United Business Media EE Times


Search

HOMELATEST NEWSSEMICONDUCTORSMOST POPULARMARKET INTELLIGENCE UNITFORUMSDESIGNNEW PRODUCTSCAREERSBLOGSCONTACTEVENTSSIGN UP!RSS

 


Letter to the editor: DSPs for IP
Print this article Email this article Reprints RSS Digital Edition

EE Times


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,

We met in the past and I am (at least I claim to be objective) on this topic, being there and have done it several times. I think you are right on the money and it is not pleasant for companies trying to make money selling IP, to face the reality. The reality is that even many of the top 10 vendors hardly make money and by financial standards (EPS) they are not investor quality grade. I am not expert on the whole IP space but I know very well the DSP IP domain.

I was there at very early stages 15 years ago when I started the DSP core licensing business for DSP Group (now spunoff as CEVA). In 1999, I tried to repeat the CEVA success while managing the Infineon worldwide DSP operations. After a year, I reached the conclusion that the conditions changed and it is very hard to make money. Then not many people listened, including Infineon. A year later Infineon closed that activity on their own. Since then many DSP IP companies closed the doors including Starcore (funded by Motorola, Agere and Infineon), LSI Logic got rid of their DSP IP operation and the list is long.

The conditions today are different than 15 years ago, lot of competition supported by wide spectrum of alternatives (for example DSP functions can be implemented in various architectures, not just the traditional DSP) making it very hard to make money unless you have near monopoly like Microsoft or ARM (which has a lock in some markets like the mobile market). I applaud the small number of vendors who are stilll making money because I know how hard it is to be profitable while spending so much money on developing the next generation IP and verifying the IP in real silicon.

Regards,
Shaul Berger
Consultant DSP Multimedia and Wireless Consulting



Related Links:

  • Semi IP sector is a lost cause
  • Letter to semi IP vendors



  •   Free Subscription to EE Times
    First Name Last Name
    Company Name Title
    Email address
      Click here for your Free Subscription to EETimes Europe
     
    CAREER CENTER
    Looking for a new job?
    SEARCH JOBS
    SPONSOR

    RECENT JOB POSTINGS
    CAREER NEWS
    SRC Expands R&D Centers
    The Semiconductor Research Corp has added a new center to its university R&D efforts.

    For more great jobs, career related news, features and services, please visit EETimes' Career Center.



    All White Papers »   

      Around Silicon Strategies

    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. More...

    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. More...

    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. More...

    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. More...

    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? More...

    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. More...

    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. More...

    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. More...

     
    Education and
    Learning


    Learn Now:












    Home | About | Editorial Calendar | Feedback | Subscriptions | Newsletter | Media Kit | Contact | Reprints|  RSS|   Digital|  Mobile
    Network Websites
    International
    Network Features




    All materials on this site Copyright © 2009 TechInsights, a Division of United Business Media LLC All rights reserved.
    Privacy Statement | Terms of Service | About