Category Archives: Device Architecture

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $2.09 billion in billings worldwide in September 2018 (three-month average basis), according to the September Equipment Market Data Subscription (EMDS) Billings Report published today by SEMI. The billings figure is 6.5 percent lower than the final August 2018 level of $2.37 billion, and is 1.8 percent higher than the September 2017 billings level of $2.05 billion.

“Quarterly global billings of North American equipment suppliers experienced their typical seasonal weakening in the most recent quarter,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “Relative to the third quarter, we expect investment activity to improve for the remainder of the year.”

The SEMI Billings report uses three-month moving averages of worldwide billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.
Billings
(3-mo. avg.)
Year-Over-Year
April 2018
$2,689.9
25.9%
May 2018
$2,702.3
19.0%
June 2018
$2,484.3
8.0%
July 2018
$2,377.9
4.8%
August 2018 (final)
$2,236.8
2.5%
September 2018 (prelim)
$2,091.9
1.8%

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org), October 2018

SEMI publishes a monthly North American Billings report and issues the Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (WWSEMS) report in collaboration with the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

Spectrometers — devices that distinguish different wavelengths of light and are used to determine the chemical composition of everything from laboratory materials to distant stars — are large devices with six-figure price tags, and tend to be found in large university and industry labs or observatories.

A collection of mini-spectrometer chips are arrayed on a tray after being made through conventional chip-making processes. Credit: Felice Frankel

A new advance by researchers at MIT could make it possible to produce tiny spectrometers that are just as accurate and powerful but could be mass produced using standard chip-making processes. This approach could open up new uses for spectrometry that previously would have been physically and financially impossible.

The invention is described today in the journal Nature Communications, in a paper by MIT associate professor of materials science and engineering Juejun Hu, doctoral student Derek Kita, research assistant Brando Miranda, and five others.

The researchers say this new approach to making spectrometers on a chip could provide major advantages in performance, size, weight, and power consumption, compared to current instruments.

Other groups have tried to make chip-based spectrometers, but there is a built-in challenge: A device’s ability to spread out light based on its wavelength, using any conventional optical system, is highly dependent on the device’s size. “If you make it smaller, the performance degrades,” Hu says.

Another type of spectrometer uses a mathematical approach called a Fourier transform. But these devices are still limited by the same size constraint — long optical paths are essential to attaining high performance. Since high-performance devices require long, tunable optical path lengths, miniaturized spectrometers have traditionally been inferior compared to their benchtop counterparts.

Instead, “we used a different technique,” says Kita. Their system is based on optical switches, which can instantly flip a beam of light between the different optical pathways, which can be of different lengths. These all-electronic optical switches eliminate the need for movable mirrors, which are required in the current versions, and can easily be fabricated using standard chip-making technology.

By eliminating the moving parts, Kita says, “there’s a huge benefit in terms of robustness. You could drop it off the table without causing any damage.”

By using path lengths in power-of-two increments, these lengths can be combined in different ways to replicate an exponential number of discrete lengths, thus leading to a potential spectral resolution that increases exponentially with the number of on-chip optical switches. It’s the same principle that allows a balance scale to accurately measure a broad range of weights by combining just a small number of standard weights.

As a proof of concept, the researchers contracted an industry-standard semiconductor manufacturing service to build a device with six sequential switches, producing 64 spectral channels, with built-in processing capability to control the device and process its output. By expanding to 10 switches, the resolution would jump to 1,024 channels. They designed the device as a plug-and-play unit that could be easily integrated with existing optical networks.

The team also used new machine-learning techniques to reconstruct detailed spectra from a limited number of channels. The method they developed works well to detect both broad and narrow spectral peaks, Kita says. They were able to demonstrate that its performance did indeed match the calculations, and thus opens up a wide range of potential further development for various applications.

The researchers say such spectrometers could find applications in sensing devices, materials analysis systems, optical coherent tomography in medical imaging, and monitoring the performance of optical networks, upon which most of today’s digital networks rely. Already, the team has been contacted by some companies interested in possible uses for such microchip spectrometers, with their promise of huge advantages in size, weight, and power consumption, Kita says. There is also interest in applications for real-time monitoring of industrial processes, Hu adds, as well as for environmental sensing for industries such as oil and gas.

By Jay Chittooran

Last week, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), on instruction from President Trump, notified Congress that the administration intends to begin bilateral trade negotiations with Japan, the European Union (EU), and the United Kingdom.

