Electronics industry trends 2021

515 Comments

1. March 8, 2021 at 10:05 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   The Future According to Arm
   https://www.eetimes.com/the-future-according-to-arm/

   Although Arm may have had the idea of a survey under other circumstances, the Covid-19 pandemic was central to the responses if not the concept itself. Arm recently released the results along with analysis and comments from executives in Ecosystem Predictions and Perspectives.

   Few would doubt the impact of the virus on market and technology directions, but the view from Arm provides a little more color to the analysis.

   In the words of Rene Haas, president of the IP Products Group, “one area that stood out for me was security.”

   In an era of pandemic and with everyone constantly reminded of its dangers, it seems natural that purely rational concerns over technology security will get a healthy boost from self-preservation focused amygdalas.

   Haas introduced the survey quite elegantly with these words, “Put simply, security equals trust, and in the current COVID-19 driven economy the T Factor (Trust Factor) is just as important as the famous R number, the rate at which the virus is able to replicate itself.”

   Two themes that emerge are security and the potential of a “new normal” as many work and lifestyle changes are assumed to be permanent. In fact, 93 percent of respondents felt that remote working would persist for design teams beyond the public health requirement

   Reply
2. March 8, 2021 at 10:44 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Shara Tibken / CNET:
   Interview with Qualcomm’s incoming CEO Cristiano Amon on the global chip shortage, why it won’t build its own fabs, and opposition to the Nvidia-Arm deal — Cristiano Amon, incoming CEO of chipmaker Qualcomm, warns in an interview with CNET that the shortage may not end until late 2021.

   From PS5 to Ford F-150: How a global chip shortage is ‘impacting everything’
   https://www.cnet.com/news/from-ps5-to-ford-f-150-how-a-global-chip-shortage-is-impacting-everything/

   Cristiano Amon, incoming CEO of chipmaker Qualcomm, warns in an interview with CNET that the shortage may not end until late 2021.

   Reply
3. March 10, 2021 at 9:26 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Efabless, Google, and SkyWater have teamed up to produce open chips at zero cost — and received 45 designs in the project’s first month.

   40 Open-Hardware Chips Selected for Production Under the Open MPW Program — and Yours Could Be Next
   https://www.hackster.io/news/40-open-hardware-chips-selected-for-production-under-the-open-mpw-program-and-yours-could-be-next-67fe1cf7666b

   Efabless, Google, and SkyWater have teamed up to produce open chips at zero cost — and received 45 designs in the project’s first month.

   Reply
4. March 10, 2021 at 3:14 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Nikkei Asia:
   Sources: Apple is cutting orders for all iPhones by ~20% compared to its plans in December, with iPhone 12 mini production cut by 70% for H1 2021 — Total iPhone target for 2021 still at 230m units despite global parts shortage — TAIPEI — Apple is slashing its planned production …

   Apple slashes planned iPhone 12 mini production for 1H
   Total iPhone target for 2021 still at 230m units despite global parts shortage
   https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Technology/Apple-slashes-planned-iPhone-12-mini-production-for-1H

   Tim Hardwick / MacRumors:
   Apple says it will invest €1B in Germany over the next three years and will make Munich its European Silicon Design Center — Apple will make Munich its European Silicon Design Center, the company announced today. Work already being undertaken by Apple in Bavaria’s capital is contributing …
   Apple to Invest Over 1 Billion Euros in Munich Silicon Design Center
   https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/10/apple-new-munich-silicon-design-center/?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4

   Reply
5. March 10, 2021 at 5:41 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Samsung launched its new 980 SSD today, but good luck finding one in a few weeks.

   Samsung Fab Shutdown Creates An SSD Controller Shortage
   By Aaron Klotz a day ago
   https://www.tomshardware.com/news/samsung-ssd-controller-shortage

   Seems anything tech-related right now is cursed with shortages

   Samsung is being impacted by yet another supply shortage in the tech industry, this time related to its own SSD controllers. Samsung’s Texas factories, which are responsible for producing SSD controllers, have been idle since February due to power outages caused by severe weather conditions. The company still hasn’t resumed production at the facilities, and according to a report from DigiTimes, this will halt the production of Samsung’s PCIe SSD controllers until May.

   Reply
6. March 11, 2021 at 12:43 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   https://www.eetimes.com/2021-watch-list/

   Reply
7. March 11, 2021 at 2:00 pm

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Liennytystä teknokogiamarkkinoilla?

   Kiinan puolijohdeteollisuuden yhdistys ja Yhdysvaltain teknologiateollisuus ovat sopineet yhteistyöstä mm. maailmalla vallitsevan komponenttipulan helpottamiseksi.
   https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-war/article/3124962/us-and-china-set-working-group-semiconductor-restrictions-ease-export?fbclid=IwAR3UTL6pXU2ZR9ex47h7I_M-Xidg7B-Q3KGmtHi9YZ5R0l8giIzZkRzdHbQ

   Reply
8. March 12, 2021 at 7:57 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2021/03/10/uusi-sirutehdas-lisaa-autojen-sirutarjontaa/

   Reply
9. March 12, 2021 at 8:43 am

   Tomi Engdahl says:

   Mike Dano / Light Reading:
   In-flight internet provider Gogo says it is pushing its 5G rollout back a year, to 2022, due to the global chip shortage

   Gogo delays 5G launch due to chipset shortages
   https://www.lightreading.com/5g/gogo-delays-5g-launch-due-to-chipset-shortages/d/d-id/768025

   Gogo’s CEO Oakleigh Thorne said Thursday the company will delay the launch of its planned 5G network from this year to 2022 due to problems stemming from the global chipset shortage.

   The company declined to provide details, including which of its vendors might be impacted by the situation. Nonetheless, the development directly ties ongoing global chipset shortages directly to the 5G industry.

   Optical networking company Infinera already has signaled that chipset shortages will cost it up to $10 million over the next three months. Infinera is one of the world’s leading providers of silicon and technology for core telecom networking. The company’s products generally sit inside the fiber networks that crisscross the world, carrying the bulk of the Internet’s traffic.

   In response to the issue, President Joe Biden signed an executive order last month meant to address the shortages. They have affected industries ranging from medical supplies to electric vehicles.

   However, his order won’t have an immediate impact as it instead calls for ways to bolster the supply of chipsets for US companies, including potentially increasing domestic production of chipsets.

   In a related development, Samsung is now considering four sites in the US for a new $17 billion chipset manufacturing plant, according to new reports.

   Gogo, for its part, announced in 2019 that it would construct a 5G network in order to supply in-flight Wi-Fi to airline passengers.

   Reply
10. March 12, 2021 at 4:28 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Investments in research and development often take years and sometimes decades to payoff. Wall Street demands immediate results, rich dividends and enormous share buybacks. Companies have responded by slashing investments for the future and borrowing heavily. Our tax laws also discourage investments by businesses.

