semiconductor

Apple's next-gen iPhone chip being prepped

Apple and its manufacturing partner are readying the next-generation processor expected to land in future iPhones and iPads.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, or TSMC, is expected to tape out -- one of the final steps before manufacturing -- Apple's A7 chip this month, according to a report in Digitimes.

That will set the stage for pilot production by TSMC this summer and commercial production by the first quarter of 2014.

The A7 will use TSMC's future 20-nanometer manufacturing process -- which isn't expected to be ready until 2014.

Apple, in fact, is designing products now based on … Read more

Samsung apologizes for acid leak at plant that killed worker

Samsung apologized yesterday for the January acid leak at one of its semiconductor plants that killed one worker and injured four others. The event occurred at one of the plants in the Hwaseong area of South Korea.

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Oh-Hyun Kwon said that as part of the apology, the company plans to revoke its bid to have all of its Hwaseong plants certified as green for another five years, the Yonhap News Agency reported today.

Kwon also promised that the company would take measures to prevent future accidents, saying that "we plan to overhaul the system in … Read more

Samsung tops Apple in another metric -- top chip buyer

Samsung surpassed Apple to become the world's biggest semiconductor buyer in 2012, a new report from Gartner said.

The tech research firm, which evaluated the total available market for chip purchases, found Samsung bought 8 percent, or $23.9 billion, of all chips this year. That's up 29 percent from the previous year and reflects Samsung's soaring mobile device sales.

Apple, by comparison, purchased 7.2 percent, or $21.4 billion, of the semiconductors sold last year. That's up 14 percent from 2011 but not enough to maintain Apple's position as the top semiconductor customer. … Read more

Could PBS Silicon Valley doc spawn 'Mad Men' for geek set?

Somehow "Mad Men" just sounds cooler than "Sili Men." Still, there's no telling what sort of martini and microchip soaked show some wild-eyed TV exec might concoct after seeing PBS' upcoming "American Experience" documentary on the origins of Silicon Valley.

Take a peek at the photo above. Just look at that chrome-y Fairchild Semiconductor logo in that oh-so-midcentury interior. Check out those natty suits and spectacles. And (sigh) look at that dreamy, tieless rebel in the foreground -- he makes Don Draper look like a wuss.… Read more

Nvidia CEO: People buying tablets instead of cheap PCs

Tablets really are replacing PCs now that the latest version of Windows has launched, graphics- and mobile-chip maker Nvidia said.

But at least right now, Nvidia's mobile business isn't big enough to offset the less-than-merry computer market this holiday season.

It's not exactly shocking that tablets have been eating into sales of PCs. Computer makers have noted the trend, and so have Nvidia chip rivals Intel and Advanced Micro Devices.

But what's interesting is that Nvidia says consumers now realize that a "great tablet is better than a cheap PC." That could signal a … Read more

What would happen if Moore's Law did fizzle?

First of all, don't panic.

If Moore's Law came to an end and computers stopped getting steadily faster, plenty of companies would suffer. But an end likely would come with lots of warning, lots of measures to cushion the blow, and lots of continued development even if transistors stopped shrinking.

The hardest hit would be companies dependent on consumers replacing their electronics every few years and tech companies such as Google whose long-term plans hinge on faster computers, cheaper storage, and better bandwidth. And the continuing miniaturization of computers -- mainframes to minicomputers to PCs to smartphones -- … Read more

On the Moore's Law hot seat: Intel's Mike Mayberry (Q&A)

Mike Mayberry, perhaps more than anyone, is the guy who keeps Moore's Law ticking.

As the vice president who leads Intel's research team, he bears responsibility for making sure his employer can cram ever more electronic circuitry onto computer chips. Intel co-founder Gordon Moore 47 years ago observed the pace at which microchips' transistor count doubled, and Mayberry is in charge of keeping that legacy intact.

A lot rests on Moore's Law, which in a 1975 update to Moore's original 1965 paper predicted that the number of transistors will double every two years. That means a … Read more

Moore's Law: The rule that really matters in tech

Year in, year out, Intel executive Mike Mayberry hears the same doomsday prediction: Moore's Law is going to run out of steam. Sometimes he even hears it from his own co-workers.

But Moore's Law, named after Intel co-founder Gordon Moore, who 47 years ago predicted a steady, two-year cadence of chip improvements, keeps defying the pessimists because a brigade of materials scientists like Mayberry continue to find ways of stretching today's silicon transistor technology even as they dig into alternatives. (Such as, for instance, super-thin sheets of carbon graphene.)

Oh, and don't forget the money that'… Read more

Fate of Silicon Valley bleak, according to silicon CEOs

Chief executives from Intel and Cypress Semiconductor say Silicon Valley is in a bad state.

Literally. The basic problem is California, according to recent comments from Intel CEO Paul Otellini and Cypress CEO T.J. Rogers.

Speaking at the Intel Capital Global Summit on Wednesday, Otellini said Intel has not added a job in California in at least a decade, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

He characterized California's future as bleak for businesses. "We're so close to screwing it up, it's pathetic...I worry that we have to hit the abyss before … Read more