SEMI stands strong for free trade and open markets, and roundly supports efforts to increase market access and tap into more foreign economies, especially economies like Japan and the EU, both of which are central to the semiconductor industry. The semiconductor industry, which enables the $2 trillion electronics market, is built on global commerce. SEMI members rely on a vast network of supply chains that span the globe, bringing together components and tools made all around the world and assembled into a single sub-system that is then integrated into a larger tool used in the chipmaking process.

These free trade agreements will reduce tariffs, which will result in cost savings and productivity gains, and allow SEMI members to expand and grow. But the benefits of modern free trade agreements extend well beyond tariff reduction. Indeed, these trade deals will establish and enhance global trade rules that enable companies to innovate and compete fairly on a level playing field. Trade agreements strengthen certainty and further business continuity.

While the exact nature and negotiation timelines for the talks remain unclear, SEMI will engage the administration, urging it to maintain high standards in these agreements, such as:

  • Maintain strong respect for intellectual property and trade secrets through robust safeguards and significant penalties for violators
  • Remove tariffs and non-tariff barriers on semiconductor products as well as products that depend on semiconductors
  • Simplify and harmonize the customs and trade facilitation processes
  • Combat any attempts of forced technology transfer
  • Prevent use of data localization measures and enable the free flow of cross-border data flows
  • End discriminatory and/or burdensome regulatory practices
  • Ensure standards in all forms are market-oriented
  • Create rules for state-owned enterprises to ensure fair and non-discriminatory treatment of all companies

According to Trade Promotion Authority (TPA), the U.S. law that guides trade votes in Congress, negotiations with each country can only begin 90 days after last week’s notification. During that period, there will be intensive consultation with Congress and stakeholders. This means, at the earliest, talks can start on January 14, 2019. (Bear in mind that discussions with the UK can only begin in earnest once the UK has formally left the European Union on March 29, 2019.)

The Trump administration’s announcement comes after the U.S. imposed or threatened tariffs on imports on all trading partners, including the EU and China. All told, the U.S. has imposed tariffs on more than $300 billion worth of goods. SEMI has weighed in on the detrimental nature of tariffs, arguing that tariffs on China will ultimately do nothing to address the concerns with China’s trade practices. This sledgehammer approach will introduce significant uncertainty, impose greater costs, and potentially lead to a trade war, ultimately undercutting the ability of semiconductor companies to sell overseas, stifling innovation and curbing U.S. technological leadership.

Elsewhere, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, the multilateral trade deal that links 11 Asia-Pacific economies, is well on its way to taking force. Canada will be taking its final steps to ratify the deal, joining Mexico, Japan and Singapore. The deal, formerly known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, should take effect by the first half of 2019.

SEMI will continue tracking ongoing trade developments. Any SEMI members with questions should contact Jay Chittooran, Public Policy Manager at SEMI, at [email protected].

MagnaChip Semiconductor Corporation (“MagnaChip”) (NYSE: MX), a designer and manufacturer of analog and mixed-signal semiconductor platform solutions, today announced that volume production of a new Display Driver IC (DDIC) for automotive panel displays has begun.

MagnaChip is planning to expand its business to various automotive display applications in the market, starting with the design-win of new product at a leading Japanese panel maker of automotive CSD (Center Stack Display) panels. The application of this LCD-based display driver product will be further extended to a wide range of automotive applications such as instrument cluster, GPS navigation and car entertainment displays in the future. Over time, it is widely anticipated that OLED display drivers also will be adopted for use in automotive applications.

The new automotive DDIC, S8311, has a maximum of 1440 channel outputs and an mLVDS (Mini Low-Voltage Differential Signaling) interface and supports all types of TFT-LCD such as a-Si (Amorphous silicon), LTPS (Low Temperature Poly Silicon) and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) for various automotive applications. MagnaChip fabricates the product in-house using the 150nm process, which is a cost-effective method the company has successfully used for many different products in recent years.

According to market research firm IHS, automotive display shipments keep growing with three primary automotive display systems: instrument cluster, center stack and heads-up display system. Based on current trends, IHS forecasts that global shipments of automotive display panels will rise to 165Mpcs in 2018 and increase to 200Mpcs in 2022.

“As the global automotive display market continues to expand, demand for high quality display driver products is expected to grow,” said YJ Kim, CEO of MagnaChip. “With our know-how and long track record of success in the Display market, we will continue to cooperate with major automotive display panel makers to extend our automotive DDIC business from a-Si TFT-LCD to LTPS, IGZO TFT-LCD and further to OLED panel-type displays.”

