech Failures From 2019 That Hint At 2020 Trends – Last year’s tech failures often turn into next year’s leading trends
Trends:
AMD’s 7nm Ryzen 4000 CPUs are here to take on Intel’s 10nm Ice Lake laptop chips
Top 9 challenges IT leaders will face in 2020: From skills shortages to privacy concerns
From the oil rig to the lake: a shift in perspective on data
In December 2020, the new IEC/EN 62368-1 will replace the existing safety standards EN 60950-1 and EN 60065-1
Use of technology money outside company IT department is the new normal
Tech to try:
12 Alternative Operating Systems You Can Use In 2020
CONTINUOUS INTEGRATION: WHAT IT IS AND WHY YOU NEED IT
Research:
Universal memory coming? New type of non-volatile general purpose memory on research, some call it UltraRAM.
1,318 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
Electronics Supply Chains Splitting Between China and U.S.
https://www.eetimes.com/electronics-supply-chains-splitting-between-china-and-u-s/
Foxconn, the world’s largest contract manufacturer, says it plans to move more of its production outside China under the impact of the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
The announcement last week by the company that employs more than a million people in China assembling iPhones for Apple, servers for Dell and electronic games for Nintendo reflects a trend that’s been gaining pace this year.
China’s “days as the world’s factory are done,” Foxconn Chairman Young Liu said at a Taipei event to announce the company’s quarterly results on August 12. “No matter whether it’s India, Southeast Asia or the Americas, there will be a manufacturing ecosystem in each.”
Taiwanese electronics manufacturers such as Foxconn, Quanta and Pegatron are leading a migration of production from China to new factories in Taiwan, Vietnam and India to cut costs and avoid U.S. tariffs while also addressing concerns surrounding security and intellectual property.
Tomi Engdahl says:
C++ still rules the Chromium roost though Rust has caught our eye, say browser devs
Chrome engineers experiment with memory-safe language in software that really ought to be memory safe
https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/19/c_plus_plus_chromium_rust/
Google’s Chromium Project has acknowledged its growing interest in adding more Rust code to the mostly C++ Chromium codebase.
Rust is an open-source systems-oriented programming language championed by Mozilla that’s known for its memory safety, a characteristic of particular interest to developers interested in browser security.
The Chromium team makes clear that C++ is “the ruler” and that its current interest is having Rust code make calls into existing C++ rather than the other way around. But its recognition of Rust as a subordinate language suggests that Google devs want Rust to play a more prominent role in the Chromium court.
Tomi Engdahl says:
50%+ of our office seats are going remote, say majority of surveyed Register readers. Hi security, bye on-prem
We asked hundreds of IT decision makers where their priorities lie – here are the results
https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/20/new_normal_reader_research/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/07/no-code-will-define-the-next-generation-of-software/
Tomi Engdahl says:
IBM Reveals POWER10 CPU Based On The OpenPOWER ISA 3.1 Specification
https://hackaday.com/2020/08/19/ibm-reveals-power10-cpu-based-on-the-openpower-isa-3-1-specification/
This week, IBM revealed their POWER10 CPU, which may not seem too exciting since it’s primarily aimed at big iron like mainframes and servers. The real news for most is that it is the first processor to be released that is based on the open Power ISA specification v3.1. This new version of the Power ISA adds a number of new instructions as well as the notion of optionality. It updates the v3.0 specification that was released in 2015, right after the founding of the OpenPOWER Foundation.
Currently, a number of open source designs for the Power ISA exists, including MicroWatt (Power v3.0, VHDL) and the similar ChiselWatt (written in Scala-based Chisel). In June of this year, IBM also released the VHDL code for the IBM A2 processor on Github. This is a multi-core capable, 4-way multithreaded 64-bit design, with silicon-implementations running at up to 2.3 GHz and using the Power ISA v2.06 specification.
Tomi Engdahl says:
In Transition, Sensor Market Is Seen Riding IoT Wave
https://www.eetimes.com/in-transition-sensor-market-is-seen-riding-iot-wave/
The sensor market is among the technology sectors hardest hit by the pandemic. Already rocked by the decline of fossil fuels and internal combustion engines as well as the commoditization of existing sensor technologies, Covid-19 has further clouded the picture of the automotive sensor market.
“The sensor business is in turmoil,” concludes IDTechEx in a survey of the post-Covid sensor market.
Cost, not demand, is the problem. Struggling auto makers, for example, need all the LiDAR sensor that can get their hands on, but unit costs remain high.
