June 4, 2012 — John Chen of Nvidia gave the opening keynote address of The ConFab 2012, presenting the concept of a “virtual IDM” comprising fabless companies, semiconductor foundries, and packaging houses working seamlessly together. The ConFab is Solid State Technology’s invitation-only meeting of the semiconductor industry, this week in Las Vegas.

After his speech, Chen caught up with Solid State Technology’s editor-in-chief Pete Singer.

“Those of us in the industry are already working together,” and the goal is to work together on projects as if we are from the same company, Chen said, even if the project is no longer controlled start-to-finish by an IDM. Virtual IDM collaboration means communication among the groups from the start of product development.

Chen also discussed the development, adoption, and mass commercialization of PCs, and the methodologies that developed along the way to grow the semiconductor industry behind them. That same spirit will help the semiconductor industry progress and evolve for success in years to come.

Get more information on “the virtual IDM” in our highlights summary from Chen’s keynote.