Silvaco welcomed Dr. Babak Taheri as CTO and Executive Vice President of Products. He brings three decades of engineering and leadership experience, with a track record of transforming and scaling global technology platforms. This new position at Silvaco is designed to drive innovation and project execution while increasing the synergy between Silvaco’s products and services across the company.

Dr. Taheri will be taking Silvaco’s advanced positions in FinFET and beyond nodes, novel materials, emerging memory and advanced display technologies, to the next level. He is also tasked with extending Silvaco’s market leadership in analog mixed signal, custom IC design and power devices. Furthermore, Dr. Taheri’s vast expertise in IP Products will accelerate Silvaco’s IP business growth.

Dr. Taheri said, “Silvaco has tremendous potential and I look forward leading Silvaco technologies as their CTO and EVP of products. My focus will be on TCAD, EDA, IP products, IP security, and related services. Silvaco has an impressive history of innovative solutions. I am excited about the opportunity to help bring the next level of innovation for products and services while deepening relationships with our customers and partners. Silvaco has a compelling combination of ground-breaking software solutions, global reach, and talented employees that form a strong foundation for industry leadership and success.”

Earlier in his career, Dr. Taheri has served as VP/GM of the Sensor Solutions Division at Freescale Semiconductor (now NXP). He also held VP/GM roles at Cypress Semiconductor and Invensense (now TDK), as well as key roles at SRI International and Apple.

David Dutton, CEO of Silvaco, welcomes Babak to the Team: “Babak Taheri is joining at the perfect time in Silvaco’s growth as a technology company in the demanding semiconductor industry,” said Dutton. “Babak understands our products and how to make them work together in a cohesive solution for the changing needs of our customers. I am looking forward to our partnership in growing Silvaco’s leadership in the industry.”

Babak has a Ph.D. in EECS and Neurosciences from UC Davis, a 30-year career spanning Engineering, R&D, Corporate IP Development/Management, MEMS/Sensors/Actuator Products, Memory Products and more, including 20 Published articles and 28 patents to his name. Silvaco welcomes Babak Taheri to its Executive Team to help drive Silvaco’s Vision, Mission and strategies.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced several groundbreaking additions to its comprehensive semiconductor ecosystem that encompass next-generation technologies in foundry as well as NAND flash, SSD (solid state drive) and DRAM. Together, these developments mark a giant step forward for Samsung’s semiconductor business.

Unveiled at its annual Samsung Tech Day include:

  • 7nm EUV process node from Samsung’s Foundry Business, providing significant strides forward in power, performance and area.
  • SmartSSD, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) SSD, that will offer accelerated data processing and the ability to bypass server CPU limits.
  • QLC-SSD for enterprise and datacenters that offer 33-percent more storage per cell than TLC-SSD, consolidating of storage footprints and improving total cost of ownership (TCO).
  • 256-gigabyte (GB) 3DS (3-dimensional stacking) RDIMM (registered dual in-line memory module), based on 10nm-class 16-gigabit (Gb) DDR4 DRAM that will double current maximum capacity to deliver higher performance and lower power consumption.

“Samsung’s technology leadership and product breadth are unparalleled,” said JS Choi, President, Samsung Semiconductor, Inc. “Bringing 7nm EUV into production is an incredible achievement. Also, the announcements of SmartSSD and 256GB 3DS RDIMM represent performance and capacity breakthroughs that will continue to push compute boundaries. Together, these additions to Samsung’s comprehensive technology ecosystem will power the next generation of datacenters, high-performance computing (HPC), enterprise, artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging applications.”

Advanced Foundry Technology

Initial wafer production of Samsung’s 7nm LPP (Low Power Plus) EUV process node represents a major milestone in semiconductor fabrication. The 7LPP EUV process technology provides great advances, including a respective maximum of 40-percent area reduction, 50-percent dynamic power reduction and 20-percent performance increase over 10nm processes. The 7LPP process represents a clear demonstration of the foundry business’ technology roadmap evolution, providing Samsung’s customers a direct path forward to 3nm.

Powering Server-less Computing

Samsung enables the most advanced providers of server-less computing through products including the new SmartSSD, quad-level cell (QLC)-SSD, 256GB 3DS RDIMM as well as High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) 2 Aquabolt. By accelerating data processing, bypassing server CPU limits and reducing power demands, these products will enable datacenter operators to continue to scale at faster speeds while containing costs.