In contrast, volume production for emerging markets like biosensors such as glucose monitors appears to be one way out of the sensor sector’s current dilemma. IDTechEx also sees an emerging market for incorporating sensors into municipal water supplies and power grids, perhaps offsetting declines in the energy sector.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Apple’s response to Epic threatens the future of VR, AR, TV, and films
https://venturebeat.com/2020/08/18/apples-response-to-epic-threatens-the-future-of-vr-ar-tv-and-films/
Epic’s lawsuit against Apple was already monumental when it solely focused on the iOS App Store, a walled garden that has grown to an intercontinental size with 1.5 billion supported devices. Yesterday, the battle between the Fortnite creator and platform holder leveled up after Apple explicitly threatened the future of Epic’s Mac and Unreal Engine businesses — a move with direct consequences for virtual reality, augmented reality, TV, and film developers beyond Epic and Apple themselves.
That threat was nestled in a letter from Apple, currently labeled Exhibit B in Epic’s request for a temporary restraining order to protect its business. On pages 52 and 53 of the 197-page filing, Apple says that it plans to terminate Epic’s developer license over the addition of an alternate payment mechanism to the iOS version of Fortnite, and spells out the consequences.
It’s impossible to overstate Unreal Engine’s importance to the next generation of immersive devices. Epic’s software is now being used to generate photorealistic content for holographic 3D displays, giant 3D windows, AR headsets, VR headsets, game consoles, films, serialized TV shows, and even Weather Channel broadcasts. The company’s latest real-time ray-tracing demos look practically indistinguishable from reality, setting the stage for home computers to deliver cinema-quality 3D visuals.
“millions of developers rely on the Unreal Engine to develop software, and hundreds of millions of consumers use that software.”
The threat is significant — perhaps greater than Apple’s App Store team realized when it sent that letter. Telling all of these Unreal Engine developers to walk away from the Mac means pushing them to adopt Windows PCs, where Epic’s tools and apps will continue to both work and grow in power.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel defends AVX-512 against critics who wish it to die a ‘painful death’
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3571956/intel-defends-avx-512-against-critics-who-wish-it-to-die-a-painful-death.html
Customers love it, so Intel won’t quit AVX-512 in laptops just because of salty words.
Intel has finally defended its AVX-512 instruction set against critics who have gone so far as to wish it to die “a painful death.”
“AVX-512 is a great feature. Our HPC community, AI community, love it,” Koduri said, responding to a question from PCWorld about the AVX-512 kerfuffle during Intel’s Architecture Day on August 11. “Our customers on the data center side really, really, really love it.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
50 Top Private Software Companies of 2020
https://www.designnews.com/design-software/50-top-private-software-companies-2020?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=14185&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
The CPU’s Silent Partner: The Coprocessor’s Role Is Often Unappreciated
https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/the-cpus-silent-partner-the-coprocessors-role-is-often-unappreciated
Tomi Engdahl says:
The 80s and 90s PC games still unbelievably being updated today
By Christopher Livingston, Wes Fenlon July 09, 2018
They may have arrived decades ago, but the work (and play) continues.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-80s-and-90s-pc-games-still-unbelievably-being-updated-today/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://blog.paessler.com/go-big-with-paessler-prtg-enterprise-monitor
Tomi Engdahl says:
From flight sticks to high-end GPUs…
Microsoft Flight Simulator expected to generate $2.6B in PC hardware sales in 3 years
By Jacob Ridley 2 days ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-flight-simulator-expected-to-generate-dollar26b-in-pc-hardware-sales-in-3-years/?utm_content=buffer7ecc1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_pcgamerfb
Microsoft Flight Simulator fever takes hold of PC gaming.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Level I rollbacks (mostly automated/scripted, snapshot reversions taking 2 hours or less) – Thursday night
Level II rollback, meaning may take up to 8 hrs to revert – Wednesday night
Level III – Tuesday night, the CxO team is aware (and at least one of them is likely on the phone bridge as we implement the change), and the COOP team is onsite and vulturing.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Missing documentation and obsolete environments force participants in the Ten Years Reproducibility Challenge to get creative.
Challenge to scientists: does your ten-year-old code still run?
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02462-7
Missing documentation and obsolete environments force participants in the Ten Years Reproducibility Challenge to get creative.
