Semiconductor biz locked into a paralyzing state of anxiety, says industry expert

SEMI has release the expert opinions on chip industry who spoke at SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS). The semiconductor industry is undergoing massive transformation as the rise in mobile computing, changes to the fabless-foundry model, uncertainties in technical innovation, and global macroeconomic trends become the dominant forces in 2013 and beyond, according to industry leaders speaking at the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS), opening today in Half Moon Bay, Calif., as per the release by SEMI. Below are more such opinions and analysis by IC manufacturing experts: Ajit Manocha, CEO of GLOBALFOUNDRIES, during his keynote presentation discussed the dynamic technology and economic needs of mobile computing that is driving new approaches to the chip design-to-production cycle. Calling it “Foundry 2.0,” he sees outsourced semiconductor manufacturing moving toward a more IDM-like model, creating new collaboration models and techniques to close the gap between process teams at foundries and design teams at the fabless companies. With daunting technical challenges like 3D stacking, 450mm fabs, new transistor architectures, multi-patterning, and the uncertainties to lithography-based scaling, product development paths with virtual teams will evolve and adapt rapidly in the coming months and years. With new fabs now costing upwards of $8 billion and leading-edge manu...