Data Center Market Math
The data center silicon market is massive, but also challenging for incumbents let alone new entrants. We do some math to back this up.
Category Archives: Roll Your Own
Semis Top Five
We think there will be a few more legs of semis consolidation. So we compiled a list of 5 semis companies who we think will survive:
1. ADI & TI
2. QCOM
3. NVDA
4. Some chip company from China
5. The smoldering remains of Intel, probably owned by others.
How Soft is that Hardware?
We are all familiar with software and Internet companies building their own chips. Less appreciated is the extent to which semis companies are all gradually morphing into software providers as well.
RISC V and a Whole New Kind of Software Mess
RISC V is going to encounter a lot of software incompatibility problems, but that probably won’t matter, and definitely won’t stop it.
Intel Mobile Deja Vu
The market for base station and RAN silicon is shaping up to one of the most interesting to watch in the new year. And intel seems to have forgotten its long, sorry history in the space, making for some great viewing.
Chips as a Service?
Lots of people think chip companies should build “services” businesses to capture more value. The list of companies that have accomplished this is very close to zero.
SQL Processing Unit?
The advances in size and accessibility of modern databases is a wonder of our age. But to continue they will need similar innovation in the silicon on which databases run.
Arm: Credit where credit is due
Arm is now a real force in the data center. With all of the “Super 7” running Arm CPUs, and the software industry increasingly recognizing the benefit of porting to Arm, we are at or approaching a significant tipping point in this massive market.
Will Apple build its own RF chips?
Will Apple build its own RF chips – it turns out this is much more complicated than it sounds, and Apple is already getting almost everything it wants from its RF suppliers. However, nowhere in this piece do we say it will never happen.
Stealth Semis
Semis are changing, so it makes sense that some foundries are going to adopt new customer acquisition models. So just like we saw “Stealth IT” encourage cloud adoption, maybe we are going to see “Stealth Semis”.