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Startup funding

Charting China’s Dominance of Global Chip Startup Activity

By Peter Clarke

What’s at stake:
China is the world’s No. 1 investor in semiconductor startups. It is locked in a desperate struggle to catch up with the West and avoid the suffocating effects of American-led technology sanctions. Even without US opposition, though, China’s investments may not yield the expected returns.

For many years China has been directly and indirectly funding domestic semiconductor startup activities.

The rest of the world may have been aware that something was going on, via anecdotal details and various slices of investment data. But it is unlikely that many people will have seen the big picture.

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Marvell Data Center Cloud Solutions

Everyone Hates ASIC, But Hyperscalers Want Them

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
Processors that go inside data centers are getting rearchitected, customized and diversified. When hyperscalers develop their own chips, how should chip companies previously serving them respond? Is customization the way to go?

A growing trend for diversification and customization among data-center chips has been driven by hyperscalers — notably Amazon, Google and Meta — who are rolling their own silicon.

Their attempt at an end run around traditional chip designers has sent shivers through the semiconductor industry.

Read More »Everyone Hates ASIC, But Hyperscalers Want Them
Custom ASICs

Marvell Bets Big on Compute and Custom Strategy

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
Chips going inside data centers are one of the fastest growing market segments. Big guns like Nvidia, AMD and Intel are all making some progress while Marvell is betting on its Compute and Custom” strategy. Does the company stand a chance?   

Last week, Marvell Technology announced that it has demonstrated the industry’s first 3nm data infrastructure silicon.

Read More »Marvell Bets Big on Compute and Custom Strategy
Bought caught in a rough water

Chip Leaders Are Responsible for Capex Disarray

By Bolaji Ojo

What’s at stake:
The capital expenditure plans announced by chipmakers just a couple of years back were huge – in dollar value, number of plants and scale – but they were also unrealistic. Why are semiconductor industry executives that should know better this prone to shooting themselves in the foot?

Once again, the latest semiconductor industry capital expenditure fever has broken. Forecasts for double-digit year-over-year capex increases are being revised downwards, steering the industry towards more believable numbers.

Read More »Chip Leaders Are Responsible for Capex Disarray
IoT vulnerability

IoT: Welcome Mat to Insecurity

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
For a long time, spending on security was never a priority for most IoT/embedded system vendors. Their rationale: Why spend money to prepare their devices for events that rarely happen? However, as an onslaught of cybersecurity regulation looms on the horizon, complacency is a risky option.

“Cybersecurity does not help sell IoT products,” Colin Duggan, CEO & cofounder of BG Networks, recently told us. He added that getting companies to make the commitment to IoT cybersecurity “is more difficult than it sounds.”

This has been true despite serious cases of damage done by insecure connected systems.

Read More »IoT: Welcome Mat to Insecurity
Who’s in the zoo: a brief taxonomy of AI systems

Who’s in the Zoo: A Brief Taxonomy of AI Systems

By Ron Wilson

What’s at stake:
With all the claims and commentary about AI systems, you can’t tell the insightful from the frightful without a program. That means digging into the different things hiding under the AI umbrella.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere. From medical research labs to your car, from police stations to your vacuum cleaner, there is no escaping it. This ubiquity begs for a good definition. But there is no simple definition — a myriad of different technologies huddle under the AI umbrella.

Unfortunately, the term itself can add perceived value to a product. So AI gets stretched beyond its natural bounds, to fit any situation where it might improve profit margins. But to understand what is really happening with AI today we need a more precise definition.

Read More »Who’s in the Zoo: A Brief Taxonomy of AI Systems
Industrial IoT

Sony Buys Its Way into IoT/Industrial Market via Raspberry Pi

By Junko Yoshida

What’s at stake:
In contrast to most MCU suppliers in the world, Sony has not built its own IoT developers’ community. Sony’s angle is, however, its technology prowess in image sensors. Will the Raspberry Pi community fill the gap for Sony? 

Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corp. this week revealed it invested an undisclosed sum in Raspberry Pi Ltd., the trading arm of Raspberry Pi Foundation.

This marks the first investment in Raspberry Pi by a semiconductor company, confirmed Eben Upton, Raspberry Pi’s CEO.

Read More »Sony Buys Its Way into IoT/Industrial Market via Raspberry Pi