    As a result American manufacturers have often fallen behind in production, quality and innovation. Will President Biden restore the tax policies that made American manufacturing great & created the largest middle class in history?

    Supplying Demand: The Chip Shortage in Macro Context
    https://employamerica.medium.com/supplying-demand-the-chip-shortage-in-macro-context-dbf08f622e9a

    This post is the first in a series that uses the history and economics of the American semiconductor industry to ask big picture questions about the future of fiscal policy and industrial policy. As the pandemic ends, the US will have a world-historical opportunity to revamp its public and economic infrastructure. However, to ensure that industrial policy is effective, many older strategies need to be updated to ensure that they are consistent with the suite of macroeconomic policy settings that support tight labor markets. Today’s post argues that the present shortage of semiconductor chips shows how dependent “supply-side” factors are on “demand-side” factors, and sketches a way forward for policy on that basis.

    Reply
11. March 13, 2021 at 7:09 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Qualcomm is struggling to meet a demand surge for its Snapdragon chipsets with multiple supply challenges affecting its production strategy. The ripple effects could bring more priority to the premium tier at the expense of more affordable devices and longer waits for orders.
    https://www.androidpolice.com/2021/03/12/you-may-soon-be-waiting-longer-and-paying-more-for-snapdragon-powered-phones/

    Reply
12. March 13, 2021 at 11:26 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm Don’t Want Nvidia to Buy ARM
    https://www.extremetech.com/computing/319968-google-microsoft-and-qualcomm-dont-want-nvidia-to-buy-arm?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Manual&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

    When Nvidia declared its intention to buy ARM, it sent shockwaves through the entire ecosystem. In the PC world, if you buy an x86 processor, you buy it from Intel and AMD. In the ARM ecosystem, in contrast, there are a wide number of vendors who manufacture, design, and sell ARM processors. Google, Microsoft, and Qualcomm are particularly concerned about the acquisition, and one of them is said to openly oppose it.

    Bloomberg reports that all three companies have requested that antitrust officials intervene to prevent the purchase, but not which one wants to kill the deal. Other companies potentially affected by Nvidia’s decision to buy ARM are Apple, Samsung, MediaTek, Huawei, and pretty much anyone who ever shipped an ARM core in the past few years. Even Intel and AMD could be affected because both of them hold an ARM license.

    Up until now, ARM has either been self-owned or owned by a neutral company like SoftBank, which does not design CPUs and is not itself a player in silicon manufacturing.

    ARM offers both architectural licenses and “hard” IP licenses. An architectural license like Apple, AMD, Qualcomm, Samsung, and Intel all possess allows a customer to build an ARM-compatible processor with a custom micro-architecture of the customer’s own devising. Alternately, a customer can purchase a license for one of ARM’s own standard chip designs, like the Cortex-A9, Cortex A-72, or Cortex-A75. An architectural license is more expensive than a chip license, but ARM offers both commercially.

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13. March 13, 2021 at 7:48 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Flagship Chinese chipmaker collapses before it makes a single chip or opens a factory
    Wuhan Hongxin Semiconductor’s 7nm ambitions are dust
    https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/02/wuhan_hongxin_semiconductor_collapse/

    Reply
14. March 13, 2021 at 7:57 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://m.economictimes.com/news/international/business/why-china-cant-fix-the-global-microchip-shortage/articleshow/81286545.cms

    Reply
15. March 14, 2021 at 6:26 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    That fractured landscape is not what was predicted—internet pioneers expected freedom and the wisdom of crowds, not that we would all be under the thumb of giant corporations profiting from a market in disinformation. What we invented was not what we hoped for. The internet became the stuff of our nightmares rather than of our dreams. We can still recover, but at least so far, Silicon Valley appears to be part of the problem more than it is part of the solution.

    The End of Silicon Valley as We Know It?
    Four ways the party may be coming to an end
    https://www.oreilly.com/radar/the-end-of-silicon-valley-as-we-know-it/?/

    Reply
16. March 15, 2021 at 2:18 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Chiplets: A Short History
    https://www.eetimes.com/chiplets-a-short-history/

    At ISSCC 2009, Intel was presenting a number of papers related to its Nehalem processor. Mark Bohr’s plenary indicated that Intel was putting a lot of effort into system-on-chip (SoC) development. The Core i7 Nehalem design pulled the memory controllers and DDR3 I/O’s onto a common substrate with the CPU cores. At the time, Intel suggested that they were looking beyond the traditional PC market and into hotter ones like mobile. In Bohr’s words, “Intel is no longer a one-size-fits-all company.”

    From this, there was a recollection of a “great debate” between SoC and system-in-package (SiP) advocates.

    The idea of the disagreggation of integrated circuit design into smaller physical pieces of silicon, chiplets, that can be mixed and matched Lego-style at the package level has been generating buzz for some time. For Intel’s part, they have not abandoned the SoC mentality but continue to dispel the one-size-fits-all label. From Embedded Multi-die Interconnect Bridge (EMIB) to their central role in the State-of-the-art Heterogeneous Integration Prototype (SHIP) program, it appears Intel will not be left behind. Integration of diverse designs using more specialized chiplets fit Intel as much as any other company whether direct competitors like AMD with their EPYC implementations or vendors with completely different market aspirations.

    In the 2009 ISSCC coverage, I predicted that Intel would be ready for mobile based on this renewed focus on the SoC. Looking back, it’s easy to see how wrong I was. Fast forward, and the big data age and AI accelerators are much more interesting to a company like Intel. Acquiring an FPGA company (Altera) in 2015 helped maintain Intel’s territory in the data center as cloud computing drove a more rapid advance in technology as well as market importance.

    Reply
17. March 16, 2021 at 8:22 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11889-samsungin-uusi-transistori-taipui-3-nanometriin

    Reply
18. March 17, 2021 at 12:39 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Not All Critical Chips Suffering From Shortages
    https://www.designnews.com/electronics/not-all-critical-chips-suffering-shortages?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=15949&elq_cid=876648

    Carmakers are hurting, while shortages are helping gallium nitride (GaN) chips gain ground.

    Everyone is aware of the shortages of silicon-based chips used in automotive electronics. There are many reasons for the shortages, from the fabs shifting to COVID-related electronics to Makimoto’s wave. The shortage has raised the serious issue of U.S. dependency on foreign supplies, as demonstrated by President Joe Biden’s recent executive order calling for a review of supply chains for critical products.

    It is no secret that the U.S. has been losing semiconductor manufacturing capabilities for some time. The U.S. share of global semiconductor fabrication is barely 12 percent, down from 37 percent in 1990, according to a report from the Semiconductor Industry Association.

