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Bucking the trend

Infineon and ST Buck Chip Downturn but for How Long?

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:
Infineon and STMicroelectronics will defy the projected 2023 semiconductor market downturn on continued strength in the auto, energy and industrial sectors. Eventually, though, there will be a supply chain reckoning even in these hot markets. The European chip market leaders must prepare now for the days when orders precipitously drop as customers focus on depleting inventories.

The semiconductor market downturn is still raw but it’s party time in Munich and Geneva.

Read More »Infineon and ST Buck Chip Downturn but for How Long?
Robot to Human Handover

Robo-Driving Handover Time: Pick a Number

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake?
Highly automated vehicles present a frightening conundrum when a Computer Driver shares the steering wheel with a Human Driver. Which party is responsible for driving? How and when do the robot and the person switch roles? At stake is the Human Driver’s liability. Automakers prefer the human as the fall guy, leaving jurors to decide without clear legal standards if a Computer Driver, when it bails out, imposed an unreasonable demand on the Human.   

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The Imitation Game

Imitation Driver, Imitation Game

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
The growing technical complexity of highly automated vehicles might soon make product liability a relic of the past. At stake is the right of consumers to seek justice when wronged by a robocar.

Brace yourselves. We seem to be approaching an era when a product liability claim would no longer be a viable avenue for recovery — particularly in lawsuits against autonomous vehicle (AV) manufacturers.

Suppose you’ve been injured by a state-of-the-art AV in a crash.

You think about taking the robocar’s maker to court, to argue that your pain was caused by a manufacturing or design defect. The idea is to hold the manufacturer financially responsible for the loss caused by the defect which led to the crash.

Fuhgeddaboudit.

Read More »Imitation Driver, Imitation Game

Intel ‘Internal’ vs. Pure-Play Foundry Quandary Deepens

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:
Intel Foundry Services faces a bleak future if the company continues to hang on tightly to the “ownership” strings. Many of the world’s biggest fabless chipmakers will remain on the sidelines if they see Intel as a competitor, which it is. While Intel does not want to spin off its foundry business it should consider deploying an alternate strategy to pull in hesitant potential customers.

Nvidia Corp. is a major force in the artificial intelligence (AI) market. Rival Intel Corp. also wants to “democratize the incredible power of AI” and supply the market with “a full suite of silicon and software to drive AI,” according to CEO Pat Gelsinger. Intel, the world’s No. 1 microprocessor vendor, would also like to have Nvidia as a customer of Intel Foundry Services (IFS), its contract wafer manufacturing division upon which Gelsinger has pinned the company’s future.

Somebody needs a reality check.

Read More »Intel ‘Internal’ vs. Pure-Play Foundry Quandary Deepens
Used Cars

Why Send Software Updates to Used Cars?

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
Carmakers see a big opportunity for software-defined vehicles and subscription-based services that “update” and “upgrade” vehicles after purchase. Can OEMs justify lifetime software support for their vehicles’ safety and security, or will third-party repair services pop up to magically fix complex machine-learning based software problems? Or will carmakers simply limit production and shorten a model’s lifespan, leaving many perfectly operative used cars – lacking safety software updates – in the junkyard?

Read More »Why Send Software Updates to Used Cars?
Bosch plans to acquire US chip company TSI Semiconductors in Calif.

Bosch: Why Produce SiC in the U.S.?

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
As a slew of power electronics semiconductor companies pour billions of dollars into silicon carbide (SiC) production, Bosch, the German automotive Tier One, is making clear its intention to crash the SiC party. But why would Bosch want to come to the U.S., rather than building a resilient SiC supply chain in Germany?

Bosch this week announced plans to acquire assets of the U.S. chip manufacturer TSI Semiconductors in Roseville, Calif. The deal would convert TSI facilities currently offering a full range of logic CMOS process technologies into a U.S. manufacturing site. There, the German company would produce SiC chips on 200-millimeter wafers starting in 2026.

But what’s behind Bosch’s move?

Read More »Bosch: Why Produce SiC in the U.S.?
semiconductor wafers

Will this Semiconductor Cycle Be Deep or Shallow?

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake: 
Getting an accurate reading of the direction of the electronics market has always been problematic. Yet, the decisions executives take that end up massively impacting employees, shareholders and customers depend so much on a good understanding and acceptance of the market fundamentals. What chipmakers especially must do to determine the direction of the current cycle is clear. Will they go instead with the typical knee-jerk actions, though?

Inaccurate forecasts are the bane of the chip market. 

Malcolm Penn, CEO and founder of Future Horizons Ltd., a UK-based semiconductor research and consulting firm, comes closest to being the industry’s one true oracle. Penn may not be the only one to generally get chip sales forecasts mostly correct annually. But he stands out.

Read More »Will this Semiconductor Cycle Be Deep or Shallow?