Q’comm Reportedly Taps TSMC's 7nm

发布时间：2017-06-14 00:00
作者：
来源：EE Times
阅读量：817

Qualcomm will switch back to TSMC to make its 7nm Snapdragon parts after giving its 10nm business to Samsung, according to a report in ET News, a South Korean publication. If correct, the switch will be a huge boost for TSMC and could cause a significant drop in Samsung’s foundry business in 2018.

Qualcomm declined to comment on what a spokeswoman characterized as rumors. Samsung and TSMC did not reply to requests for comment.

The report said Qualcomm started working on its 7nm Snapdragon SoC using TSMC tools in the middle of 2016. It is expected to announce the chip late this year or early next year “after first test wafer is manufactured from TSMC in September and after it is done with designing [its] package and verification process,” the report said.

Qualcomm announced its Snapdragon 835 made in Samsung’s 10nm process at CES in January. The article estimated the Snapdragon 835 business represents about $1.78 billion or 40 percent of Samsung’s foundry revenue.

The article suggested Qualcomm is making the switch for two reasons. Samsung is late with its 7nm node, and the Korean giant lacks the chip-stacking technology TSMC is using in Apple’s current iPhone 7 handset SoCs. TSMC released its first 7nm process design kit late last year while Samsung’s first beta 7nm PDK is due in July, it said.

Initially Samsung said in late 2016 it would use extreme ultraviolet lithography at 7nm. However those systems now are currently expected to take until 2019 to be ready for limited commercial use, according to Globalfoundries and others. More recently, Samsung announced plans for an 8nm node using immersion steppers.

“TSMC is ahead of Samsung in being in risk production at 7nm. Samsung spent more time developing EUV for 7nm,” said Mike Demler, an analyst for the Linley Group.

In addition, TSMC uses InFo, a fan-out wafer-level packaging technique with Apple’s smartphone SoCs. Samsung is working on similar technology but it is not expected to be ready for at least a year, the article said.

Samsung will make its next-generation smartphone SoCs in the 8nm process. A separate SoC for its premium Galaxy Note line will be made in Samsung’s 7nm node, the article added.

Apple initially made all its iPhone SoCs at Samsung despite an epic patent battle between the companies. Over the last few generations it tested and ultimately moved all that foundry business to TSMC.

上一篇：Intel Sued Over Handset SoCs

下一篇：Long-Term Internet of Things Semiconductor Forecast Reduced

在线留言询价

相关阅读
Trade news

Q’comm Winds Up Smartwatches

Qualcomm added an ultra-low-power co-processor running a bare-bones RTOS to its latest chipset for smartwatches to extend battery life. The new 3100 chipset debuts two days before Apple is expected to announce a new version of its Apple Watch, the current leader in smartwatches and wearables generally.Qualcomm claims that its Snapdragon Wear 3100 can deliver four to 12 hours longer battery life than its prior chipset. It can work for a month on a typical smartwatch battery if Google’s Wear OS is turned off, said the chip vendor.Power savings come mainly from hosting basic watch functions on a new 40-MHz Arm M0 chip running at 0.6 V in a homegrown software environment described as a basic scheduler. In sleep mode, the 21-mm2 QC1110 draws just 130 µA, compared to about 1.2 mA for a typical Cortex-A7 used to run Wear OS.Qualcomm estimates that consumers use the interactive functions that require Wear OS only 5% of the time, opening the door to power savings. Its main processor running Wear OS now uses four A7s running at 1.2 GHz, up from a single A7 in the previous chipset.Users can switch in software between Wear OS and basic smartwatch modes to conserve battery life. In addition, the chip’s power management software can automatically shut down the A7 host and move work to the co-processor after a period of inactivity.Qualcomm had to design a custom SRAM block to support the co-processor’s near-threshold operation. The co-processor also contains a custom block to listen for and detect wake words from a voice assistant.The 3100 comes in versions supporting LTE, GPS, or Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. The 3100 host processor fits in a 10 x 10-mm package stacked with up to 1-GByte LPDDR3 memory. It supports a flash eMMC module of 8 Gbytes or more.The chipset includes a new power management IC and a power amp made in a GaAs process. Prior chips used a CMOS power amp that supported envelope tracking but was less power-efficient.Next page: Still early days for wearables sectorA near-threshold controller is at the heart of the latest Snapdragon chipset for wearables. Click to enlarge. (Image: Qualcomm)It’s still early days for a smartwatch market that ships about 50 million units a year and is expected to nearly triple in three years. Last year, Apple’s success — in part with its first models with built-in LTE — pushed it into the lead in the overall wearables market.Apple shipped about 17.7 million smartwatches last year of a total wearables market estimated at 115 million units, according to International Data Corp. Xiaomi and Fitbit were in a near tie for second place, shipping more than 15 million units each, including smartwatches, fitness trackers, and other devices.In smartwatches, Samsung runs a distant second to Apple with devices based on the Tizen OS. Qualcomm claims that its chips run 80% of Wear OS devices, which trail Apple and Samsung in smartwatches.“Apple has done a good job creating a good product and awareness, but [the Apple Watch] only works with iPhones, and we expect Android and iOS users to buy” 3100-based products, said Pankaj Kedia, who heads Qualcomm’s wearables group.Growth potential is huge, said Kedia, considering that smartwatches still represent a small fraction of the 1.4 billion watches sold last year and the 1.5 billion smartphones sold annually.Qualcomm counts among its smartwatch customers Asus, Huawei, LG, and more than a dozen fashion watch vendors. It expects to add new names to its list with the 3100, which is shipping now and should be in consumer products for the holiday season.
2018-09-11 00:00 阅读量：758
Trade news

