Discover how Intel Foundry is reshaping the future of semiconductors! Learn about Intel's groundbreaking technological advancements, the importance of domestic capabilities, and the strategic vision to transition from “system on chip” to “system of chips.”
Watch Gary Patton’s full #61DAC keynote to see how Intel is leading the charge: https://intel.ly/3Sv8SPf#Intel#IntelFoundry#Semiconductor
This week I got to spend time with Gregory James and Jeet Mukherjee to unpack Intel Corporation's rise and fall in the semiconductor industry.
We unpacked 30 years of strategies and talked about the big question:
When is it time to challenge your differentiation to lead the next era, before ankle biters force your hand?
(as always... hindsight is 20/20!)
people will look at this as semiconductors ranking
but I'll provide an additional perspective, kind of widely known at the back of people's mind but rarely comes to front of the attention span:
most of the top companies are basically selling differentiated IP and those whose IP has other market alternatives suffe
Intel Corporation is still at the top of the revenue list (and despite lately poor ASPs for their products. In terms of silicon shipments they beat nearest competition probably by multiple integer times). For a long time they had the fastest transistors and a business+production system that allowed them to sell "faulty" chips as i3 processors (other companies would have had to throw chips away). They also have World's most popular large format CPU - x86. While the production tech is now second tier at best, the x86 and the ability to "yield recover" still persist - both based on significant IP.
NVIDIA is now too well known for me to comment. Some of the best GPU IP, system knowledge and CUDA has propelled them to very very high ASPs (average selling price) and gross margins. Their unit volume is probably less than the next several companies in the list.
Samsung Semiconductor has lots of IP in NAND flash manufacturing, DRAM manufacturing, logic semiconductor process etc. However in none of those areas is the IP so differentiated that customers can't find reasonable alternatives. They are probably shipping more semiconductor than next two companies and nvidia combined and yet are where they are. Just that they are at least the second best (and often the best, though not by a large margin from nearest competitor) at what they do, and they have a massive scale. So they are still pretty high.
by the way, thanks to NVIDIA and #ai a lot of HBM memory has been selling like hot cakes, pulling all three major DRAM manufacturers here a few notches.
Qualcomm owns the modem space and have several other IP in everything related to smartphones. The collection of IP together acts as another differentiator. Highly profitable company as a result.
Broadcom has lots of RF and communication IP and also execution prowess.
SK hynix is riding the DRAM coat tails. It is also one of the world's only three companies that know how to manufacture DRAM at scale. It also got somewhat lucky - when Micron Technology and Samsung gave up of H memory, SK trudged along, so when the winds changed and HBM became the most profitable memory segment, they made the most of it.
I won't comment on others, list is getting tedious and later companies (STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments for example) have IP in many different areas, they act as a collection of thousands of IP companies.
key message here is - semiconductors is a commodity business. Having differentiated IP married to a business strategy that can exploit the advantages of that IP creates the leaders.
TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), may probably be the most important company in the world currently in the global semiconductor firmament and its history of evolution to the zenith of the industry is as exciting as that of its legendary founder Dr. Morris Chang.
As part of the Manufacturing@MIT Distinguished Speaker Series, Dr. Morris Chang , founder and former chairman and CEO of TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company), spoke about his extraordinary career, the evolution of the semiconductor industry, and TSMC’s transformative impact on it.
#digitaltransformation,#digitalbusinesstransformation
Semiconductor Insights: What to look for in 2025 - TechInsights Inc.
"2025 Semiconductor Year in Preview
2025 will be an eventful year in the semiconductor industry—don’t expect the unexpected, be prepared!
Join TechInsights experts behind The McClean Report for our latest webinar 2025 semiconductor year in preview. Get advance insight into the key events in 2025 and what they mean to your business."
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