According to Atheros Communications, IEEE’s P1901 powerline networking draft standard is on schedule to be ratified early this fall. Semico believes that this will spur a high growth phase for powerline networking.
A powerline network makes a lot of sense. It uses the electrical wiring in a home to connect PCs, home entertainment systems, TVs and [...]

Where is the next semiconductor marketing opportunity?  Maybe it’s not a specific application, geographic region or country but an overlooked portion of the world’s population.�
In the developed world, we drive upscale cars, travel around the world and want to be connected 24/7.   We understand immediately the appeal of stability control, GPS navigation systems, powerful laptops, [...]

Oh it has been a busy week of rumors and speculation in our industry.
First there was the report that Apple is looking at designing in AMD MPUs in future MacBook designs. This should come as no surprise since AMD MPUs are 80×86 and Apple’s PC product line is based on Intel MPUs. Apple [...]

Yesterday afternoon Intel reported first-quarter revenues of $10.3 billion with operating income of 3.4 billion and net income of 2.4 billion. Compared to first quarter 2009 revenues were up 44% operating income of 433% net income of 280% exemplifies the strength and intensity of the semiconductor recovery.
Gross margins have recovered to 64% indicating that [...]

The Apple iPad has hit the market, at least in the US. It has been shipping well, though not as high as some had predicted. Incidentally, Semico has a conservative and slow roll out scenario for the iPad with sales picking up at the end of 2010 and early 2011.
Apple delivered the first [...]

Now that China is well established as a powerhouse in the electronics arena and India as a haven for design activity, at the last Semico staff meeting we asked the question, which country will be the next emerging economy?
Growth may come in a number of different forms. China took on semiconductor manufacturing with great enthusiasm. [...]

There has been intense press coverage of the Apple iPad, but not much about the iPad’s impact on the semiconductor industry. That issue is addressed in a new Semico Research Corp. Market Brief, “Apple iPad: Where Will the Chips Fall?”
An important question is whether or not a new market is being created.  There have been [...]