Tomi Engdahl says:
10 Free Operating Systems You Maybe Never Realized Existed
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/?utm_source=MUO-FB-P&utm_medium=Social-Distribution&utm_campaign=MUO-FB-P
Sick of Windows? Not keen on Linux? Consider an alternative, like these free operating systems that you probably haven’t heard of.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Ray tracing has failed to deliver on its promise
By Alan Dexter, Dave James 3 days ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/ray-tracing-has-failed-to-deliver-on-its-promise/
If I’d bought a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, I would be so pissed off right now.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Linux vs. Windows: It’s a matter of perspective
Jack Wallen, who has been using Linux for 20 years, shares a recent experience using the Windows platform and explains why it put the OS debate into perspective.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/linux-vs-windows-its-a-matter-of-perspective/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel promises enthusiast gaming GPU to take on AMD and Nvidia in 2021. It’s a ray tracing three-way
By Jacob Ridley 11 days ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/intel-xe-hpg-gaming-graphics-card/
So Intel is working on a high-end gaming graphics card after all, and one with ray tracing acceleration at that.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Thermaltake reinvents how to apply thermal paste to CPUs
By Paul Lilly 12 days ago
What’s wrong with a pea-sized amount of thermal paste?
https://www.pcgamer.com/thermaltake-reinvents-how-to-apply-thermal-paste-to-cpus/
Tomi Engdahl says:
A patent suggests AMD is getting inventive to meet Intel and Arm in mobile devices
By Jacob Ridley 12 days ago
https://www.pcgamer.com/amd-hybrid-computing-architecture-big-little/
A patent, originally filed in 2017, suggests AMD could be looking into an architecture not unlike Arm big.LITTLE.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tips and tricks for online collaboration
16.3.2020 klo 17.07
https://www.nitor.com/fi/uutiset-ja-blogi/tips-and-tricks-online-collaboration
How do you effectively work remotely as a team or as an organization? Combining cooperation and working remotely can be challenging, and if you are used to co-located work, remote work requires more from all parties involved at the beginning. But don’t worry, try new tools, keep practicing and you’ll learn!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jason Fried – How to Successfully Lead a Remote Team (Webinar Summary & Recording)
https://www.nbforum.com/newsroom/blog/jason-fried-webinar-summary/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/03/the-essential-revenue-software-stack/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Intel’s next-gen gaming chips will take a huge architectural risk to rival AMD’s Ryzen
https://www.pcgamer.com/intel-alder-lake-hybrid-architecture-desktop/
Intel confirms that Alder Lake, coming 2021, will feature a hybrid computing architecture.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSMC is putting Intel in the rearview.
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/tsmc-5nm-4nm-3nm-process-node-introduces-3dfabric-technology
TSMC Dishes on 5nm and 3nm Process Nodes, Introduces 3DFabric Tech
TSMC’s 26th Technology Symposium kicked off today with details around its progress with its 7nm N7 process, 5nm N5, N4, and 3nm N3 nodes. TSMC also shared details around its 3DFabric technology and provided some clues about what technologies it will use to continue scaling beyond the 3nm node. TSMC has already disrupted the pecking order of the semiconductor industry when it brushed aside Intel and Samsung and moved to its industry-leading 7nm node, powering Intel’s competitor AMD (among others) to the forefront. Still, the company shows no signs of slowing down its rapid pace of innovation and has plans to begin high volume production of its 3nm tech in 2022, compared to Intel’s plans to debut its 7nm in late 2022 or early 2023.
Tomi Engdahl says:
How Unity built the world’s most popular game engine
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/17/how-unity-built-the-worlds-most-popular-game-engine
Unity files for IPO, reveals $163 million loss for 2019 and 1.5 million monthly users
https://venturebeat.com/2020/08/24/unity-files-for-ipo-reveals-163-million-loss-for-2019-and-1-5-million-monthly-users/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3608242-unity-software-files-for-nyse-ipo-542m-in-revenue
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unreal_Engine
Tomi Engdahl says:
Announcing the Consortium for Python Data API Standards
An initiative to develop API standards for n-dimensional arrays and dataframes
https://data-apis.org/blog/announcing_the_consortium/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Meet the startup that helped Microsoft build the world of Flight Simulator
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/17/meet-the-startup-that-helped-microsoft-build-the-world-of-flight-simulator/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why is this floppy disk joke still haunting the internet?
The ‘3D-printed save icon’ gag continues unabated — and celebrated
https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2017/10/24/16505912/floppy-disk-3d-print-save-joke-meme
Tomi Engdahl says:
Five VCs discuss how no-code is going horizontal across the world’s industries
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/22/five-vcs-talk-about-how-no-code-is-going-horizontal-across-the-worlds-industries/
Few topics garner cheers and groans quite as quickly as the no-code software explosion.
