AMD, Intel settle all disputes! What a relief!!

The big news: Intel and AMD announced a comprehensive agreement to end all outstanding legal disputes between the companies, including antitrust litigation and patent cross license disputes! What a relief!

In a joint statement the two companies commented, “While the relationship between the two companies has been difficult in the past, this agreement ends the legal disputes and enables the companies to focus all of our efforts on product innovation and development.”

As per the agreement the two companies obtain patent rights from a new five-year cross license agreement, Intel and AMD will give up any claims of breach from the previous license agreement, and Intel will pay AMD $1.25 billion. Intel has also agreed to abide by a set of business practice provisions.

AMD will drop all pending litigation including the case in US District Court in Delaware and two cases pending in Japan. AMD will also withdraw all of its regulatory complaints worldwide.

Ramkumar Subramanian, VP, Sales & Marketing, AMD India, said: “This is a historical settlement for the microprocessor industry. The settlement will set transparent ground rules for open, competitive markets, with which Intel, in full public view, has agreed to comply. Fair and open competition dictates that the best product wins and market forces prevail. I am very confident that this development will help us strengthen our market position.”

This is just the kind of news the global semiconductor industry needs! It is hopefully, on path of a major recovery after having faced the worst recession.

It is heartening to note that the two rivals have buried the hatchet and shaken hands — a plea I’ve been making via my blog posts for such a long time.

It would do both Intel and AMD a world of good to focus on their core competencies and continue to produce all of those magnificent chips that make all of our lives so easy and meaningful!

Good work guys and congratulations. May you have all the success and lead the global semiconductor industry to greater heights in the future.

India major destination for solar/PV investments!

“Green energy is the order of the day,” stated K. Rosaiah, Hon’ble chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. “It is the responsibility of every country and every citizen to see that our dependence on conventional energy can be reduced to the extent possible, and to focus our efforts on the development of renewable energy sources.”

He was speaking at the ongoing Solarcon India 2009, a three-day exhibition and conference organized by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), in association with Intersolar, and in partnership with the India Semiconductor Association (ISA) and FabCity.

According to him, a sizeable gap exists between the demand and supply of energy. Solar energy becomes critical in the context of climate change and global warming. The Prime Minister had launched the National Action Plan on Climate Change in June 2008.

The Solar Mission Plan, to be announced on November 14, aims to achieve 20GW of solar generation capacity by 2020. There are plans to deliver on the creation of 1 lakh new jobs during the course of the plan.

“At present, solar energy was high on absolute costs compared to other sources of power. The Solar Mission would definitely drive the cost as rapidly as possible,” the chief minister said.

He added that Solarcon India had attracted 67 exhibitors from 16 countries, and over 400 delegates. This will be an annual event from now on, to showcase FabCity and SolarCity initiatives of the state government.

Now, it is time for India!
Earlier, delivering the welcome address, BV Naidu, chairman, India Semiconductor Association (ISA) said that the Solarcon India 2009 was happening at the right time and at the right place. “We have heard the success stories in the USA, Japan, Germany, etc. Now, it is time for India!”

He added that Andhra Pradesh had leap frogged in solar PV, and hence, this event was being held in Hyderabad. Also, FabCity has taken the lead in managing to attract manufacturing. Among the 15 proposals on solar PV received by government of India under the semiconductor policy, five proposals have been submitted by companies located in Andhra Pradesh. According to him, Andhra Pradesh had the capability to take on at least 20 percent target of the solar mission plan, given the kind of leadership the state has shown so far.

Naidu further advised that Andhra Pradesh was also going to host the Fraunhofer ISE, which will be set up here. Prof. Eicke R Weber, director, Fraunhofer Institute, will be signing the MoU to set up the institute in India.

SolarCity logo unveiled at SolarCon India 2009; award for Prof. Weber of Fraunhofer Institute

The Solarcon India 2009, which kicked off today at Hyderabad, India, promised much, and well, did not disappoint!