    The automotive chip shortage has caused a slowdown in car production, which in turn has resulted in layoffs at car manufacturing plants and even forced car dealers to change the way they advertise and promote their vehicle inventories.

    To adjust to the changing supply challenges, dealers are now implementing more “just-in-time” advertising techniques to utilize analytics and digital resources to help them decide what sell in a real-time fashion noted Jeremy Anspach of PureCars. The carmakers don’t want to promote a vehicle that might not be on the lot when customers arrive at the showroom.

    While the chip shortages are real and a major concern, the news isn’t all bad.

    Two types of semiconductor materials dominate the global market: single crystal and compounds. Silicon and Germanium are single-crystal semiconductors whereas Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Gallium Nitride (GaN), and others are compound semiconductors. The most popularly used semiconductors are Silicon (Si), Germanium (Ge), and Gallium Arsenide (GaAs).

    But in this time of Si-based chip shortages, it’s been GaN compounds that have come out as the winner – for now.

    Today’s automotive electronics rely heavily on silicon-based power transistors, but gallium nitride (GaN)-based devices have been gaining a foothold in the market. Now that silicon chips are facing a global shortage, that foothold is turning into a stronghold.

    “Global companies are now designing and shipping products with GaN,” explained Jim Witham, CEO of GaN Systems. “We have seen GaN become increasingly relevant in chargers for phones and laptops, Class-D audio amplifiers, data center power supplies, factory motor drives, and more.”

    Reply
19. March 17, 2021 at 1:50 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Sohee Kim / Bloomberg:
    Samsung says it is considering skipping launch of a new Note this year to streamline its line-up and warns of a “serious imbalance” in semiconductors globally — – It’s seeing a ‘serious imbalance’ in global semiconductors — The warning suggests shortages may spread beyond autos

    Samsung Warns of Severe Chip Crunch While Delaying Key Phone
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/samsung-warns-of-serious-imbalance-in-the-chips-industry

    Samsung Electronics Co. warned it’s grappling with the fallout from a “serious imbalance” in semiconductors globally, becoming the largest tech giant to voice concerns about chip shortages spreading beyond the automaking industry.

    Samsung, one of the world’s largest makers of chips and consumer electronics, expects the crunch to pose a problem to its business next quarter, co-Chief Executive Officer Koh Dong-jin said during an annual shareholders meeting in Seoul. The company is also considering skipping the introduction of a new Galaxy Note — one of its best-selling models — this year, though Koh said that was geared toward streamlining its lineup.

    Industry giants from Continental AG to Renesas Electronics Corp. and Innolux Corp. have in recent weeks warned of longer-than-anticipated deficits thanks to unprecedented Covid-era demand for everything from cars to game consoles and mobile devices. Volkswagen AG said this week it’s lost production of about 100,000 cars worldwide. In North America, the silicon shortage and extreme weather have combined to snarl more production at Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. The fear is the crunch, which first hit automakers hard, may now disrupt the much larger electronics industry.

    “There’s a serious imbalance in supply and demand of chips in the IT sector globally,” said Koh, who oversees the company’s IT and mobile divisions. “Despite the difficult environment, our business leaders are meeting partners overseas to solve these problems. It’s hard to say the shortage issue has been solved 100%.”

    Chipmakers like Samsung and TSMC are at the forefront of a global effort to plug a shortfall in supply of semiconductors, the building blocks of a plethora of consumer gadgets. The deficit has closed auto plants around the world and now threatens supply of other products. While the Korean company is the leading maker of made-to-order silicon after TSMC, it relies on external suppliers and manufacturers for certain parts like power management and radio chips.

    Larger-than-anticipated Covid-era demand for smartphones has also stretched stores of Qualcomm Inc.’s Snapdragon chips, the go-to processors for mobile devices. Qualcomm designs the chips, known as app processors, but relies on Samsung and TSMC to produce them and the Taiwanese chipmaker’s capacity has been strained.

    “The tightened supply of Qualcomm AP chips produced by TSMC is affecting everybody except Apple,” said MS Hwang, analyst at Samsung Securities. “PCs will soon be hit due to the short supply of display driver ICs, and the profitability of TV will be affected by soaring LCD panel prices.”

    Reply
20. March 17, 2021 at 1:58 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Billy Tallis / AnandTech:
    Micron says it is ceasing all R&D on its 3D XPoint memory, which it developed with Intel, and has listed its fab in Lehi, Utah for sale — In a sudden but perhaps not too surprising announcement, Micron has stated that they are ceasing all R&D of 3D XPoint memory technology.
    https://www.anandtech.com/show/16558/micron-abandons-3d-xpoint-memory-technology

    Reply
21. March 18, 2021 at 10:03 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.eetimes.com/more-than-chiplets-facebook-enters-the-fray/

    Reply
22. March 18, 2021 at 10:03 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Bleeding-Edge Nodes Boost Foundry Revenues
    https://www.eetimes.com/bleeding-edge-nodes-boost-foundry-revenues/

    Who says Moore’s Law is dead?

    Wafer demand is surging, driven by the ramp of 7- and 5-nm process nodes that are boosting foundry revenue on a per-wafer basis, reports IC Insights.

    Those advanced nodes are increasingly being used for logic ICs along with advanced memory chips, including DRAM and flash memory components as data center customers migrate to all-flash storage.

    “Many fabless IC companies are clamoring to have their leading-edge devices, including high-performance microprocessors, low-power application processors and other advanced logic devices fabricated using 7-nm and 5-nm process nodes,” the market tracker noted in an early March research note.

    Despite steep development costs, smaller nodes are generating greater revenues on a per-wafer basis. The chief beneficiary is once more Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the only pure-play foundry running both 7- and 5-nm production lines last year. IC Insights expects TSMC and Samsung Electronics to enter volume production at the 3-nm node by 2022.

    Reply
23. March 19, 2021 at 2:35 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Samsung Joins Chorus Of Companies Stung By Semi Shortage
    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/samsung-joins-chorus-companies-stung-semi-shortage

    By now, the world knows we are in the midst of a massive semiconductor shortage.

    We have written about how this has wreaked chaos on the auto industry and we have also noted how industry giants like Taiwan Semiconductor are making vast infrastructure investments to try and solve the current shortage and prevent it from happening again in the future.

    Now, Samsung is the latest to confirm what we already know: that the current crisis is “very serious” and that it “poses a slight problem” for the electronics company heading into the second quarter. The company continues to try and address supply issues, Reuters reported that CEO and mobile chief Koh Dong-jin said at Samsung’s recent annual general meeting.