While investors seem uniformly bullish on toolsets that streamline and automate processes that once required a decent amount of technical know-how, not everyone seems to think that the product class is much of a new phenomenon.
On one hand, basic tools like Microsoft Excel have long given non-technical users a path toward carrying out complex tasks. (There’s historical precedent for the perspective.) On the other, a recent bout of low-code/no-code startups reaching huge valuations is too noteworthy to ignore, spanning apps like Notion, Airtable and Coda.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Heterogeneity, High Performance Computing, Self-Organization and the Cloud
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-76038-4
Tomi Engdahl says:
Android on x86
An Introduction to Optimizing for Intel® Architecture
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-1-4302-6131-5
Tomi Engdahl says:
One of the key metrics on how well a semiconductor process is developing is looking at its quantitative chip yield – or rather, its defect density. A manufacturing process that has fewer defects per given unit area will produce more known good silicon than one that has more defects, and the goal of any foundry process is to minimize that defect rate over time. This will give the customers better throughput when making orders, and the foundry aims to balance that with the cost of improving the manufacturing process.
The measure used for defect density is the number of defects per square centimeter. Anything below 0.5/cm2 is usually a good metric, and we’ve seen TSMC pull some really interesting numbers, such as 0.09 defects per square centimetre on its N7 process node only three quarters after high volume manufacturing started, as was announced in November at the VLSI Symposium 2019. As it stands, the defect rate of a new process node is often compared to what the defect rate was for the previous node at the same time in development.
‘Better Yield on 5nm than 7nm’: TSMC Update on Defect Rates for N5
by Dr. Ian Cutress on August 25, 2020 9:30 AM
https://www.anandtech.com/show/16028/better-yield-on-5nm-than-7nm-tsmc-update-on-defect-rates-for-n5
The measure used for defect density is the number of defects per square centimeter. Anything below 0.5/cm2 is usually a good metric, and we’ve seen TSMC pull some really interesting numbers, such as 0.09 defects per square centimetre on its N7 process node only three quarters after high volume manufacturing started, as was announced in November at the VLSI Symposium 2019. As it stands, the defect rate of a new process node is often compared to what the defect rate was for the previous node at the same time in development. As a result, we got this graph from TSMC’s Technology Symposium this week:
TSMC’s N5 process currently sits around 0.10 to 0.11 defects per square centimeter, and the company expects to go below 0.10 as high volume manufacturing ramps into next quarter.
Part of what makes 5nm yield slightly better is perhaps down to the increasing use of Extreme UltraViolet (EUV) technology, which reduces the total number of manufacturing steps. Each step is a potential chance to decrease yield, so by replacing 4 steps of DUV for 1 step of EUV, it eliminates some of that defect rate.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSMC Celebrates Manufacturing 1B 7nm Chips
BY MATTHEW HUMPHRIES 24 AUG 2020, 11:30 A.M.
That’s over one quintillion 7nm transistors and enough silicon to cover 13 Manhattan city blocks.
https://uk.pcmag.com/chipsets-processors/128283/tsmc-celebrates-manufacturing-1b-7nm-chips
Tomi Engdahl says:
As DevOps takes off, site reliability engineers are flying high
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/25/as-devops-takes-off-site-reliability-engineers-are-flying-high/?tpcc=ECFB2020
Each year, LinkedIn tracks the top emerging jobs and roles in the U.S.
The top four roles of 2020 — AI specialist, robotics engineer, data scientist and full-stack engineer — are all closely affiliated with driving forward technological innovation. Today, we’d like to recognize number five on the list, without which innovation in any domain would not be possible: the site reliability engineer (SRE).
We see the emergence of site reliability engineers not as a new trend, but one closely coupled with the theme of DevOps over the last decade. As coined, it was supposed to be something that you do and not something that you are. However, as time has passed, DevOps has found its way into roles and titles, often replacing “application production support” or “production engineering.”
What we are seeing now and predicting into the future is the rise of site reliability engineer as a title relating to the practice of DevOps and better describing the work to be done. At the time of our writing, there are more than 9,000 open roles for SREs on LinkedIn, a number that is only growing.
Why now?