Qualcomm delivers breakthrough 5G NR mmWave and Sub-6 GHz RF module

Qualcomm Technologies has unveiled the world’s first fully-integrated 5G NR millimeter wave (mmWave) and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other mobile devices.The QTM052 mmWave antenna module family and the QPM56xx sub-6 GHz RF module family pair with Qualcomm's Snapdragon X50 5G modem to deliver modem-to-antenna capabilities across several spectrum bands, in a very compact footprint that is intended for integration in mobile devices. “This announcement concerning the first commercial 5G NR mmWave antenna modules and sub-6 GHz RF modules for smartphones and other mobile devices represents a major milestone for the mobile industry. Qualcomm's early investment in 5G has allowed us to deliver a working mobile mmWave solution that was previously thought unattainable, as well as a fully-integrated sub-6 GHz RF solution. Now, these type of modem-to-antenna solutions, spanning both mmWave and sub-6 spectrum bands, make mobile 5G networks and devices, ready for large scale commercialisation,” said Cristiano Amon, President, Qualcomm. To date, mmWave signals have not been used for mobile wireless communications due to the technical and design challenges they pose, all of which impact nearly every aspect of device engineering, including materials, form-factor, industrial design, thermals, and regulatory requirements for radiated power. As such, many in the mobile industry considered mmWave highly impractical for mobile devices and networks, and thus unlikely to materialise. The QTM052 mmWave antenna modules work in tandem with the Snapdragon X50 5G modem, as a comprehensive system, to help overcome the formidable challenges associated with mmWave. They support advanced beam forming, beam steering, and beam tracking technologies, improving the range and reliability of mmWave signals. They feature an integrated 5G NR radio transceiver, power management IC, RF front-end components and phased antenna array.They support up to 800 MHz of bandwidth in the 26.5-29.5 GHz (n257), as well as the entire 27.5-28.35 GHz (n261) and 37-40 GHz (n260) mmWave bands. Most importantly, the QTM052 modules integrate all these capabilities in a very compact footprint, such that up to four of them can be integrated in a smartphone. This allows OEMs to continue evolving the industrial design of their mobile devices, offering attractive form factors combined with the benefits of extremely high speeds from mmWave 5G NR, and making such devices available for launch as early as 2019. While mmWave is best suited for providing 5G coverage in dense urban areas and crowded indoor environments, broad 5G NR coverage will be achieved in sub-6 GHz spectrum bands. As such, the QPM56xx RF module family (including the QPM5650, QPM5651, QDM5650, and QDM5652) is designed to allow smartphones based on the Snapdragon X50 5G modem to support 5G NR in sub-6 GHz RF bands.The QPM5650 and QPM5651 feature integrated 5G NR PA/LNA/Switch and filtering subsystem. The QDM5650 and QDM5652 feature integrated 5G NR LNA/switch and filtering subsystem for diversity and MIMO support.All four modules offer integrated SRS switching required for optimum massive MIMO applications and support for 3.3-4.2 GHz (n77), 3.3-3.8 GHz (n78) and 4.4-5.0 GHz (n79) sub-6 bands. These sub-6 GHz RF modules provide mobile device makers with a viable path to delivering on the promise of 5G NR massive MIMO technology in mobile devices.Both the QTM052 mmWave antenna module family and the QPM56xx sub-6 GHz RF module family are now sampling to customers. 
2018-07-24 00:00 阅读量：775
Trade news