It all started with the chief guest,  K. Rosaiah, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. inaugurating  the event by lighting solar LED lanterns.

The action continued thereafter when a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy ISE and the University of Hyderabad Knowledge and Innovation Park (UoH KIP), in association with the India Semiconductor Association (ISA).

Proposed activities of collaboration between Fraunhofer ISE and UoH KIP include:

* Setting up of testing and certification facility.

* Designing appropriate training programs in solar energy.

* Research & Development centre.

Also, Prof. Eicke R. Weber, Director, Fraunhofer Institute of Solar Energy, was presented the FABCity Excellence Award 2009 for his outstanding contribution in the field of solar energy.

I recently had the pleasure of doing  a great story with him and was thrilled to meet him during the event.

SolarCity logo unveiled
The logo of the upcoming SolarCity at Anantapur was released today during the Solarcon India 2009 event by K. Rosaiah, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Located in Kadiri area of Anantapur district, it is spread over 10,000 acres of barren land. It has proximity to Bengaluru International Airport (85 kms). The area has suitable radiation index for solar farms as well.

This is a proactive government policy to promote solar power generation in the state. It is in synergy with FABCity, Hyderabad, a center for solar PV manufacturing.

Allotment letters were also given to the following companies by the Minister.

* Sunborne Inc, USA

* Lanco Solar

* AES Solar, USA

* Titan Energy

A little later, Moserbaer Photovoltaic Ltd was allotted 100 acres of land on lease in FABCity SPV for setting up its crystalline based solar cell manufacturing facility during the ongoing Solarcon India 2009.

Much more will be added here during the coming days, including excerpts from various presentations, including the one from Prof. Weber and several others.

Strong semicon industry recovery likely in 2010!

If all of the industry analysts are to be believed, the semiconductor market recovery has begun! Nearly all of them have been forecasting a recovery in the global semiconductor market as well. Let’s take a look at their predictions.

* According to IC Insights, the top 20 suppliers’ sales show back-to-back 19 percent growth rates! In fact, four of the top 20 — Samsung, Toshiba, Qualcomm, and MediaTek are likely to show sales growth this year!

* As per Databeans, the Americas was the first to post growth for semiconductors from the same quarter a year ago, up 8 percent. Worldwide, Q3 came in down 10 percent from 2008, but up 20 percent sequentially. This puts the market on target with our current prediction of $217 billion, a contraction of 13 percent from 2008. Databeans is also still predicting that the 2010 revenue will be up 17 percent from this year.

* The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) is projecting worldwide sales of $219.7 billion for 2009, a decline of 11.6 percent from the $248.6 billion reported in 2008. Forecast projects that sales will grow by 10.2 percent to $242.1 billion in 2010 and by 8.4 percent to $262.3 billion in 2011. Worldwide sales of semiconductors in the quarter ended September 30 were $61.9 billion, an increase of 19.7 percent from the prior quarter when sales were $51.7 billion, it reported.

* According to DRAMeXchange, 3Q09 DRAM revenue increased 40.7 percent to $5,719 million. Samsung, Hynix, Elpida, Micron and Nanya (of Taiwan) make up the top 5 positions.

* Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments increased significantly during the third quarter 2009 when compared to the second quarter 2009 area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry. Total silicon wafer area shipments were 1,972 million square inches during the most recent quarter, a 17 percent increase from the 1,686 million square inches shipped during the previous quarter. The new quarterly total area shipments are 13 percent below third quarter 2008 shipments.

* Malcolm Penn, chairman and CEO of Future Horizons says that Q3-09 chip growth has set the stage for 22 percent surge In 2010 vs. 2009! The market rebound started at the end of Q1, with Q2 coming in at 17 percent sequential growth. With Q3 now up a further 20 percent and Q4 market guidance in the 5 percent to 7 percent range, the 2009 market is set to close out at between $220-225 billion.

