I received a plethora of e-mails regarding my recent article, entitled "Semi IP sector is a lost cause"
Then, I asked for the IP vendors themselves to respond to a set of questions. Here's one letter to the editor:
Editor,
I agree with you that semi IP is a lost cause or at least a business with very limited growth potential. We tried to sell WiMAX PHY IP for the past 4 years and here is our conclusion:
1. Customers not willing to pay for all the extra work that we have to do to prove the IP (silicon, certification, compatibility with other IP such as RF, MAC, etc.). Will need big investments upfront to make the IP ready or forego profits until the IP is proven, but that entails that the IP lifespan is quite long (which is usually not the case) to make it profitable. The downside is that there is very few VC who are interested in funding IP ventures and for good reasons.
2. Revenues are not guaranteed. How to track and enforce royalties payment?
3. No forcible safeguards against IP theft or misappropriation. These two last points will become hot issues in a increasingly global semi industry.
There still a possibility for IP vendors to do well by building comprehensive application specific IP (ASIP) libraries (e.g. analog, signal processing, low power, etc.) and designing quality IP to differentiate themselves in a globally proliferating market. The business model will be to license complete libraries to semi fabs, EDA vendors, ASIC vendors, etc. Limitation is lack of money needed to produce these quality IP!
There is still might a chance to save the cause if IP vendors don't loose their faith.
Best regards,
Hanni Bagnordi
SiWave Corp.
RSS
Digital
10 emerging technologies to watch:
EE Times has compiled a list of emerging technologies that we think will be worth watching out for in 2010. Biofeedback or thought-control of electronics are among the contenders.
10 CEOs out in 2009:
It's been a tough year for the global electronics industry and CEOs. We survey the dismissal of 10 industry CEOs during the first three quarters of 2009 and what's ahead for the rest of the year.
Executive pay:
The economy stinks. Rank-and-file engineers are feeling the pain. What about technology CEOs? We crunched the numbers buried in corporate financial statements to find out. Here's what we found.
10 companies in trouble (revisited):
What follows is an updated version of 10 companies in trouble. Some companies have been removed since the last version, others remain. Still others have been added to the mix.
Early predictions for 2010:
The electronics industry is recovering, but there is still some uncertainty in the market. Some see a boom year in 2010. Some see a double dip. So what's in store for the rest of this year and 2010?
Top 10 IC vendors with cash:
The world's biggest IC companies by revenue rank not only among the best in their respective industry segments but are also more likely to have huge piles of cash that can be used to fund acquisitions, R&D and product development.
Notable women in microelectronics:
There is no better time than a global economic recession to examine the keys to successful corporate governance. So, EE Times has compiled an international list that celebrates women who are business and technology leaders in semis.
EE Times updates Silicon 60:
Seventeen companies have been added to the lastest version of our Silicon 60 list of emerging startups. Forty-three companies survived as emerging companies that are still worth watching.
RSS| 
Digital| 
Mobile