    In fact, there are also rumors that Samsung is considering skipping its usual Galaxy Note launch this year due to the ongoing chip shortage, according to 9 to 5 Google. Koh is quoted as saying:

    Note series is positioned as a high-end model in our business portfolio. It could be a burden to unveil two flagship models in a year so it might be difficult to release Note model in 2H. The timing of Note model launch can be changed but we seek to release a Note model next year.

    “Right now, it’s unclear if this would also affect Samsung’s other planned releases for 2021,”

    Reply
24. March 19, 2021 at 2:36 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Fordin autonvalmistuslinjat odottavat piirejä, eikä autoja saada sen takia valmiiksi. Osa tuloksesta sulaa tähän.

    https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/ford-cancels-shifts-builds-partially-assembled-vehicles-amid-deepening-chip-shortage

    Reply
25. March 22, 2021 at 7:59 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://semiengineering.com/week-in-review-auto-security-pervasive-computing-59/
    Pervasive computing — IoT, edge, cloud, data center, and back
    Xilinx is expanding its UltraScale+ portfolio for markets with new applications that require ultra-compact and intelligent edge solutions. With form factors that are 70 percent smaller than traditional chip-scale packaging, the new Artix and Zynq UltraScale+ devices will appeal to a wider range of applications within the industrial, vision, healthcare, broadcast, consumer, automotive, and networking markets, according to a press release. The UltraScale devices have DSP resources and localizes memory across the device. “So the fact that we can localize that memory directly to the accelerator in this case the deep learning processing unit, that gives us an incredible performance advantage,” said Jayson Bethurem, product line manager: Spartan, Artix, Zynq-7000, Zynq UltraScale+, Xilinx. “And the other thing is because our architecture is not fixed, it’s built in the programmable logic, it can be adapted to different characterization and classification topologies.” Some of the Ultascale+ chips will be using the compact InFO (integrated fan-out) packaging, which has no substrate or C4 bumps.

    Xilinx Expands into New Applications with Cost-Optimized UltraScale+ Portfolio for Ultra-Compact, High-Performance Edge Compute
    https://www.xilinx.com/news/press/2021/xilinx-expands-into-new-applications-with-cost-optimized-ultrascale-portfolio-for-ultra-compact-high-performance-edge-compute.html

    My report:
    https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2021/03/22/pieni-uutuuspiiri-reunalaskentaan/

    Reply
26. March 22, 2021 at 8:00 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://etn.fi/index.php/13-news/11916-128-gigatavua-sekunnissa-pcie-6-0-suunnittelu-voi-alkaa

    Reply
27. March 22, 2021 at 9:08 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Automotive Suppliers Optimistic Despite Supply-Chain Challenges
    https://www.designnews.com/automotive-engineering/automotive-suppliers-optimistic-despite-supply-chain-challenges?ADTRK=InformaMarkets&elq_mid=15982&elq_cid=876648

    Continued strength in light-vehicle demand is fueling optimism among automotive suppliers in spite of shortages in components and raw materials.

    Reply
28. March 22, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Why Amazon, Google, and Microsoft Are Designing Their Own Chips
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-17/why-amazon-amzn-google-googl-microsoft-msft-are-designing-own-chips?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic&utm_source=facebook&cmpid=socialflow-facebook-business&utm_content=business

    All the biggest tech companies are prioritizing custom designs, which adds to the growing problems facing the incumbents.
    By and
    17. maaliskuuta 2021 klo 12.00 UTC+2
    relates to Why Amazon, Google, and Microsoft Are Designing Their Own Chips
    ILLUSTRATION: SIMON LANDREIN FOR BLOOMBERG BUSINESSWEEK
    In the process of transforming itself from an online bookstore into a cloud computing giant, Amazon.com Inc. became one of the world’s largest purchasers of the computer chips that power data centers. As its cloud business has expanded, the company has become increasingly fixated on designing its own chips instead of buying them. The shift could have potentially drastic implications for a critical aspect of the technology industry—and could prove threatening for traditional chipmakers such as Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

    Amazon began signaling its intentions in 2015 when it acquired Annapurna Labs, a small Israeli chip designer. It’s since become aggressive about developing chips specifically designed for Amazon Web Services’ own data centers.

    Reply
29. March 22, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    The End of Silicon Valley as We Know It?
    Four ways the party may be coming to an end
    https://www.oreilly.com/radar/the-end-of-silicon-valley-as-we-know-it/

    Reply
30. March 23, 2021 at 8:42 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Fire Destroys Part of Renesas Fab
    https://www.eetimes.com/fire-destroys-part-of-renesas-fab/

    More woes for the global automotive manufacturing industry. A serious fire at Renesas’ chip making plant in Ibaraki Prefecture will, according to the company, have “a very large impact” on its ability to supply devices to the sector, as well as some other sectors.

    The fire destroyed a significant portion of the huge facility, including the 300mm line at the Naka Factory. Renesas said it was looking at the feasibility of increasing production at other facilities in order to make up for the loss of substantial volumes, and warned the stricken plant will not be operational for at least a month.

    The company’s CEO Hidetoshi Shibata said “we are concerned that there will be a massive impact on chip supplies; we will pursue every means possible to minimize the impact.” The facility was primarily involved in making devices for the automotive sector.

    Car makers have already been struggling with huge shortages of semiconductors and increasing demand for them. For instance Ford Motors said last month it would lose some 20% of output for the first quarter of 2021. Other companies that have had to cut back, or even suspend production, include Honda, Toyota and Tesla.

    The fire was caused by plating equipment in one of the buildings due to a surge in current, destroying 600 square meters, including some 5% of the building’s clean room area. However, the entire building has had to be closed down to allow cleaning and reconstruction.

    Reply
31. March 23, 2021 at 8:43 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    (Re)Shoring Up Semiconductor Manufacturing
    https://www.eetimes.com/reshoring-up-semiconductor-manufacturing/

    What’s changing?

    Offshoring’s main selling point always was and is reduced labor costs. But as those cheap labor pools become upwardly mobile, demands for better living standards tended to exert increasing pressure on the original planning calculations.

    Some jurisdictions, particularly while in the developing phase, offer relaxed regulations. But as countries become more affluent, they naturally want to take better care of their own backyard. Whether through government regulation or corporate ethics, increasing respect for the natural environment starts to cost more.

    As semiconductor manufacturing plant costs move into eleven figure range, it is not a simple case of just moving to the latest frontier of cheap labor. The Chinese experience in wafer foundries is proof of that. Then there are bureaucratic challenges to setting up in China along with known risks to intellectual property.
    Big volumes of big wafers (source: TSMC)

    Offshoring calculations are changing. The Chinese labor rate gap is closing. Thanks to explosive Chinese economic growth, real wages have increased by a factor of eight for urban Chinese (since 2000 as reported in Forbes). The balance is clearly shifting.