Samsung’s industry-leading flash memory products for future datacenters will also include Key Value (KV)-SSD and Z-SSD. KV-SSD eliminates block storage inefficiency, reducing latency and allowing datacenter performance to scale evenly when CPU architectures max out. The company’s next-generation Z-SSD will be the fastest flash memory ever introduced, with dual port high availability, ultra-low latency and a U.2 form factor, designed to meet the emerging needs of enterprise clients. Z-SSD will also feature a PCIe Gen 4 interface with a blazing-fast 12-gigabytes-per-second (GB/s) sequential read, which is 20 times faster than today’s SATA SSD drives.

Accelerating Application Learning

A range of revolutionary Samsung solutions will enable the development of upcoming machine learning and AI technologies. The Tech Day AI display highlighted astounding data transfer speeds of 16Gb GDDR6 (64GB/s), ultra-low latency of Z-SSD and industry-leading performance of Aquabolt, which is the highest of any DRAM-based memory solution currently in the market. Together, these solutions help Samsung’s enterprise and datacenter clients open new doors to application learning and create the next wave of AI advancements.

Streamlining Data Flow

Samsung’s new solutions will enable not just faster speeds and higher performance but also improved efficiency for its enterprise clients. Enterprise products on display at Tech Day included D1Y 8Gb DDR4 Server DRAM, which incorporates the most advanced DRAM process, resulting in lower power usage. Samsung’s 256GB 3DS RDIMM also helps to improve enterprise performance and enables memory-intensive servers capable up to 16-terabytes (TB).

Additionally, Samsung’s dual-port x4 PCIe Gen 4 32TB SSD offers 10GB/s performance. Samsung’s 1Tb QLC-SSD presents a cutting-edge storage option for enterprise clients with competitive efficiency when compared to hard disk drives (HDD), while KV-SSD allows server performance to scale even as CPU architectures max out, also providing a competitive TCO, write amplification factor (WAF) improvement and scalability.

Breaking Performance Barriers

With their leading-edge specs, Samsung’s QLC-SSD, Z-SSD and 8GB Aquabolt help high-performance computing clients blast through performance barriers and reach new heights. The 8GB Aquabolt provides the fastest data transmission speed and highest performance of any DRAM-based memory solution on the market today at 307GB/s per HBM cube. QLC-SSD and Z-SSD, both powerful on their own, are also offered in a tiered storage solution that results in a 53-percent increase in overall system performance.

Enabling Future Innovation

Emerging tech requires the most innovative and flexible components. Samsung’s SmartSSD will increase speed and efficiency, and lower operating costs by pushing intelligence to where data lives. Movement of data for processing has traditionally caused increased latency and energy consumption while reducing efficiency. Samsung’s new SmartSSDs will overcome these issues by incorporating an FPGA accelerator into the SSD unit. This allows for faster data processing through bypassing server CPU limits. As a result, SmartSSDs will have higher processing performance, improved time-to-insight, more virtual machines (VM), scalable performance, better de-duplication and compression, lower power usage and fewer CPUs per system.

Unparalleled Product Ecosystem

Samsung’s comprehensive product portfolio with state-of-the-art solutions set new standards for data processing speed, capacity, bandwidth and energy conservation. By leveraging such solutions, data centers, enterprise companies, hyper-scalers and emerging tech platforms are able to configure product solutions based on their requirements and develop exciting new tech offerings such as 5G, AI, enterprise and hyperscale data centers, automotive, networking and beyond.

Samsung will continue to push boundaries in tomorrow’s semiconductor technologies through innovations such as its sixth-generation V-NAND built on a single structure, or with ‘1-stack technology,’ and sub-10nm DRAM with EUV for super-high density and performance.

Experts across the industry, including Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak, were invited at Samsung Tech Day to address the advancements and challenges in today’s semiconductor market, and offer insights for the future of semiconductors. More than 400 customers, partners and industry influencers attended the event.

Micron Technology Inc. (NASDAQ: MU) today marked its 40th anniversary with a celebration on the steps of the Idaho state Capitol, one of many celebrations at Micron sites around the world.

