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Does this seem a little outdated to anyone else? Like, ImgTec haven't really existed as a top tier player for almost a decade, and AFAIK Apple doesn't license I

Does this seem a little outdated to anyone else? Like, ImgTec haven't really existed as a top tier player for almost a decade, and AFAIK Apple doesn't license Ip cores from ARM, but the ISA itself. Also, I feel like this diagram is just weird. The pyramid makes no sense to me, I always think of it in terms of physical and logical, you have the physical - the Materials, WFE, Fabs, and logical - IP Cores, and Fabless Semis, with the EDA tools somewhat providing the integration. The logical organisation of the pyramid makes no sense to me.

klelatti 5y ago
No disagreeing with your point - the article does seem outdated - but Apple still does license some Arm core designs I think - eg in the U series SoCs.
capableweb 5y ago
It can't be too outdated if the stated date is to be trusted ("02-06-2022") as the industry doesn't move that rapidly.
55873445216111 5y ago
It is a little bit dated. But the core concepts are all still valid. I posted it because - as someone working in the industry - I find it is somewhat rare to find a public article that attempts to explain the "big picture" landscape of the semiconductor ecosystem.
asxd 5y ago
I hope it's not too outdated, but if it is I'd be really interested in a newer article that's written like this. I really appreciated the simple breakdown of the supply chain. As a total outsider, I've always really wanted to understand why TSMC and ASML (for instance) seemed to be so important politically.
MayeulC 5y ago
Some of it is a tiny bit outdated or paints a partial picture (STM does 22nm too for instance, although I'm not sure if it did in 2012). But overall I think it's pretty current and accurate. One thing is doesn't do is point out that "x nm" doesn't have anything to do with gate length or physical dimensions anymore. It's commercial speech for transistor density (vertical FinFET are denser than planar transistor, gate length is roughly the same).

klelatti 5y ago

No disagreeing with your point - the article does seem outdated - but Apple still does license some Arm core designs I think - eg in the U series SoCs.

capableweb 5y ago

It can't be too outdated if the stated date is to be trusted ("02-06-2022") as the industry doesn't move that rapidly.

55873445216111 5y ago

It is a little bit dated. But the core concepts are all still valid. I posted it because - as someone working in the industry - I find it is somewhat rare to find a public article that attempts to explain the "big picture" landscape of the semiconductor ecosystem.

asxd 5y ago

I hope it's not too outdated, but if it is I'd be really interested in a newer article that's written like this. I really appreciated the simple breakdown of the supply chain. As a total outsider, I've always really wanted to understand why TSMC and ASML (for instance) seemed to be so important politically.

MayeulC 5y ago

Some of it is a tiny bit outdated or paints a partial picture (STM does 22nm too for instance, although I'm not sure if it did in 2012). But overall I think it's pretty current and accurate. One thing is doesn't do is point out that "x nm" doesn't have anything to do with gate length or physical dimensions anymore. It's commercial speech for transistor density (vertical FinFET are denser than planar transistor, gate length is roughly the same).