The service is the product: As more applications have moved to being delivered as a service, moving from the realm of IT to SaaS, the service itself has become the product. Anything delivered as a service must keep an eye toward the old, basic concept of customer service. This shift began at the application layer (e.g., Salesforce, Workday, ServiceNow) and over time has spread to infrastructure layer software (e.g., Datadog, HashiCorp) and has even impacted on-prem software.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Not only will you save money over buying a new notebook, but some older laptops have better hardware than cheap Chromebooks—making this project a double win.
How to turn an old laptop into a Chromebook
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3572269/how-to-turn-a-laptop-into-a-chromebook.html
Not only will you save money, but some older laptops have better hardware than cheap Chromebooks—making this project a double win.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSMC to build a R&D center with 8000 engineers for its 2nm process #tsmc #2nm
https://www.gizchina.com/2020/08/25/tsmc-to-build-a-rd-center-with-8000-engineers-for-its-2nm-process/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Jeff Bezos Becomes The First Person Ever Worth $200 Billion
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2020/08/26/worlds-richest-billionaire-jeff-bezos-first-200-billion/?utm_campaign=forbes&utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_term=Valerie/#76616c657269
Tomi Engdahl says:
Start Me Up: 25 years ago this week, Windows 95 launched and, for a brief moment, Microsoft was almost cool
Then we saw Bill and Steve gyrating to the Rolling Stones on stage…
https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/25/windows_95_25_years/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
3nm is going to be an incredible step, so too will be 5nm — even 7nm is still technologically impressive.
TSMC on 3nm : 3x silicon density over 7nm, 51% less power, 32% faster
TSMC begins detailing its next-gen 3nm node, mass production in 2H 2022 — with 3.06x increase in silicon density over 7nm
Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/news/74691/tsmc-on-3nm-3x-silicon-density-over-7nm-51-less-power-32-faster/index.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Tomi Engdahl says:
Don Clark / New York Times:
Sources say problems at Intel are likely to delay the DoE’s exascale supercomputer project, which was scheduled to be installed near Chicago in 2021
Intel Slips, and a High-Profile Supercomputer Is Delayed
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/27/technology/intel-aurora-supercomputer.html
The chip maker was selected for an Energy Department project meant to show American tech independence. But problems at Intel have thrown a wrench into the effort.
When it selected Intel to help build a $500 million supercomputer last year, the Energy Department bet that computer chips made in the United States could help counter a technology challenge from China.
Officials at the department’s Argonne National Laboratory predicted that the machine, called Aurora and scheduled to be installed at facilities near Chicago in 2021, would be the first U.S. system to reach a technical pinnacle known as exascale computing. Intel pledged to supply three kinds of chips for the system from its factories in Oregon, Arizona and New Mexico.
But a technology delay by the Silicon Valley giant has thrown a wrench into that plan, the latest sign of headwinds facing government and industry efforts to reverse America’s dependence on foreign-made semiconductors. It was also an indication of the challenges ahead for U.S. hopes to regain a lead in critical semiconductor manufacturing technology.
Intel’s problems make it close to impossible that Aurora will be installed on schedule, researchers and analysts said. And shifting a key component to foreign factories would undermine company and government hopes of an all-American design.
“That is part of the story they were trying to sell,” said Jack Dongarra, a computer scientist at the University of Tennessee who tracks supercomputer installations around the world. “Now they stumbled.”
Intel, the last big U.S. company that both designs and makes microprocessors, signaled in July that it might for the first time use foundries owned by other companies to make some cutting-edge chips.
Intel’s disclosures caused its stock market value to drop by close to $50 billion. They were also bad news for Argonne.
Government labs and other organizations have long used supercomputers for tasks like breaking foreign communications codes, modeling weather changes and designing drugs. Aurora was viewed as the lead U.S. entry in the race to build exascale systems, capable of a quintillion calculations a second — roughly a 50-fold increase over existing supercomputers.
Much of Aurora’s promised speed comes from Ponte Vecchio, the name for an unusual bundle of chips meant to be the first to exploit Intel’s now-delayed production process. Mr. Swan indicated that foundries might now produce the key component of that product, with delivery pushed to late 2021 or early 2022.
Tomi Engdahl says:
COVID-19 is driving demand for low-code apps
Notes from a chat with Appian CEO Matt Calkins
https://techcrunch.com/2020/08/27/covid-19-is-driving-demand-for-low-code-apps/?tpcc=ECFB2020
How that the great Y Combinator rush is behind us, we’re returning to a topic many of you really seem to care about: no-code and low-code apps and their development.
