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Proposed US Rule Threatens China-made Cars in America

Proposed US Rule Threatens China-made Cars in America

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:

China’s dream of seizing a large chunk of the US autonomous vehicle market may be heading straight for a brick wall as the Commerce Dept. moves advances its proposal for a ban on the sale and importation of Chinese vehicles equipped with connectivity devices, systems and components. American automakers may rue the move one day, but for now, the proposal favors them.

Shed some tears for China’s automotive manufacturers. Their aspiration for domination of the global automotive market may be about to implode, courtesy of the US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry & Security (BIS).

While you are at it, though, spare a few moments to cry for Detroit’s big automakers, and perhaps even Tesla, too. Their production operations or intentions in China may need to be aborted and shifted to more favorable terrains.

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Intel’s Last Hope: Private Equity LBO?

Intel’s Last Hope: Private Equity LBO?

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:

The US government’s multi-billion dollar bet on Intel is at risk under the company’s current leadership, which continues to vacillate, doling out timid reorganization moves when what the business requires is radical surgery. A new player not tied to its past may be Intel’s last hope.

Intel Corp., the giant of America’s chip world, is at risk of becoming a plaything of richer enterprises.

Speculations are rife about rivals circling Intel, seeking to purchase it even as many analysts a deal for the microprocessor vendor will be difficult to seal due to regulatory hurdles at home and abroad. In the process, Intel – once the undisputed leader of the chip world in both sales and market capitalization – has become an object of pity and scorn. It’s a very sad turn of events for the company, its customers and supporters in the American government.  

The unconfirmed speculations about who is in talks to acquire the company continues to swirl. If the current trend persists, Intel is at risk of being poked, inspected and weighed for break-up value like a rusty, unserviceable truck at a vehicle auction. Still, the speculations may be masking a route to eventual recovery for Intel in the form of a buyout by private equity investors using the famed leverage buyout (LBO) tool of the past to gain control of the company and accelerate its reorganization.

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Sehat Sutardja: Dedicated to Ideas

Sehat Sutardja: Dedicated to Ideas

Marvell’s co-founder remained a hands-on engineer at heart while running the enterprise and devised a new interconnect technology called MoChi, a building block of what we now know as “chiplets.”

Startup's CMOS-Compatible Memory Sits Between SRAM and DRAM

Startup’s CMOS-Compatible Memory Sits Between SRAM and DRAM

By Peter Clarke

What’s at stake:
An Israeli-Swiss startup called RAAAM has gone back to the drawing board to design a CMOS-compatible memory that sits between SRAM and DRAM and that could offer a cost advantage for numerous applications, including artificial intelligence. If RAAAM can persuade a few foundries and fabless companies to adopt its approach, it could become an industry-changer.

RAAAM Memory Technologies Ltd., headquartered in Pekah Tikva, Israel, and with an R&D base in Lausanne, Switzerland, is a 2021 startup that claims to have developed a better way to do embedded memory. The firm’s technology is called Gain-Cell RAM or GCRAM.

RAAAM claims it can achieve single-cycle SRAM read and write performance while providing up to a 50 percent area reduction and up to 10x power reduction compared with high-density SRAM. And GCRAM is fully compatible with standard CMOS fabrication flows, requiring no additional process steps.

Read More »Startup’s CMOS-Compatible Memory Sits Between SRAM and DRAM
Intel Needs an Active, Competent Board, not a ‘Savior’ CEO

Intel Board, After Review, Insists on Token Changes

Intel Corp. said it will halt spending on new fab and facility expansion programs in Poland and Germany temporarily and establish a separate board of directors for its foundry operations in continuation of its reorganization plans and as part of efforts to revitalize the business.

The company also intends to conduct an initial public offering for Altera, the FPGA business it acquired years ago, and sell some of its shares in the business in an operation similar to the floating of Mobileye, the advanced driver-assistance systems and autonomous driving division.

The details, laid out in a message to employees but which was simultaneously sent out as a press statement from CEO Patrick Gelsinger, included many of the actions observers said the company was likely to take following news the board of directors had held a special meeting last week. Some observers were expecting Intel to split into separate independent businesses.

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Out of Intel, America's Dream Foundry: Here's How

Out of Intel, America’s Dream Foundry: Here’s How

By Bolaji Ojo

The United States wants a semiconductor foundry that can rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the world’s No. 1 contract chipmaker.

Many industry executives have lined up behind this objective, considering it a worthy pursuit during a time of rapidly evolving geo-political changes and supply chain turmoil. We agree.

However, after reviewing events of the last several years, the editors of the Ojo-Yoshida Report are convinced that America must go back to the drawing board – and to Intel Corp. – if the creation of America’s world-class foundry is to become more than a wishful thinking.

Read More »Out of Intel, America’s Dream Foundry: Here’s How