    Reply
32. March 23, 2021 at 11:41 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Yang Jie / Wall Street Journal:
    Japanese chip maker Renesas says a fire at one its plants has halted production for at least a month, impacting automakers, and estimates losses at $160M/month

    Fire at Giant Auto-Chip Plant Fuels Supply Concerns
    Shares of Toyota, Nissan and Honda fell Monday
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/renesas-chip-plant-fire-spreads-concerns-about-global-auto-production-11616414181?mod=djemalertNEWS

    A fire at a factory of one of the world’s leading auto chip makers has added to the troubles of car makers that already have slashed production because of a semiconductor shortage.

    The fire Friday left a swath of charred equipment in the factory owned by a subsidiary of Renesas Electronics Corp. RNECY -3.09% in Hitachinaka, northeast of Tokyo. The company said it would take at least a month to restart the damaged operations.

    Shares of Japan’s three leading car makers— Toyota Motor Corp. TM -2.59% , Nissan Motor Co. NSANY -2.44% and Honda Motor Co. HMC -2.89% —all fell by more than 3% on Monday, worse than the overall market, while Renesas shares were down 4.9%.

    Renesas said heat from an electrical problem inside a single piece of equipment caused the fire and contaminated clean rooms needed to make semiconductors. It said two-thirds of the chips made at the fire-affected factory were automotive chips.

    Renesas’s chief executive, Hidetoshi Shibata, said Sunday the impact on global chip supplies would be significant. Mariko Semetko, a credit analyst at Moody’s Japan, said the fire was likely to damp the recovery of global auto production this year, while auto makers said they were still assessing the impact.

    Car makers have already been struggling with a shortage of semiconductors stemming in part from an unexpectedly strong comeback after the coronavirus pandemic hit last year. That left factories ill-prepared to increase production quickly.

    Ford Motor Co. F 0.16% said in February it expected to cut output by up to 20% in the first quarter of this year, costing the company $1 billion to $2.5 billion in pretax profit.

    Sudden shortages of other parts and materials have also hit the global supply chain in recent weeks. The February freeze and blackout in Texas caused chemical plant shutdowns and hit supplies of plastics and other materials used in many products including cars.

    The earthquake and fire carried a feeling of déjà vu for Renesas, because the same factory was one of the hardest-hit by eastern Japan’s devastating earthquake on March 11, 2011. It was offline for about three months and mobilized thousands of people including customers’ workers to make repairs.

    The factory took on a bigger role recently during the chip shortage. Renesas said earlier this month it had brought back to Japan some production originally outsourced to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. TSM 3.12% , in a bid to meet customer demand more quickly. The fire will delay part of that production, Renesas said.

    Reply
33. March 23, 2021 at 6:36 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.oreilly.com/radar/the-end-of-silicon-valley-as-we-know-it/

    Reply
34. March 24, 2021 at 8:31 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Dr. Ian Cutress / AnandTech:
    CEO Pat Gelsinger says Intel will spend $20B on two new fabs in Ocotillo, Arizona and will reconfigure its external Foundry Services to serve new chip customers — The new CEO of Intel, Pat Gelsinger, has today outlined his vision for Intel over the coming years.

    Intel’s New IDM 2.0 Strategy: $20b for Two Fabs, Meteor Lake 7nm Tiles, New Foundry Services, IBM Collaboration, Return of IDF
    by Dr. Ian Cutress on March 23, 2021 5:00 PM EST
    https://www.anandtech.com/show/16573/intels-new-strategy-20b-for-two-fabs-meteor-lake-7nm-tiles-new-foundry-services-ibm-collaboration-return-of-idf

    Reply
35. March 24, 2021 at 12:19 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Employ America – Medium:
    A brief history of the US semiconductor industry, and how the US can regain its edge in manufacturing to create a more secure and resilient supply chain

    A Brief History of Semiconductors: How The US Cut Costs and Lost the Leading Edge
    https://employamerica.medium.com/a-brief-history-of-semiconductors-how-the-us-cut-costs-and-lost-the-leading-edge-c21b96707cd2

    This post is the second in a series that uses the history and economics of the American semiconductor industry to ask big picture questions about the future of fiscal policy and industrial policy. As the pandemic ends, the US will have a historic opportunity to revamp its public and economic infrastructure. However, to ensure that industrial policy is effective, many older strategies need to be updated to ensure that they are consistent with the suite of macroeconomic policy settings that support tight labor markets. Today’s post argues that the history of semiconductor manufacturing offers clear lessons for using industrial policy not just in resolving the present shortage, but in building a robust innovative ecosystem to secure the technological frontier for the long term.

    While this is a history of the semiconductor industry, the policy takeaways it highlights hold for a wide range of industries.

    Reply
36. March 24, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Traffic Jam In The Suez Canal; Container Ship Run Aground
    https://hackaday.com/2021/03/23/traffic-jam-in-the-suez-canal-container-ship-run-aground/

    A vital shipping lane has been blocked in Egypt, as a 220,000 ton container ship, the MV Ever Given, became lodged sideways in the channel Tuesday morning local time. The Suez Canal, long a region of trading and strategic importance, has been blocked to travel in both directions as authorities make frantic efforts to free the ship.

    Suez Canal Snarled by Giant Ship Choking Key Trade Route
    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-23/suez-canal-traffic-blocked-by-container-ship-stuck-in-waterway

    A giant container ship could be stuck in the Suez Canal for days, blocking one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes that’s vital for the movement of everything from oil to consumer goods.

    The Ever Given, a container ship longer than the Eiffel Tower, ran aground in the southern part of the canal in Egypt, leaving dozens of vessels gridlocked as they attempt to transit between the Red Sea and Mediterranean. People familiar with the matter said the canal may be blocked for days.

    The 193-kilometer-long (120 miles) Suez Canal is among the most trafficked waterways in the world, used by oil tankers shipping crude from the Middle East to Europe and North America. About 12% of global trade and 8% of liquefied natural gas pass through the canal, as do around one million barrels of oil each day.

    The weight of the Ever Given — about 224,000 tons — and small size of the tug boats operated by canal authorities have hampered work so far, according to two people familiar with the situation

    Ship owners are in talks with SMIT Salvage B.V., which has larger tugs, to assist, indicating that it may take days to clear the canal, one of the people said.

    Ever Given was grounded early Tuesday amid poor visibility caused by a dust storm and as wind speeds reached 40 knots, resulting in a “loss of the ability to steer the ship,” according to the canal authority. A “blackout” was the cause of the accident, GAC said, without providing more detail.

    The vessel deviated “from its course due to suspected sudden strong wind,” Taiwan-based Evergreen Line, the time charterer of the vessel

    “The salvage operation with tugs is under way, and hopefully the vessel will be freed soon, but it could last days,”, said Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at shipbroker Banchero Costa & Co.

