System design trend: OEMs expanding in to SOC design

There are multiple market factors suggesting smart phone/tablet computer or any such mass consumed system OEMs to look at options of having more control over semiconductor IC chip design part of their product. There are three important factors driving this trend. If you have a look at the tear down analysis of latest iPhone 5S, there are fewer chips. One set for application processing and another set for wireless front-end. Much of the product differentiators of smart phone are supported either in the chip or in the software. So the first clear trend is, application processor chip offers much of the product differentiating features for smart phone OEMs. To be successful in the market, the smartphone vendors need to work very closely with the VLSI design team. So there is an option for OEMs to work closely with fabless design companies such as Qualcomm or have internal VLSI design team or use outside VLSI design services from place like India. Also one more important trend is the availability of proven silicon IPs from companies such as ARM, Synopsys, Cadence, Imagination, and dozens of such quality Silicon intellectual property vendors. ARM is a clear driver of this trend. Billions of ICs are shipped every quarter, which are designed using ARM processor core. The third trend is increased availability of foundry services. There are four big fabs offering 32/28 nm...