Q’comm Rejects B’com Board, But Analysts Bullish

Qualcomm officially rejected Broadcom’s proposed 11-director board, setting a showdown on the semiconductor industry’s largest merger to date for the Qualcomm annual stockholders’ meeting March 6. While Qualcomm remains adamantly against the deal, Wall Street analysts are already crunching the numbers. They are generally bullish on the deal and on Broadcom after a strong quarterly report earlier this month. In a press statement, Qualcomm said the board members proposed by Broadcom and its private equity partner, Silver Lake, “are inherently conflicted and would not bring incremental skills or expertise to the Qualcomm board.” Broadcom’s initial $70/share bid “dramatically undervalues Qualcomm and is not actionable due to its significant regulatory uncertainty, which may not be resolved for 18 months, if ever,” it added. In an SEC filing it proposed continuing its current board of 11 with nine outside directors including a former chairman of American Airlines, a former U.S. Ambassador to China, a former Secretary of State in Spain and chief executive of Palo Alto Networks. Qualcomm CEO Steve Mollenkopf and former CEO Paul Jacobs, who chairs the board, would continue as directors. If Broadcom fails to convince shareholders to vote for its proposed board, it is expected to increase its bid to $77/share, according to a December 7 note from Canaccord Genuity financial analysts. It calculated generally positive scenarios of bids at five levels ranging up to $100/share. The analysts estimated the combined company would generate $56 billion in revenues and $14.8 billion in profits in fiscal year 2018 if the deal includes Qualcomm’s proposed acquisition of NXP. Without NXP, it forecast 2018 combined revenues of $46 billion and profits of $13.6 billion. In either case, it assumed cost reductions of $750 million in 2018 and $1.5 billion in 2019. It also assumed Qualcomm would make $500 million in cuts at NXP if that deal is approved. Financial analysts are liking what they see in a Broadcom/Qualcomm combo. (Source: Canaccord Genuity)  “There is the potential for Broadcom to help settle licensing disputes with Apple in a more timely manner than Qualcomm might, given Broadcom’s strong relationship with Apple, and…the very strong position held by Broadcom's switching/routing chipset business with key vendors including Cisco could prove an important beachhead in the datacenter market for Qualcomm's new ARM-based server offerings,” it said. Separately, Morgan Stanley issued a Dec. 21 report noting among other items that Broadcom has an emerging ASIC business in machine learning it expects could be “approaching $500 million in revenue in the next 2-3 years.” Morgan Staley also acts as an advisor to Broadcom in its move to acquire Qualcomm.
2017-12-26 00:00 阅读量：890
Trade news