    Reply
37. March 24, 2021 at 12:23 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://hackaday.com/2021/03/23/fire-at-renesas-plant-fuels-chip-supply-woes/

    Reply
38. March 24, 2021 at 6:43 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel’s x86 Designs No Longer Limited to Intel on Intel: IP Blocks for Foundry, Cores on TSMC https://trib.al/wLc2BrL

    Reply
39. March 24, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.anandtech.com/show/16575/intels-x86-designs-no-longer-limited-to-intel-on-intel-ip-blocks-for-foundry-cores-on-tsmc

    Today Intel’s CEO Pat Gelsinger has outlined two key changes to Intel policy: one derived from Intel’s plans to offer foundry services to external partners, and the other from Intel starting to outsource its core compute product families in order to get the best product at a given time. Not only is Intel set to offer x86 core IP to customers through its new Intel Foundry Services, but also Intel is looking to creating leadership compute products on external nodes. These are complete 180º turns from how Intel has previously operated.

    For the last 20-25 years, Intel has been steadfast in keeping the crown jewels of its product design firmly inside its very protective walls. Over the years, Intel’s x86 designs have mostly led the market in leadership performance and power (except for Pentium 4 and Rocket Lake), and limiting use/production for Intel-only use has enabled the company to improve that design with laser focus, manufacturing not-withstanding. Keeping the cores for internal use only means that neither customers nor competitors were able to see the raw design specifications, and for a long time this has enabled Intel to keep key features, such as its branch predictors, away from all but the most prying eyes.

    In a twist to the norm, Intel is now set to dissolve those walls keeping its x86 cores it itself.

    Reply
40. March 24, 2021 at 7:11 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel’s New IDM 2.0 Strategy: $20b for Two Fabs, Meteor Lake 7nm Tiles, New Foundry Services, IBM Collaboration, Return of IDF https://trib.al/qgo5lWw

    Reply
41. March 25, 2021 at 9:02 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Does a 2nm Fab Really Solve European Chip Ambitions?
    https://www.eetimes.eu/does-a-2nm-fab-really-solve-european-chip-ambitions/?utm_source=eeteurope&utm_medium=nl&utm_campaign=2021-03-25&utm_content=note

    Earlier this month, the European Commission presented its ‘Digital Compass’, which stated the intent to have manufacturing capacities below 5nm nodes and aiming at 2nm, and the production of 20% by value of global semiconductor production in Europe.

    This is clearly driven by concerns about overdependence on chip production in Asia and the potential for being caught up in any future US-Asia political crossfire, which could lead to future chip shortages. But building a $30 billion 5nm or 2nm fab is not really going to solve the issue, as some industry commentators have noted.

    One of these is industry analyst Yole Développement, who said, “In reality, a $30 billion fab plant is a perilous way to secure European technological sovereignty.” In its snapshot of the semiconductor industry, Yole said constructing such a state-of-the-art facility, without support from TSMC or Samsung, will take at least 10 to 15 years and demand tens of billions of dollars of investment. In addition, it may not even end in success. Citing Intel’s challenges, Yole said, “Intel has encountered difficulties on delivering its own advanced 7nm manufacturing process – if the US computing giant can’t easily succeed at this process node, should Europe pursue an even riskier jump to 5 nm?”

    Yole’s view is that the only way for the EU to establish a 5nm fab in Europe would be to follow a similar path to the US, and team up with TSMC or Samsung. The joint effort would require fewer funds from Europe – around $10 billion – and dramatically cut development times from 10 to 15 years to around 3 to 4 years.

    But this won’t necessarily solve the sovereignty issue. With or without TSMC or Samsung, Yole questions how much demand there will be in Europe for 5 nm, in three or four years’ time. “All the volumes of wafers to be produced for the continent’s telecommunication, automotive and other industries simply won’t fill such a fab, killing the rationale of this huge investment.”

    So, what is the solution?

    Well, the thinking is that there will be an increase in manufacturing outsourcing to TSMC and Samsung anyway, simply because it’s just going to take too long to build a fab, install and commission equipment. Yole said, “The best way to technological sovereignty is to invest wisely and create a robust manufacturing ecosystem that will deliver semiconductors to European companies in the long run.”

    Yole added, “Given this rich and established tapestry of industrial semiconductor players, the European Union and national states need a solid strategy to strengthen these suppliers. A first, important step, is to build the intermediary nodes, 14nm or 7nm foundries, in Europe that will support the continent’s current automotive, telecommunication, IoT and industrial applications. These facilities could be EU-funded but also co-developed with ST, Infineon, NXP, Ams and ASML.”

    In addition, the EU should invest in activities such as heterogenous integration, advanced packaging and chip partitioning from 14 nm to 7 nm. This would avoid the urgent need for 5 nm and 2 nm chip production while enriching Europe’s technology know-how. A further step could be to leverage Europe’s strong R&D effort in emerging computing and photonics where a large number of companies and startups have a role to play.

    This strategy would strengthen Europe’s semiconductor industry and provide a path toward 5nm and below in the longer term. It would also address the issue of more manufacturers being bought by US- and Asia-based companies, which is a growing trend.

    Yole points out the fallacy of trying to build a 2nm or 5nm fab, stating, “The prospect of financing a 5 nm foundry in Europe while the continent’s finest semiconductor businesses are being subsumed by US- and Asia-based behemoths is akin to building a cathedral in the desert.” It believes that investing in home-grown businesses and infrastructure that will help Europe’s technology ecosystem to flourish is the only way forward, “otherwise the continent could one day become an industrial desert with an empty 5nm cathedral at the center.”

    Reply
42. March 25, 2021 at 10:20 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Intel Surprises with $20B Expansion of Foundry Business
    https://www.eetimes.com/intel-surprises-with-20b-expansion-of-foundry-business/

    Reply
43. March 25, 2021 at 10:47 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Chip-starved automakers shudder at Renesas plant’s 1-month halt
    https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tech/Semiconductors/Chip-starved-automakers-shudder-at-Renesas-plant-s-1-month-halt

    Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics said Sunday that production may take up to a month to resume at a fire-damaged main factory in Hitachinaka, northeast of Tokyo.

    But considering the many processes in semiconductor fabrication, it may take over three months for supply chains return to normal.

    Renesas’ fire could not come at a worse time for the auto industry. Already battered by a global shortage of semiconductors, the industry had been scrambling to respond to the Texas winter storm that knocked out production at NXP Semiconductors and Infineon Technologies, the world’s No. 1 and No. 3 players in automotive chips.

    Renesas is No. 2. It controls around a 20% global share in microcontrollers and supplies the likes of Toyota Motor and Nissan Motor.

