The week’s news in the chip industry from Matt Grimshaw…
By Matt Grimshaw from Future Fab Connect
All the signs here are pointing to an optimistic 2nd half of the year: There doesn’t seem to be anyone else to lay off, tons of mergers have gone through and people are finally answering their phones again instead of hiding behind the veil of voicemail.
This week saw our preparations begin in earnest for Semicon West – that once almost holy bastion of the Semiconductor show circuit seems to have fallen on hard times. I cannot tell you how many conversations I’ve had recently about all subjects to do with; the show itself, what it means to people, what it used to be, the costs involved and the huge question of - is it still relevant?
With foot traffic at even the most technical of conferences (IEDM, SPIE etc.) being half of what it has historically been due to travel restrictions and massive budget cuts at all companies then surely something like Semicon West, which is more about marketing, is going to be a much quieter affair?
There’s no doubting the robustness of Semicon shows in the Far East like Semicon China, but Europa and West have been notably shrinking in the last 5 years. To me, Semicon West was my first face to face view of the industry itself and it’s people.
For the first time I was getting to meet the multitude of contacts I speak on the phone on a daily basis, and it remains to me of incalculable value to have this opportunity and thusly I have to admit to having a bit of a soft spot for the event. I have numerous fantastic memories of meeting colleagues and friends and having a whale of a time as well as doing good networking and editorial work. In this single factor seemingly everyone is in agreement; there remains a need for several central ‘meeting point’ events around the world.
People work with people, and until the machines try to take over the world (yes Terminator Salvation is coming to the cinema soon and I’m bouncing off the walls like an excited 8 year old - I can’t wait), they will need places to meet. Of course, clients and customers meet all the time, but not on such a diverse and large scale where lots of people can get together and discuss issues, catch up on personal friendships/relationships and of course – party like Rock Stars. No, the need is not in question…the execution however, is. I’ve never exhibited at Semicon West so I have no first hand experience of costs but from what I’m told it’s very expensive and this is the primary gripe I hear from those that do exhibit.
When the Semicon Bus is in town Hotel prices leap from $150 per night average to $300+, cab meters run ever-so-slightly faster, the price if beer feels like it goes up…hell, even the pan-handlers make extra effort to squeeze cash from anyone with a suit and a Semicon badge. The problem seems to be that the well that was the Semiconductor industry’s marketing budget of old, has run dry.
No one can afford the massive costs that come with; booths, the Moscone unions, travel/hotels, massive parties etc. Cost is the main reason no big tools are brought along any more…we’re talking millions of $ to bring a big shiny tool to show off and in times that are seeing such high numbers of job losses can anyone justify a big glitzy booth over the loss of 50-100+ peoples jobs? So what to do?
The industry needs an event that has the function of Semicon West but it’s obvious that in its current format few can afford it (it’s a similar situation with other semiconductor media)… Change is needed, before it’s too late to do anything about it and all those great memories and opportunities are confined to history…
The News This Week…
There’s only one story is really on the minds of 90% of journo’s out there at the moment and that is Intel getting slapped with the biggest anti-trust anti-trust fine in Europe’s history at $1.45bn. Such is the magnitude of this fine it’s brought out Intel’s top execs to fight back at the claims with words like “strong exception” and “dismayed” being thrown about, which is the Executive/PR equivalent of a hefty F Bomb being dropped into a rather angry conversation. Intel is in fact so adamant of its innocence, it claims to have evidence to the contradict the EU findings which will no doubt come to light in due course.
In other news;
While France is preparing to bail out its chip sector, the government of Saxony in Germany is leading a $200 million project called Cool-Silicon, which is aiming to reduce the amount of energy used by IC’s and associated technologies (displays etc) via a 5 year initiative that hopes to have the side effect of reinvigorating tech employment in the region…good news for tree huggers and engineers alike.
Meanwhile back in the US, GLOBALFOUNDRIES (I really wish I didn’t have to use caps – it’s like I’m yelling) continues to hoover up talent from all arenas including its close competitor TSMC, in this case pinching Subramani Kengeri as its new president of design solutions.
Keeping on the subject of the US based foundry the monster fab in NY is starting to take shape - nice to see a new fab break ground in the US I have to say…
Meanwhile the Q1 chip rankings released earlier in the week are (barring the top two of course) a complete jumble of companies being repositioned with even a Fabless Co (Qualcomm) making the top ten for the first time which surely makes any forecasting rankings a total crapshoot for the foreseeable future.
In a final word, the bright star of the Solar/Photo-Voltaic industry has shown its first signs of not being the saviour of semiconductor tool vendors with several key players slashing forecasts amidst fears of poor earnings; is this the bit where Solar slips from being the holy grail of profitability (thanks mostly to government subsidies it has to be said) to the chipped coffee cup of collapse as per Garter’s infamous Hype Curve? Time will tell…
Geek of the Week…
The geek of the week was not so easy this week… too much cool stuff going on out there. For starters I can’t wait for the Wolfram Alpha ‘answer engine’ to get started which could easily end up being as big a deal as Google was a mere 10 years ago. Then there’s Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology’s HRP-4C, although it has to be said the Tokyo Fire Department’s Rescue Robot is probably a damn sight more useful in the near term…
However, in my opinion all must bow in difference to the sheer cool factor of tiny-machines that are the size of molecules and that can push more then their own weight… Harvard researchers have produced amazing microscopic swimmers…simply wow…
You can read more of this post at: http://futurefabconnect.ning.com/profiles/blogs/friday-news-round-up-intel?xgs=1
