Change the Rules to Win!

April 26, 2012

Some consider the many of billions of dollars invested in the semiconductor supply chain to be huge bets on yet to be proven technology and future business. Even if you take a strict view of this as simply business it is possible to learn something from gambling.

The Atlantic tells the fascinating story of how Don Johnson took Atlantic City casinos for $15 M playing blackjack. Last year he won $5 M from Borgata in February, $4 M from Caesars in March, and $6 M from Tropicana in April. This wasn’t luck and he wasn’t card counting. How did he do this and how does this connect to semiconductors and Apple?

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Leave a Comment » | 2.5D/3D Stacked Integrated Circuits (ICs), 450 mm wafers, Apple, Design Cycles, Economics, Management, Mobile Devices, Post PC Era, SEMI, Semiconductors | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ira Feldman

SEMI ISS – Snapshot of a Wild Ride – Other Coverage

February 2, 2012

Michael Splinter (Applied Materials) - Relative industry cost improvements and volumes.

I hope that my summaries of the first day of SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) 2012 in

provided useful insights to the economic roller coaster that is the semiconductor market and its equipment and material supply chain. There have also been several good reports Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | 2.5D/3D Stacked Integrated Circuits (ICs), 450 mm wafers, Economics, Moore's Law, SEMI, Semiconductor Capital Equipment (CAPEX), Semiconductors | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ira Feldman

SEMI ISS – Snapshot of a Wild Ride – Session 2

January 25, 2012

After a gloomy first session focused on world economics at SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) 2012, Session 2 – Semiconductor Markets was significantly more upbeat.

Stephen G. Newberry (Vice Chairman of the Board,  Lam Research Corporation) started off with a way forward in Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | 2.5D/3D Stacked Integrated Circuits (ICs), 450 mm wafers, Economics, Moore's Law, SEMI, Semiconductor Capital Equipment (CAPEX), Semiconductors | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ira Feldman

SEMI ISS – Snapshot of a Wild Ride – Session 1

January 23, 2012

Like the roller coaster ride that is the semiconductor industry, the SEMI Industry Strategy Symposium (ISS) 2012 had its share of ups, downs, twists, and turns. Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International – better known as SEMI – as the industry association of suppliers to semiconductor manufacturers has held this annual conference in early January for thirty five years to provide updates on business conditions and technology roadmaps to enable SEMI members to plan for the coming year. The conference was packed with senior management paying close attention to the industry leaders, analysts, and customer presenters. All of the presentations, even the most poorly disguised sales pitch or infomercial, contained several valuable insights.

In his keynote presentation “Technology Law Still Delivers“, William Holt (Senior Vice President; General Manager, Technology & Manufacturing Group, Intel Corporation) opened the conference with much optimism based upon Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment » | Economics, SEMI, Semiconductor Capital Equipment (CAPEX), Semiconductors | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ira Feldman

Recovering from (our) Recession

September 30, 2010

… Not for the squeamish or faint of heart.

A few days ago, I attended the Keizai Society’s panel presentation “Recovering from Recession“. The panelists did an excellent job in interpreting the current economic data and both the short and long term issues. In addition, they cited lessons learned from Japan’s Lost Decade and how it applies to our current situation. The good news is we did learn a lot from their Lost Decade and other recessions; the bad news is that things are going to look gloomy for some time!

Dr. Daniel Okimoto, a Stanford University professor, who is Director Emeritus, Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) started the evening. Even though many of the issues he raised were not “new-news”, Dr. Okimoto did an excellent job of putting them in perspective to describe the current situation.

Here are highlights of his presentation followed by some of my own analysis:

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1 Comment | Economics, Japan | Tagged: | Permalink
Posted by Ira Feldman

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