Semiconductor & Technology Specialist, Ingenuity

William Keating

Semiconductor & Technology Specialist

Ingenuity

Our focus is exclusively on in-depth research & consulting in the broader semiconductor industry. We focus on the key players, namely Intel, Micron, Qualcomm, Apple, Samsung, NVIDIA, AMD, TSMC & Global Foundries - as well as some of the lesser known, but nonetheless critical, companies such as ASML (for EUV), Mellanox, Cavium, Xilinx etc. We specialise in their products, roadmaps, process technologies, competitive advantages & threats etc. We also help our clients understand the implications of new and emerging technologies, e.g. 3D X-Point, 3D NAND, Carbon Nanotubes, Autonomous Driving, Graphene, Silicon Photonics, Wafer-Level Optics, Artificial Intelligence, FPGA, GPU, ASIC etc. 

Semiconductor Analysis & Research

Equity Bottom-Up

On September 22 last,  <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/western-digital-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:1094:1" rel="noopener">Western Digital'</a> (WDC) issued a press release regarding their plan to create separate organizations for their HDD and SSD businesses. WDC's share price surged by more than 10% in the aftermath of the announcement, fueled by speculation that the company may take things one step further by creating two separate business entities entirely. We think this is not likely to happen. Here's why.

On September 22 last,  Western Digital' (WDC) issued a press release regarding their plan to create separate organizations for their HDD and SSD businesses. WDC's share price surged by more than 10% in the aftermath of the announcement, fueled by speculation that the company may take things one step further by creating two separate business entities entirely. We think this is not likely to happen. Here's why. 

Western Digital. Spinning Out Either HDD Or SSD Divisions Makes No Sense.

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

The spread of the global pandemic has resulted in the strongest two consecutive quarters on record for server sales and led to <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intel-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16764:1" rel="noopener">Intel</a> beating its second quarter forecast by nearly one billion dollars. This strength in server has spilled over to the DRAM and NAND segments with both staging robust recoveries from the protracted down cycle experienced in 2019. That situation may be coming to an abrupt end however. A key leading indicator suggests that server sales will fall sharply in the coming months. We also expect both DRAM and NAND prices to follow suit. Here's why.

The spread of the global pandemic has resulted in the strongest two consecutive quarters on record for server sales and led to Intel beating its second quarter forecast by nearly one billion dollars. This strength in server has spilled over to the DRAM and NAND segments with both staging robust recoveries from the protracted down cycle experienced in 2019. That situation may be coming to an abrupt end however. A key leading indicator suggests that server sales will fall sharply in the coming months. We also expect both DRAM and NAND prices to follow suit. Here's why.   

Server CPU, DRAM, NAND Sales Heading For A Significant Decline As Inventory Digestion Commences.

Semiconductors, Memory and SSDs Specialist, Objective Analysis

Jim Handy

Semiconductors, Memory and SSDs Specialist

Objective Analysis

Objective Analysis offers third-party independent market research and data for the semiconductor industry and investors in the semiconductor industry.

Semiconductors, Memory and SSDs

The Semiconductor Industry Association's monthly statistics update, covering July's semiconductor sales, show revenues that continue to follow the growth trend of the past 25 years.  This Smartkarma Insight uses graphics to show that the market is still in good health despite 2020's challenging circumstances.

The Semiconductor Industry Association's monthly statistics update, covering July's semiconductor sales, show revenues that continue to follow the growth trend of the past 25 years.  This Smartkarma Insight uses graphics to show that the market is still in good health despite 2020's challenging circumstances.

This Smartkarma Insight examines recent spot market price trends for NAND flash and DRAM chips, which are indicators of the health of the semiconductor market as a whole.  These prices suggest that NAND and DRAM prices could fall by 20% in the near term and continue their descent through the end of the year.

This Smartkarma Insight examines recent spot market price trends for NAND flash and DRAM chips, which are indicators of the health of the semiconductor market as a whole.  These prices suggest that NAND and DRAM prices could fall by 20% in the near term and continue their descent through the end of the year.

