Three nanoelectronics powerhouses shared their roadmaps and future views at their respective events: Intel Investor Meeting (May 8 in Santa Clara), Samsung Foundry Forum (May 14 in Santa Clara), and Imec Technology Forum (May 14 in Antwerp, Belgium). Many more news this week concern several different areas, as described below; among them, the release of a new report from IC Insights, showing that in 2018 Texas Instruments maintained its place as the world’s leading supplier of analog chips.

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Developers conferences from three of the major global IT heavyweights took place in a mere ten-day timeframe: Facebook “F8” from April 30th to May 1st in San Jose; “Microsoft Build” from May 6th to May 8th in Seattle; and “Google I/O” from May 7th to May 9th in Mountain View. Each of these events brought a plethora of announcements, and – as distant as they may seem from chip design and manufacturing – some of them will inevitably have an impact well beyond the developers’ communities of these three companies.

Early May announcements overload

Just a brief, non-exhaustive summary. Pledging to “a privacy-focused social platform”, Facebook introduced many new functions across all its apps and products, including Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger and AR/VR. The Facebook app itself will get a new design, new group-oriented features, and a match-making function called Secret Crush aimed at exploring relationship opportunities within a circle of friends – without risking an embarrassing moment: the two persons will be notified only if both express interest for each other. WhatsApp news include the possibility for people to see a business catalog right within the app when chatting with a business; Instagram users will be able to simply tap on their smartphone screen to know exactly what ‘creators’ are wearing and buy the same outfit on the spot; “Portal from Facebook” and Portal+ will expand in Europe this fall; and Facebook’s two newest virtual reality headsets — Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S — will start shipping May 21.

Mark Zuckerberg at F8. Image credit: Facebook

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First quarter results confirm the expectation of “headwinds” expressed by SEMI at a recent event. Second quarter now starts with many hot topics and promising innovations – from design to manufacturing.

Wafer and chip sales down in Q1 2019

According to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group, worldwide silicon wafer area shipments dropped 5.6 percent during the first quarter of 2019 compared to the fourth quarter of 2018 and are now at their lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2017. A bigger downturn has been reported by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA): worldwide sales of semiconductors totalled $96.8 billion during the first quarter of 2019, a decrease of 15.5 percent over the previous quarter and 13 percent less than the first quarter of 2018. Global sales for the month of March 2019 were $32.3 billion, a dip of 1.8 percent compared to the previous month's total and 13 percent less than sales from March 2018.

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