* Although global semiconductor revenue is set to decline in 2009 for the second consecutive year, quarterly year-over-year growth is expected to finally return to the market in the fourth quarter, signaling the start of the industry recovery, according to iSuppli Corp. As iSuppli previously announced, global semiconductor revenue is set to contract by 16.5 percent in 2009.

* A note of caution from The Information Network, which said that semiconductor equipment billings were at 1994 levels as semis continue to underspend! Much of the problem in its opinion is the transition from 200mm to 300mm diameter wafers. Also, semiconductor companies, let by International Sematech, are pushing for a transition to 450mm wafers, which in our opinion will be the death knell for a large number of equipment manufacturers. It is critical that semiconductor equipment manufacturers boycott 450mm development. The Information Network also indicated that the “salad days” are over for the equipment industry.

* Late September 2009, the EDA Consortium (EDAC) Market Statistics Service (MSS) announced that the EDA industry revenue for Q2 2009 is $1,125.5 million, a 5.6 percent sequential decline from Q1. Since Q3 results are awaited, and as Walden Rhines, EDAC chair and chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics, said, “As the electronics industry recovers, and its R&D spending increases to come in line with its growing revenue, the EDA industry would be expected to recover as well.”

* According to iSuppli, foundries played the semiconductor survivor in 2010. It reported that although the global semiconductor foundry market is set to make a welcome return to growth in 2010 after a terrible 2009, the recent downturn is likely to thin the ranks of the top-tier pure-play suppliers down to just three major players in the future,

There you have it! All of the semiconductor pundits are pointing toward a recovery in 2010!

However, there are some questions that remain unanswered, for now.  iSuppli also reported that there has been no double booking in this semiconductor recovery in late 2009 at least. Will this scenario remain? For how long? Or, will those same old mistakes be made once the industry is back to being healthy?

Will there be renewed interest in the move toward 450mm fabs? What happens to all those companies making equipment for 300mm fabs, should that happen?

Will the companies re-write their business plans, as advised by Future Horizons’ Malcolm Penn?

In all of these good tidings, there is some discomfort hidden deep down!

Oh, one last point! What happens to all of those folks who got laid off during the longest recession of our times? Will they be re-instated?

Solar Semiconductor’s Hari Surapaneni on why solar is good for India!

Hari Surapaneni, founder, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, Solar Semiconductor, is among the speakers at the Solarcon India 2009 event in Hyderabad next week. It was a pleasure to chat up with him recently.

Hari Surapaneni, founder, chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer, Solar Semiconductor.

Solar Semiconductor is a well known systems integration company specializing in promoting, designing, building and maintaining solar PV power plants in the US and rest of the world.

Solar/PV market drivers in India
According to Surapaneni the current market drivers for solar photovoltaics in India include:

* Rising energy demand: Electricity consumption in India is projected to rise from 660 kWh per capita currently to over 2000 kWh by 2032 along with economic growth.

* Energy security for sustainable economic growth: To reduce reliance on fossil fuel for sustainable economic growth. This will help reduce risk on depending on a few nations for supply of fossil fuels and reduce the export bill for the country.

* Significant power deficit situation: India is still a power deficit country with average power shortage of ~9 percent and peak power shortage of ~15 percent.

* Government goals to supply electricity to all.

On potential of thermal and CIGS solar
Surapaneni believes there is a case for thermal solar. He said: “Solar thermal technology does have a potential in India. With today’s prices of PV and continued reduction of the same coupled with lower operating expenses of PV, the penetration of solar thermal becomes a challenge in India.”

There has been some talk about CIGS (Copper indium gallium (di) selenide) solar. Does this technology have potential in the Indian context?

Surapaneni added: “CIGS is a very promising technology as it provides higher panel efficiency with low cost. However, it is still not a proven technology at commercial scale and some time off from commercialization.”

And what about BIPV?
On the same note, it’d be interesting to get his thoughts on the potential for BIPV (building integrated photovoltaics) in the Indian context.