DRAM & NAND Spot Prices Indicate Impending Fall

The much-anticipated acquisition by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/nvidia-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:5891:1" rel="noopener">NVIDIA</a> of <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/arm-holdings-plc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:21816:1" rel="noopener">Arm</a> from <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/softbank-group-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:315:1" rel="noopener">Softbank</a> was formally <a href="https://nvidianews.nvidia.com/news/nvidia-to-acquire-arm-for-40-billion-creating-worlds-premier-computing-company-for-the-age-of-ai" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> on Monday. The transaction is valued at $40 billion, an approximately equal combination of cash and NVIDIA stock.On the surface the deal looks strategically solid from NVIDIA's perspective. It places the company at the center of Arm's one hundred and eighty billion connected device ecosystem. Perhaps even more importantly, it opens up the possibility of an outright assault on <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/intel-corp" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:16764:1" rel="noopener">Intel's</a> data center dominance by adding Arm-based server processors to complement NVIDIA's existing lineup of GPUs and interconnect.Underneath the surface however, this deal is fraught with issues and risks. While Arm has been a very successful company, their growth is flatlining as smartphone sales stagnate. Furthermore, we see the rise of RISC-V as a very real threat to Arm's business model in the coming years. Arm has never competed with its customers. Under NVIDIA ownership, this will be virtually impossible to avoid.From a regulatory perspective, Arm IP moving under american ownership will raise the very real prospect that this technology will become a future weapon in the US-China trade and technology wars. In today's environment, it's difficult to see why China would agree to facilitate that possibility.All in all we think this deal is not as good as it seems on the surface and that it will be practically impossible to get through the regulatory approval process.

The much-anticipated acquisition by NVIDIA of Arm from Softbank was formally announced on Monday. The transaction is valued at $40 billion, an approximately equal combination of cash and NVIDIA stock.On the surface the deal looks strategically solid from NVIDIA's perspective. It places the company at the center of Arm's one hundred and eighty billion connected device ecosystem. Perhaps even more importantly, it opens up the possibility of an outright assault on Intel's data center dominance by adding Arm-based server processors to complement NVIDIA's existing lineup of GPUs and interconnect.Underneath the surface however, this deal is fraught with issues and risks. While Arm has been a very successful company, their growth is flatlining as smartphone sales stagnate. Furthermore, we see the rise of RISC-V as a very real threat to Arm's business model in the coming years. Arm has never competed with its customers. Under NVIDIA ownership, this will be virtually impossible to avoid.From a regulatory perspective, Arm IP moving under american ownership will raise the very real prospect that this technology will become a future weapon in the US-China trade and technology wars. In today's environment, it's difficult to see why China would agree to facilitate that possibility.All in all we think this deal is not as good as it seems on the surface and that it will be practically impossible to get through the regulatory approval process. 

NVIDIA+Arm. Strategically Solid But Practically Impossible.

United States

Intel Corporation designs, manufactures, and sells computer components and related products.  The Company's major products include microprocessors, chipsets, embedded processors and microcontrollers, flash memory products, graphics products, network and communications products, systems management software, conferencing products, and digital imaging products.

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Intel Corp (INTC US)

Western Digital. Spinning Out Either HDD Or SSD Divisions Makes No Sense.

On September 22 last, Western Digital' issued a press release regarding their plan to

William Keating

Server CPU, DRAM, NAND Sales Heading For A Significant Decline As Inventory Digestion Commences.

A leading indicator for server sales

William Keating

SIA July Stats Still Show Strength

The Semiconductor Industry Association's

Jim Handy

DRAM & NAND Spot Prices Indicate Impending Fall

This Smartkarma Insight e

Jim Handy

NVIDIA+Arm. Strategically Solid But Practically Impossible.

The long-anticipated acquisition by NVIDIA of Arm Holdings (ARM LN)

William Keating

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