    Reply
44. March 26, 2021 at 8:51 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Micron Exits 3D XPoint Market, Eyes CXL Opportunities
    Company looking at other technologies to build out a cost-effective memory hierarchy
    https://www.eetimes.com/micron-exits-3d-xpoint-market-eyes-cxl-opportunities/

    Launched with a great deal of fanfare in July 2015, 3D XPoint sparked a lot of conversation about what the new class of memory technology might be able to do, as well as what it actually was. But even six years ago, both Micron and Intel were talking about how the memory addresses the challenge of reducing the time it takes the processor to reach data on long-term storage by allowing for quick access to enormous data sets. That’s why it makes sense that Micron chose to affirm its commitment to developing technologies around the Compute Express Link (CXL) architecture that’s quickly gathering steam with broad support, beyond just memory makers.

    Let’s be clear, though: CXL is not a new class of memory technology, and Micron’s decision to abandon 3D XPoint specifically does not mean the technology didn’t fit with its core business, or that the layer in storage hierarchy above flash but below DRAM (where Intel is positioning its Optane flavor of 3D XPoint) isn’t viable. For Micron, it’s about finding the most cost-effective path to get there. Eschewing 3D XPoint in favor of exploring other storage class memory products and adding value to CXL may be more profitable than continuing to develop 3D XPoint.

    Reply
45. March 26, 2021 at 12:42 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Global shipping was in chaos even before the Suez blockage. Shortages and higher prices loom
    https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/26/business/global-shipping-supply-chains/index.html

    One of the world’s most vital trade arteries has been blocked by a quarter-mile-long container ship, creating a traffic jam that has ensnared over 200 vessels and could take weeks to clear.

    But even before the Ever Given ran aground in the Suez Canal earlier this week, global supply chains were being stretched to the limits, making it much more expensive to move goods around the world and causing shortages of everything from exercise bikes to cheese at a time of unprecedented demand.

    A prolonged closure of the key route between West and East could make matters much worse. Costly delays or diversions to longer routes will heap pressure on businesses that are already facing container shortages, port congestion and capacity constraints.

    As of Friday, some 237 vessels, including oil tankers and dozens of container ships, were waiting to transit the canal, which handles about 12% of global trade.
    “There’s been a great convergence of constraints in supply chains like I’ve never seen before,”

    Freight costs soaring
    More than 80% of global trade by volume is moved by sea, and the disruptions are adding billions of dollars to supply chain costs. Globally, the average cost to ship a 40-foot container shot up from $1,040 last June to $4,570 on March 1, according to S&P Global Platts.

    These expenses could soon mean higher prices for consumers, adding upward pressure to rising inflation — a nightmare scenario for Wall Street

    The coronavirus wreaked havoc on global supply chains last year, as lockdowns temporarily closed factories and disrupted the normal flow of trade. Economic activity slowed dramatically at the start of the pandemic, and the rapid rebound in trade volumes that followed caught companies off guard.
    A pickup in manufacturing and seemingly insatiable demand from housebound consumers for goods such as televisions, furniture and exercise bikes has stretched suppliers and made it difficult for consumers to find the products they’d like to buy.

    Air freight is more expensive than ocean freight even under normal circumstances and therefore reserved for high-value goods. These costs are even higher at the moment because fewer flights carrying travelers means less available capacity to transport goods, a chunk of which are typically carried in the bellies of passenger planes.

    Reply
46. March 28, 2021 at 7:34 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    A strong Intel is what the tech industry needs right now
    Let’s hope it can actually follow through.
    https://www.engadget.com/intel-foundry-7nm-plan-analysis-141532580.html

    Reply
47. March 29, 2021 at 11:42 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Digits to Dollars:
    Intel Foundry Services could succeed if Intel can sort out its manufacturing process, find needed funds, and build up a true customer service capability

    Intel 2.0’s customer dilemma
    https://digitstodollars.com/2021/03/26/intel-2-0s-customer-dilemma/

    The big news this week was Intel’s announcement of its new strategy, doubling down on its fab and foundries. We wrote about it here and of course Ben Thompson did it even better here and here (paywall links). But we want to expand on what we see as the defining challenge the company’s initiative faces – how to deal with foundry customers.

    Put simply, Intel has set up a new division to serve as a Foundry, a manufacturing line for other company’s designs. This has been a glaring hole in Intel’s line-up for a long time. They have tried repeatedly to enter this business with no success.

    There are some reasons to think this attempt may be more successful. Intel Foundry Services (IFS) is an entirely separate organization, reporting directly to the CEO. Despite its recent stumbles, Intel still has immense internal talent. It also has advanced packaging capabilities, which we neglected to mention, but could be very important. And crucially, they have a clear path for fixing their manufacturing process.

    At its heart, Intel has always been a manufacturing powerhouse. In recent years, they lost their way. And in his remarks this week their CEO pointed to their own actions, ignoring the advice of their key supplier ASML, for their current position. All signs are that Intel should be able to catch up.

    But a key piece of this strategy will be getting IFS to work. Without this, it will ne hard for Intel to keep its fabs fully utilized and thus profitable. To do this, Intel has to solve its cultural problems and lack of customer service capabilities.

    When we get asked “how do you choose a fab?”, we have a two part-answer. First and foremost is manufacturing process, this dictates all other choices. But then how to choose between two foundries at the same process node – say TSMC versus Samsung at 7nm? The answer is not price, which for some reason everyone expects to be the answer in the world’s most complex technological field. Instead the answer is customer service – how easy is it to work with the foundry.

    Customer service seems like a really squishy criteria for the world’s most complex technological fields, but it matters tremendously. And the heart of customer service is providing customers with all the things they need to build a chip profitably. This means giving customers access to assets like software tools and libraries and making sure customers have access to the best the foundry offers. Will Intel do this? Can they do this?

    The answer is far from clear.

    And this is not a small question. Foundry capacity often gets booked up months if not a year in advance. With Intel’s CPU products bleeding market share, they will bring immense pressure to bear on getting their products to the head of the queue. And remember, Intel’s entire product strategy is built around very tight integration with manufacturing, so it is almost a certainty that the company will see some form of margin hit from this process, and not just one-time restructuring charges, but a systemic transition in gross margin cost structures.

    Ultimately, the answer will rest with customers. Which raises the very interesting question of who exactly will sign up to be an IFS customer? Yesterday, we speculated that Apple is a likely candidate. As much as Apple is now producing a CPU competitive to Intel’s CPU, Apple is not really an Intel competitor.

    But who else?

    We can rule out a few companies – notably AMD and probably Nvidia. These companies are direct competitors with Intel’s core CPU and GPU products (as much as Intel competes in GPUs). A while ago on Twitter, we speculated that Qualcomm could be a candidate. They do not really compete directly today. That may change as both companies have competing ambitions in an automotive market that is still years away.