From its early days as a startup in Boise 40 years ago, Micron has established itself as the world’s fourth-largest semiconductor company, with the broadest portfolio of memory and storage solutions in the industry. Today, Micron employs more than 34,000 people in 17 countries globally. Micron has contributed nearly 40,000 patents over the course of its history, and the company’s commitment to innovation continues to serve as an engine for its expansion and growth. Over the last 40 years, Micron’s high-performance memory and storage solutions have helped enable many broader technology advances in diverse end applications such as Personal Computing, Mobile Smartphones, Networking and Cloud Computing. In the future, Micron’s products will play an instrumental role in delivering storage and faster access to data that will continue to drive breakthroughs in new areas such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomous driving.

“Our 40-year history is a great story of innovation and tenacity, and we are proud of our legacy,” Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said. “Micron is scaling new heights and our technology is the foundation on which the AI revolution is being built. We look forward to the next decade with great optimism and excitement – and the confidence that the technology evolution is increasingly making Micron an indispensable player and key partner to the ecosystem and to our customers.”

Micron’s leadership and contributions extend to the communities in which it operates. The Micron Foundation, which the company established in 1999, has donated more than US$100 million in 17 countries. In the past two years alone, the Micron Foundation has contributed nearly $25 million globally. At the Boise celebration, Mehrotra announced the “40 For Good” program, awarding donations to four Boise-area charities. Last week at its inaugural Insight 2018 event, Micron announced a $1 million grant for universities and nonprofit organizations to conduct research on AI. The event featured keynotes and discussions with some of the industry’s most important thought leaders in the fields of AI, machine learning and data science.

At the Boise state Capitol celebration today, Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and Boise Mayor Dave Bieter joined the festivities, commending Micron on its success and commitment to local communities.

“Micron has created a vibrant legacy of leadership and innovation in their industry and an enviable record of civic involvement within our state,” Otter said. “The Micron Foundation has made tremendous investments in critical educational and community infrastructure. As one of Idaho’s largest employers, Micron has played a vital role in providing not just jobs, but meaningful careers. Through their 40 years, Micron has been a big part of Idaho’s success in diversifying our economy and expanding our economic base. With their continued wise and steady leadership, I have no doubt that Micron’s best years are yet to come.”

Business leaders around the world extended their congratulations to Micron on its 40th anniversary.

“In the course of the last 40 years when I was in the industry, many technology companies have come and gone,” NVIDIA Founder, President and CEO Jensen Huang said. “Yet the great ones, somehow, reinvent themselves, and surf the waves, and somehow are always ahead of it. Micron is one of those great companies.”

“As data continues to rise in importance, so does the need to securely and efficiently store and access it,” said Richard Yu, executive director and CEO of the Consumer Business Group for Huawei Technology Co. Ltd. “Micron has proven to be a reliable and innovative partner, helping Huawei address its data storage needs and supporting our growth as a networking and communications leader. We look forward to our future work with Micron.”

“Decades ago Micron allowed a small Dutch startup into its fab and has since been instrumental in ASML’s success. I have experienced firsthand the innovation and tenacity that have enabled Micron to survive and thrive when so many others did not,” ASML President and CTO Martin van den Brink said. “It has been a privilege to be part of Micron’s 40-year journey. Throughout the years, Micron has remained fully committed to our shared goal to successfully push leading-edge technology forward as a core differentiator. Congratulations to the whole Micron team on your 40th anniversary.”

“Micron is a longtime supplier for our business that has pivoted to provide memory solutions across Dell’s core technologies, from edge devices to data centers,” said Jeff Clarke, vice chairman, products and operations, Dell Technologies. “It is great to work with a company that not only delivers on our current needs, but listens, innovates and leads as new opportunities emerge to serve our customers.”

Researchers from Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology (TUAT) have sped up the movement of electrons in organic semiconductor films by two to three orders of magnitude. The speedier electronics could lead to improved solar power and transistor use across the world, according to the scientists.

They published their results in the September issue of Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, where the paper is featured on the cover.

Led by Kenji Ogino, a professor at Graduate School of Bio-Applications and Systems Engineering at TUAT, Japan, the team found that adding polystyrene, commonly known as Styrofoam in North America, could enhance the semiconducting polymer by allowing electrons to move from plane to plane quickly. The process, called hole mobility, is how electrons move through an electric field consisting of multiple layers. When a molecule is missing an electron, an electron from a different plane can jump or fall and take its place.

Through various imaging techniques, it’s fairly easy to follow the electron trail in the crystal-based structures. In many semiconducting polymers, however, the clean, defined lines of the crystalline skeleton intertwine with a much more difficult-to-define region. It’s actually called the amorphous domain.

