Post by Electronic Product Design & Test [EPDT]

The ASIC Arms Race: Why Custom Silicon Demands a New Strategy By Rick Bergman - Semiconductor Business Unit Head, Quest Global The semiconductor industry is in the middle of a growth cycle that is restructuring the global economy and shaping the future of technology. The world has finally caught up to what the industry has long understood - semiconductors are engines for technological leadership and financial growth. Yet, beneath the progress and optimism lies a problem born from the industry’s own success. The era of clear separation between chipmakers and chip consumers is coming to an end, ushering in a collective challenge.   Seismic shifts in strategy are quietly redrawing the lines of semiconductor competition. For decades, semiconductors were seen as sophisticated, but standardised components to be sourced from a specialised few. Today, silicon is starting to be treated as a core strategic asset, not as a line item on a bill-of-materials (BoM), that dictates the pace of innovation, secures market position and ultimately determines user experience (UX).   The current custom silicon trend is celebrated across multiple industries. From automotive to aerospace, defence and medical, companies are racing to develop custom application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) that promise unparalleled performance, efficiency and differentiation.   For years, the industry narrative has focused on why companies want custom silicon, often pointing to the massive, vertical-integration successes of tech giants who brought their chip design in-house. But the critical question is - what happens when everyone tries to copy that model at the same time? The answer is infrastructure strain.   The rush towards custom silicon is depleting shared resources, where a... READ THE FULL ARTICLE https://lnkd.in/eN7AyM3Q Yumi Clevenger-Lee Ajit Prabhu Shubham Bora Rashmi S S Vijayalakshmi Gunturu Dushy R. Manoj Kumar Vuppula Santhosh Reddy Shivaranjini Mahesh SivaRamaKrishnaPrasad Veeranki Kanthi Uppala PMP® Tanya B. Meghasyam T Vivek Mangroliya Vamshi Krishna Emy Elizebath Akhtar Hussain Ashwani Jaiswal John Castell Basavaraj Hosur Santhosh Kumar Karri Albin Varghese