Appian is built on low-code development. And, having gone public back in 2017, it is the first low-code IPO we can think of. With its Q2 results reported on August 6, we wanted to dig a bit more into what Calkins is seeing in today’s market so we can better understand what is driving demand for low, and no-code development specifically, and demand for business apps more generally in 2020.
Tomi Engdahl says:
China Still Buying $300 Billion of Chips
China will import $300 billion of semiconductors for the third straight year, underscoring how the world’s No. 2 economy remains tied to America despite billions invested in local chip-making know-how. Tech giants from Huawei Technologies Co. to Tsinghua Unigroup Co. and China Electronics Corp. are at the forefront of Beijing’s efforts to wean itself off U.S, technology, investing in cutting-edge AI chips …
China Still Buying $300 Billion of Chips From U.S., Elsewhere
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-26/china-still-buying-300-billion-of-chips-from-u-s-elsewhere
Tomi Engdahl says:
Pandemic ‘Distorts’ Graphics Processor Sector
Graphics processor (GPU) demand offers a graphic example of how difficult technology market forecasting has become during a pandemic. Case in point: Demand for …
Pandemic ‘Distorts’ Graphics Processor Sector
https://www.eetimes.com/pandemic-distorts-graphics-processor-sector/
Graphics processor (GPU) demand offers a graphic example of how difficult technology market forecasting has become during a pandemic.
Case in point: Demand for graphics processors would normally be expected to benefit from back-to-school notebook sales. In the pre-Covid days, those sales would have shown up during the third quarter. GPU market analyst Jon Peddie reports this week that school-related sales appear to have been pulled in to the second quarter as desktop purchases declined.
The graphics market analyst also reported a surprise 2.5 percent sequential increase in PC GPU shipments during the second quarter, with year-on-year shipments up 11.2 percent.
GPU leader Nvidia recorded the biggest jump in PC graphics processor demand, up 17.8 percent in the second quarter. AMD’s quarterly shipments rose 8.4 percent while Intel’s declined 2.7 percent, reflecting recent manufacturing woes that have slowed it desktop sales.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.designnews.com/design-software/50-top-private-software-companies-2020?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=14185&elq_cid=876648
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSMC Plots the Process Course to Its Next ‘Generational Node’
https://www.eetimes.com/tsmc-plots-the-process-course-to-its-next-generational-node/
Even as it ramps up production on its N5 process, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), at its annual Technology Symposium, introduced its N4 process, which it said is scheduled to come online in late 2021, with volume production in 2022. Anticipating the inevitable question, the company also provided some details about its subsequent N3.
Before getting into the intermediate future, TSMC offered some near-future news. The company revealed a plan to implement an enhanced version of N5, called N5P, in 2021. The N5 refinement will provide an additional 5 percent speed gain and 10 percent power improvement over N5, TSMC said.
N4, the company promised at its annual Technology Symposium, will be a “straightforward migration” from, and an extension of, N5, of course with some performance, power and density enhancements.
N4 will be a more-or-less incremental advance; the big process-node leap will be the N3 — TSMC called it a “generational leap.” Compared to the original version of N5 (yes, the N5), the N3 will offer about 1.7 times the logic density (similar to the 1.8X jump from N7 to N5), an improvement in speed of 10- to 15 percent at the same power, and conversely a power reduction of 25- to 30 percent at the same speed.
Somewhat surprisingly, TSMC is planning to ride finFET technology down into the N3 process generation.
The company is shooting for initial runs in 2021, but doesn’t expect to ramp to full production volumes in N3 until the latter half of 2022.
The company also touted its N12e, a refinement of its ultra-lower power technology optimized for edge AI devices. TSMC claimed N12e, a variant of the company’s 12FFC+ technology, is the first ultra-low power technology to use FinFET transistors.
TSMC expects 3nm process mass production in 2nd half of 2022
https://focustaiwan.tw/sci-tech/202008250009
Taipei, Aug. 25 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, said it expects its advanced 3 nanometer process to enter into mass production in the second half of 2022.
At a technology symposium held in Hsinchu, TSMC Chief Executive Officer C.C. Wei said the 3nm technology is expected to be 15 percent faster and 30 percent more energy efficient than the 5nm process, which entered into commercial production in the second quarter of 2020.
Wei said trial production of the 3nm process is scheduled to start next year.
Tomi Engdahl says:
TSMC makes 1 billionth defect-free 7nm chip
Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES, Taipei
Monday 24 August 2020
https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20200824PR200.html
TSMC has marked the manufacture of the one-billionth good die on the foundry’s 7nm technology, which means one billion functional, defect-free 7nm chips.