“[Electrons] transport in both crystalline and amorphous domains. To improve the total electron mobility, it is necessary to control the nature of the amorphous domain,” Ogino said. “We found that hole mobility extraordinarily improved by the introduction of polystyrene block accompanied by the increase of the ratio of rigid amorphous domain.”

The researchers believe that the way the crystalline domain connects within itself occurs most effectively through the rigid amorphous domain. The addition of polystyrene introduced more amorphous domain, but contained by flexible chains of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Even though the chains are flexible, it provides rigidity, and some degree of control, to the amorphous domain.

Electrons moved two to three times quicker than normal.

“The introduction of a flexible chain in semicrystalline polymers is one of the promising strategies to improve the various functionalities of polymer films by altering the characteristics of the amorphous domain,” Ogino said. “We propose that the rigid amorphous domain plays an important role in the hole transporting process.”

Enhanced hole mobility is a critical factor in developing more efficient solar devices, according to Ogino. Next, Ogino and the researchers plan to examine how the enhanced hole mobility affected other parameters, such as the chemical composition and position of the structures within the polymer film.

Micron Technology, Inc., (NASDAQ: MU) today announced it has appointed two distinguished  finance and technology industry leaders, Mary Pat McCarthy and Steve Gomo, to its board of directors and audit committee.

McCarthy is a veteran of KPMG, a world-leading audit, tax and advisory firm, where she led the international practice serving software, electronics, communications and media companies. McCarthy has extensive experience in the technology space through client engagements with many leading companies. As U.S. Vice Chair, McCarthy focused on growing KPMG’s global business and developing partners’ skills. She also held the position of Executive Director of KPMG’s Audit Committee Institute and has deep boardroom experience, along with hands-on involvement with corporate governance, IPOs, mergers and acquisitions, and the SEC. McCarthy currently serves on the boards of Palo Alto Networks Inc. and most recently Andeavor and Mutual of Omaha. She is a Certified Public Accountant and received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Creighton University in 1977.

Gomo has more than 40 years of global financial and management experience, most recently having served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at NetApp from 2002 to 2011, where he oversaw finance, legal, workplace resources and investor relations functions. During Gomo’s tenure, NetApp, a leading provider of innovative storage and data management solutions, experienced exponential business growth, expanding to more than 130 offices worldwide, increasing revenues more than fivefold, and achieving a threefold rise in market cap. Gomo currently serves on the boards of Nutanix, Inc. and Enphase Energy, Inc. He received his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Oregon State University in 1974, and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from the Santa Clara University in 1977.

“I am honored that Mary Pat and Steve will add their exceptional talents and experience to our board of directors,” said Micron President and CEO Sanjay Mehrotra. “In her tenure at KPMG, Mary Pat served as a senior audit partner to major clients advising countless iconic Silicon Valley companies. Steve’s visionary management at NetApp helped drive exponential company growth. We certainly will benefit from their advice and insights as our business evolves, and as memory and storage solutions play an increasingly central role in advancing areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning.”

“Mary Pat and Steve are distinguished leaders with deep expertise and significant public-company board experience,” said Micron Chairman Robert Switz. “Their backgrounds will bring additional strength to our board, and I am confident they are going to provide valuable perspectives as Micron continues to grow.”

With tremendous growth of smartphones over the past decade, foundry sales to the communications market have soared and are now forecast to account for about 3x more than IC foundry sales to the computer market in 2018, based on IC Insights’ extensive part-two analysis of the integrated circuit foundry business in the September Update to The 2018 McClean Report (Figure 1).

Figure 1

Ten years ago, computers/computing systems were easily the largest application for pure-play IC foundry sales, but a relatively flat tablet PC market and lackluster desktop and notebook PC sales since 2011 contributed to weak pure-play foundry sales into the computer segment.

Now, new server applications targeting artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things, Cloud Computing, and cryptocurrency are forecast to breathe new life into this market segment over the next five years. TSMC expects its IC sales into the IoT segment will grow by a CAGR of more than 20% from 2017 through 2022 (the company had greater than $1.0 billion in IoT sales in 2017).

Although IC foundry sales for computer applications are expected to surge 41% this year (driven by TSMC’s cryptocurrency device sales), the communications foundry market is still expected to be about 3x the size of the computer segment in 2018.  The communications foundry market is forecast to display only a 2% growth rate in 2018, six points less than the total pure-play foundry market growth rate expected for this year.

Overall, the communications (52%), computer (19%), and consumer (13%) market segments are forecast to represent 84% of the pure-play IC foundry market in 2018.