Q’comm Profits Dive Amid Patent Disputes

You know when you hear as many as five executives on a quarterly conference call, times are challenging. So it was when Qualcomm Inc. reported results for the end of its fiscal 2017. Quarterly and annual revenues of $5.9 billion and $22.3 billion were both down 5 percent compared to 2016 results, using GAAP figures. Given the loss of licensing revenues from Apple and another unnamed customer, it was not surprising profits took a bigger dive to $200 million for the quarter and $2.5 billion for the year, down 89 percent and 57 percent from 2016, respectively. The forecast is for continued grim weather. The mobile chip giant expects flat revenues for its next quarter despite a 5 percent expected rise in its chip set unit sales. Overall cellular device unit sales could rise 8 percent  next year, but their average selling prices may drop given a growing share are going into more cost-sensitive systems in cars, networking and the Internet of Things. Qualcomm’s CEO and CFO were joined on the call by two of its legal experts and its chip set group manager. They fielded several questions on a delayed merger with NXP and multiple legal disputes with Apple but provided few new details. Executives said they are hopeful the NXP deal will be approved soon by four regulators still reviewing it, but it might take until early 2018. They suggested they see no immediate resolution for the many legal disputes over patent licensing with Apple. Separately they provided no meaningful insights on a separate dispute with an unnamed customer that stopped paying royalties in the second quarter. Speaking of the multiple court cases with Apple, Qualcomm general counsel Donald Rosenberg said, “litigation of this magnitude takes a while, you can’t focus on any particular short-term event.” Cases Qualcomm brought against Apple with the U.S. International Trade Commission and in Germany may move more quickly than others with some results expected by mid- to late 2018. However, “until then, I don’t think you will see much of consequence in terms of an ultimate outcome, and it will play out like most complex litigation,” he added. Apple and Samsung are still battling over a massive patent infringement suit that goes back to 2012 that even had a hearing at the Supreme Court in 2016. In related issues, CEO Steve Mollenkopf said Qualcomm plans to appeal rulings of unfair licensing practices earlier this year by antitrust officials in South Korea and Taiwan. Fines from those decisions wiped $868 million and $778 million off Qualcomm’s revenues this fiscal year. The patent dispute with the unnamed customer has “unique issues to that licensee” and got started before Apple took legal action in January, said another Qualcomm executive. The customer will remain unnamed unless a court case is filed. Its resolution “will have its own pace [not tied to] the Apple dispute,” he said. Qualcomm did not comment on reports Apple may start designing its baseband processors out of future iPhones. Nor did it speak to reports that European regulators want to see concessions about its licensing practices from Qualcomm before approving the NXP merger. China and the EU are among four regulators yet to OK the deal, the largest proposed merger in the semiconductor industry to date. “The clock stopped in the EU, but there’s nothing surprising in that process for an acquisition of this size,” said Mollenkopf, noting executives on both sides still publicly say the $110-per-share offer is attractive. On the bright side, Qualcomm expects 6 percent growth in 3/4G cellular device sales in 2017 could rise to an 8 percent increase in device units next year. However, it projects flat average selling prices as more of those sales are for more cost-sensitive systems than smartphones. Mollenkopf said 41 operators are supporting the company’s Gbit-LTE modems now shipping or being designed into 120 products. In addition, “there’s another LTE update after Gbit” and first commercial products for 5G could ship in 2019, he added. “We think we will all be pleased by the speed people go to 5G,” he said. Korean operators hope to demo pre-standard 5G at the Winter Olympics early next year, and Verizon and AT&T are working on last-mile 5G services for 2019. However, market watchers say significant rollouts of 5G base stations are not expected until 2021.
2017-11-03 00:00 阅读量：844
热门分类
盒子，外壳，机架 电缆，电线 电路保护 连接器，互连器件 开发套件 机电产品 嵌入式解决方案 风扇，热管理 光电元件 其它 无源元件 电源 半导体 传感器，变送器 测试与测量
  • 一周热料
  • 紧缺物料秒杀
型号 品牌 询价
TPS61021ADSGR Texas Instruments
TPIC6C595DR Texas Instruments
TXB0108PWR Texas Instruments
TL431ACLPR Texas Instruments
TPS5430DDAR Texas Instruments
CD74HC4051QPWRQ1 Texas Instruments
型号 品牌 抢购
TPS61021ADSGR Texas Instruments
TPS63050YFFR Texas Instruments
TPS61256YFFR Texas Instruments
ULQ2003AQDRQ1 Texas Instruments
TXS0104EPWR Texas Instruments
TPS5430DDAR Texas Instruments
热门标签
ROHM
Aavid
Averlogic
开发板
SUSUMU
NXP
PCB
传感器
半导体
原厂授权品牌
更多授权品牌>>
资讯排行榜
  • 周排行榜
  • 月排行榜

相关百科
关于我们
AMEYA360商城(www.ameya360.com)上线于2011年，现 有超过3500家优质供应商，收录600万种产品型号数据，100 多万种元器件库存可供选购，产品覆盖MCU+存储器+电源芯 片+IGBT+MOS管+运放+射频蓝牙+传感器+电阻电容电感+ 连接器等多个领域,平台主营业务涵盖电子元器件现货销售、 BOM配单及提供产品配套资料等，为广大客户提供一站式购 销服务。