THE BIG IDEA

Changing business models and emerging technology/market segments that could impact your business

New Semi Model: Fabless and Designless

The relationship between little-known Chinese CPU vendor Ingenic Semiconductor and U.S.-based Velocity Micro, whose media tablets use Ingenic’s embedded processor, suggests an evolutionary tail that could end up wagging the big dogs of the semiconductor industry.

EET ON THE QT

A lively roundup of what we've heard on the street and what it means for you

Lagomichos Sheds Light on Tumult at Trident

Weak Q4 Cuts This Year's Chip Outlook

TSMC Shifts Gears on PDKs

Three Tips for Data Center Vendors

Samsung’s Club?

ReRAM Hopefuls Find Fab Partners

Picochip Hangs Femtocell on a Dongle

Message in a Bottle for Samsung’s Old Guard

LED Becomes a Flexible Light Source

Intel Goes for Broke at 22 nm

GSA Tabulates 2010 Financing Turnaround

GlobalFoundries Learns All Politics Is Local

Alternative CPUs Edge Toward the Data Center

LAY OF THE LAND

Surveying the landscape of both critical and non-traditional industry segments

Trend to Farm out Chip Design Work Extends from Fabless to Top Tier

The growing complexity of IC design is prompting companies to outsource a higher percentage of their design work to independent chip design services firms. The trend has been in evidence among smaller fabless chip vendors for several years. But in the recent months, even some top-tier chip companies have begun to outsource portions of their designs—and in some cases, entire design projects—to outside vendors.

VC WATCH

Tracking the hottest industry startups and gauging their chances for success

VCs Bullish on Medtech

If the emerging medical technology market is any indication, it’s time for venture capitalists to climb out of their bunkers and get back in the technology innovation game.

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'Silicon 60' Startups Attract Buyers as Recession Wraps

Signs of transformation in the semiconductor industry are stronger than we have seen for some time. The impact of the global economic crisis of 2008-2009 was foreseen almost immediately, but the effects are still working their way through the system.

MARKET DATA

Crunching the numbers and discerning trends on varied segments of the global electronics industry

As Shakeout Looms, Motion Sensor Makers Must Move on 'Function Delivery'

The inertial sensor segment of the consumer electronics market is growing rapidly, thanks to the adoption of accelerometers, gyroscopes and magnetometers in mobile phones, tablets, game consoles and PCs. With a healthy mix of 50 companies pursuing this business, the central question is whether the market can survive annual price erosion of 18 percent, despite the predicted 25 percent annual growth in unit volumes. Another variable will be the ability to develop inertial MEMS devices capable of delivering the functionality the market wants.