According to Surapaneni, building integrated PV and roof integrated PV (solar tiles, etc.) are primarily urban applications.

“Rapid development in cities (high rises/apartment complexes/office buildings), coupled with high solar irradiation of 4-7 kwh per day, per square meter and 300 sunny days annually, BIPV has significant theoretical potential.

“These building currently have polluting diesel back-ups. However, to realize this potential, specific government encouragement through incentives and mandates is necessary.”

India advantage
In the global context, consolidation in solar cell manufacturing to control oversupply has been happening.

Surapaneni said that in the current scenario — where the global capacity is approximately 1.5x to 2x times the demand — there is bound to be consolidation among the solar cell manufacturers, including potential mergers and acquisitions.

“This is however is a dynamic phenomenon and as grid parity is achieved in developed markets, and with a turnaround in global economy, demand can potentially outpace the consolidated supply also.

“Regardless of the dynamics of the market place, India offers significant opportunity. India can offer highest quality products at the lowest cost. Solar Semiconductor has already demonstrated this capability/value proposition and has benefited consequently in this demand constrained (over supply) environment.”

 

Embedded electronics: Trends and opportunities in India!

I know this particular topic and headline is going to get lots of page views. However, I’ve something better in mind to tell all of you, especially those having an interest in embedded systems and software in India.

The headline is actually the theme of the India Semiconductor Association’s (ISA) E3 conference, which will be held during the forthcoming BangaloreIT.biz event next week!

What’s in store? Probably lots!

In the opening session, industry thought leaders from Ittiam Systems and SemIndia will be setting the tone on design and manufacturing perspective. The second session is actually a panel discussion — to be moderated by S. Janakiraman, President and Group CEO, Product Engineering Services, MindTree. The panelists are from KPIT Cummins, National Semiconductor, Wipro and Delphi. It should be interesting!

I will add some more thoughts on the trends and opportunities in the Indian embedded systems and software industry, although, I’ve mentioned those quite a few times in the past!

India’s strength in embedded
India’s strength in embedded is two-fold — embedded design – in both hadware and software. Also India’s manufacturing demand for electronic products is growing at 13 percent CAGR as per ISA-F&S report 2008.

Design of embedded systems and software
India is emerging as the chip design center for most global companies. There are three types of embedded activities currently happening in India. These are:

* Embedded products designed, developed and manufactured by Indian companies for local markets or for exports — such as local product companies.
* Design projects executed by Indian design services companies for global companies — such as Wipro, KPIT, etc.
* Transnational R&D companies functional in India, who are doing captive design projects for parent companies from India. — Delphi, Cisco, Intel, etc.

Verticals of growth
Coming to manufacturing part, this growth is happening across five-six verticals:

* IT and office automation (OA) — where desktops and laptops are the growth drivers.
* The second area is telecom — wireless infrastructure for GSM and CDMA; also mobile phone manufacturing is emerging as a big segment.
* Next comes consumer electronics, which is driven by STBs, MP3 playerrs, TV and audio systems, etc.
* In industrial electroncis — it is being driven by UPS, energy meters, etc.
* In automotive — we have over 7 million two-wheelers being manufactured in India. The electronic content within them is growing.
* Another opportunity is in medical electronics, smart cards — now with the national ID project as well as metros coming in, and also e-passports.
* Even defence and aerospace are growing areas.

Trends and opportunities in India
The emerging trends are in security surveillance, solar energy, and LED lighting.

* Surveillance — video and security surveillance are gaining strongly.
* Solar — basically, along with solar panels, you will need MPPT charge controllers as well as solar inverters. These will fuel growth.
* LED lighting — meant to replace kerosene lamps with LED, as well as street LED lighting and auto LED lighting, along with lanterns.

On the software side, India has more of software than hardware engineers. The reason being, In India, more work based on developing applications, programming of MCUs, device driver development, etc. are majorly happening here.

 

Hence, embedded software is a bigger element of the Indian industry.