From the editor's desk: The more things change ...
12 August 2015
News
With more and more specialist semiconductor foundries appearing and established brands, such as Samsung, expanding their third-party foundry offerings, the fierce competition in this arena is driving continual technological advances. When it comes to chip making, those advances typically come in the form of shrinking process nodes and growing wafer sizes.
The process node is essentially the scale down to which a semiconductor’s microscopic structures can be manufactured reliably – today’s cutting edge is 14 nanometres, with 7 nanometre processes currently in development. Wafers are basically circular crystals of semiconductor material that are ‘grown’ before going through the aforementioned processing to create a complete, packaged chip – the larger the wafers can be made, the more cost-effective the manufacturing process becomes. The biggest wafers commonly made today are 300 millimetres in diameter and 775 microns thick; 450 mm wafers are currently being developed.
The ever growing trend towards farming out semiconductor manufacturing operations to these foundries has created opportunities for startups and smaller players to get in on the action with relatively little risk. On the other end of the scale, though, the big keep getting bigger – unless they’re being bought, that is.
The latest massive acquisition announcement (following Texas Instruments buying National Semiconductor in 2011) was NXP Semiconductors’ takeover of Freescale in March this year, which will create a giant worth about $40 billion once the deal is done. It’s rumoured that the next big chip maker looking to sell is Atmel.
In this sometimes predictable but frequently topsy-turvy industry, it’s often the case that the more things change, the more they change.
Brett van den Bosch
Editor
Further reading:
From the Editor's desk: Growth through inclusivity
Technews Publishing
News
As the engineering fields in South Africa continue to make progress toward gender equality, we are finally starting to see the presence and contribution of women in engineering and industrial roles.
Read more...
KITE 2025 proves its value
News
The KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Technology Exhibition (KITE) 2025 confirmed its place as KwaZulu-Natal’s must-attend industrial event, drawing thousands of industry professionals.
Read more...
Otto Wireless Solutions announces promotion of Miyelani Kubayi to technical director
Otto Wireless Solutions
News
Otto Wireless Solutions is proud to announce the promotion of Miyelani Kubayi to the position of technical director, effective 1 August 2025.
Read more...
DMASS experiences continued slowdown
News
The European electronic components distribution market continued its downward trajectory in the second quarter of 2025, according to new figures released by DMASS.
Read more...
World-first zero second grid-to-backup power switch
News
JSE-listed cable manufacturer, South Ocean Electric Wire, has completed a solar installation it says marks a global first: a seamless switch from grid to backup power in zero seconds.
Read more...
News
OMC deploys cobots to improve throughput 10x, while maintaining quality and ensuring consistency of fibre optic production.
Read more...
Cobots for opto production line
News
OMC deploys cobots to improve throughput 10x, while maintaining quality and ensuring consistency of fibre optic production.
Read more...
SACEEC celebrates standout industrial innovation on the KITE 2025 show floor
News
Exhibitor innovation took the spotlight at the KITE 2025 as the South African Capital Equipment Export Council announced the winners of its prestigious New Product & Innovation Awards.
Read more...
SA team for International Olympiad in Informatics
News
The Institute of Information Technology Professionals South Africa has named the team that will represent South Africa at this year’s International Olympiad in Informatics.
Read more...
Anritsu and Bluetest to support OTA measurement
News
Anritsu Company and Sweden-based Bluetest AB have jointly developed an Over-The-Air measurement solution to evaluate the performance of 5G IoT devices compliant with the RedCap specification.
Read more...
printer friendly version