Industry Expert Blogs

Lately, there has been a rise in predictions that the fabless business model is “dying”, or “collapsing”, or simply that it “no longer works”.  The main argument centers on the disconcerting fact that a disaggregated supply chain makes optimization of the semiconductor product increasingly difficult to achieve, especially when coupled with the inherent complexity of advanced process nodes and leading-edge designs. In particular, the data interfaces between design teams, foundries, and EDA vendors are becoming increasingly complex. The result is a dramatic increase in cost, and more importantly, risk.