    It is no secret that Intel has been lobbying the US government hard for subsidies. So many companies may sign up for IFS to wave the flag. This may also persuade companies like Broadcom and Marvell to sign up.

    The other big pool of customers are all those Internet companies building their own chips. The hyper-scalers all have good reasons to consider going with Intel. For one, as disruptive as they may be, they are not the biggest buyers of foundry capacity. They buy a lot of chips, but none yet rank in the top ten of TSMC customers.

    We think this leaves us in the realm of IFS is possibly viable. If Intel can sort out its manufacturing process, and if it can find the funds it needs (see above re:US government), and if it can build up a true customer service capability, and do all if that in under three years, then IFS should work.

    Reply
48. March 29, 2021 at 4:41 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Suez Canal traffic resumes after cargo ship Ever Given is moving again
    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/29/suez-canal-traffic-resumes-after-cargo-ship-ever-given-is-removed.html

    The massive ship that was wedged in the Suez Canal has been freed.
    The Ever Given, one of the world’s largest container ships, became stuck in the waterway last Tuesday, blocking all traffic in one of the world’s busiest waterways.
    Around 50 ships, carrying everything from consumer products to cars to oil to animals, pass through the Suez Canal each day.

    Reply
49. March 30, 2021 at 11:53 am

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.eetimes.com/intel-2-0/

    Reply
50. March 30, 2021 at 1:25 pm

    Tomi Engdahl says:

    Bloomberg:
    Overview of chip industry bottlenecks causing huge increases in lead times, which at Broadcom grew to 22.2 weeks, up from 12.2 weeks in February 2020

    How a Chip Shortage Snarled Everything From Phones to Cars
    https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-semiconductors-chips-shortage/

    A six-decade-old invention, the lowly chip, has gone from little-understood workhorse in powerful computers to the most crucial and expensive component under the hood of modern-day gadgets.

    That explosion in demand—unexpectedly goosed during the Covid-19 pandemic for certain industries like smartphones and PCs—has caused a near-term supply shock triggering an unprecedented global shortage.

    In February, lead times—the duration between when an order for a chip is placed and when it actually gets filled—stretched to 15 weeks on average for the first time since data collection started in 2017, according to industry distributor data from Susquehanna Financial Group. Lead times for Broadcom Inc.—a barometer for the industry because of its involvement across the supply chain—extended to 22.2 weeks, up from 12.2 weeks in February 2020.

    A Pandemic that Reshaped Demand

    Overall demand for semiconductors of all stripes—from basic microcontrollers and memory chips to the most sophisticated high-performance processors—has grown over the past decade, as smartphone usage and computing power boomed. A steady rise in semiconductor sales faltered in 2019, but was then boosted 5.4% by 2020’s shelter-in-place demand for home gadgets, IDC data shows.

    At the same time, once largely mechanical machines like cars have become smarter, entailing the use of many more chips. Automotive electronics, which may include everything from displays to in-car systems, are set to account for an estimated 45% of a car’s manufacturing cost by 2030, according to a Deloitte report. The cost of the semiconductor-based components used in those electronics is estimated to jump to $600 by 2030 from $475 in 2020.

    On the other end of the supply chain, chipmaking capacity has kept pace with the growth in sales over past years, according to SEMI data, suggesting buyers are taking up capacity as soon as it comes online—a sign that semiconductor demand has in general been on par with available production resources. But advanced manufacturing has become concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer players.

    Industry experts say an imbalance is particularly apparent in so-called 200 millimeter wafers, from which lower-end chips are made. Those include power management chips and display ICs (or integrated circuits), required in a wide range of sectors from automotive to consumer electronics, but are in a short supply at the moment.

    Uncertainties caused by the pandemic also led to sharp swings in orders last year, which in turn muddied the waters for chipmakers trying to match capacity with demand. That’s why carmakers have had to halt production in 2021 and why Playstations and Xboxes are getting harder to find in stores.

    Carmakers got hit first in part because of poor inventory planning. The industry underestimated vehicle consumption and thus the amount of chips they needed when the pandemic hit. They are now expected to miss out on $61 billion of sales this year alone. But TSMC executives said on their two most recent earnings calls that customers across many sectors have been accumulating more inventory than normal to hedge against the unknown.

    The problem gets further magnified by the fact that the cost of chipmaking and keeping pace with technology advancements has increased exponentially this decade—making the business of manufacturing semiconductors a rarefied field for the deepest of pockets.

    Industry Bottlenecks

    The most complex and expensive pieces of silicon these days are logic chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia or Apple that give computers and smartphones their intelligence. But these “fabless” companies don’t operate their own fabrication plants; they just design the semiconductors. Manufacturing happens at advanced factories called foundries that produce the designs of those big-name electronics companies.

    This is another key bottleneck. Just three or four foundries now account for the majority of global chip fabrication—TSMC and Samsung and their more distant rivals, California-based Globalfoundries Inc., controlled by Abu Dhabi’s investment arm, and United Microelectronics Corp. Looking at it another way, an estimated 91% of the contract chipmaking business is housed within Asia, the lion’s share of which is divided between just two regions: Taiwan and South Korea, home to TSMC and Samsung, respectively.

    An opportunity for the U.S. to regain chip independence might come from Intel Corp., which last week unveiled a $20 billion plan to set up its own foundry business. Intel, the largest chipmaker by revenue, designs and manufactures its own chips, but this expansion would enable it to produce chips for other companies as well.

    According to Bloomberg supply-chain estimates, 25% of all TSMC’s business comes from Apple, the highest-profile client it directly manufactures chips for. However, TSMC’s importance lies in the critical role it plays in the entire semiconductor supply chain; it also manufactures chips for other chipmakers or for fabless chip designers, such as Broadcom, Qualcomm, Nvidia, AMD or Texas Instruments. They are in turn supplying the world’s biggest consumer electronics, communications equipment and auto parts companies.

    Bottlenecks can appear in other parts of the supply chain, too. The Netherlands-based ASML Holding NV has a virtual monopoly on advanced photolithography equipment required to print patterns of cutting-edge chips onto the wafer. Companies from Japan, such as Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., dominate the market for chemicals used in semiconductor manufacturing. And manufacturing cannot start in the first place without access to electronic design automation software, a segment led by the U.S.’s Cadence Design Systems Inc. and Synopsys Inc.

    Officials from the U.S. and Europe have beseeched Taiwan’s officials for help in resolving the global chip crunch, and are pushing for the creation of domestic chipmaking capabilities. Yet research from Sanford C. Bernstein shows there isn’t much that governments can do to address the current shortages. It takes years to build a new fabrication facility and get it operating smoothly—regardless of where it is located.

    Reply