Apple’s announcement this week it's moving away from Intel microprocessors in Mac computers by year-end, switching to its own processors used in the iPhone and iPad (see report, June 23), could be part of a larger shift in information technology leadership, blogged Bret Swanson, American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. -- the largest contract manufacturer of chips for “fabless” semiconductor firms, such as Apple, Amazon, Qualcomm and Nvidia -- announced plans to build a $12 billion chip fab in Arizona, which could help alleviate a supply-chain worry: overdependence on Taiwan for chip manufacturing, Swanson said Wednesday. Though the U.S. is home to tech firms that design 65% of the world’s fabless chip volume, it has 10% of worldwide foundry capacity for manufacturing, he said. TSMC was first to reach the 7 nanometer process threshold, while Intel’s similar effort is reportedly delayed. Intel has an additional challenge: Apple and Amazon are using the alternative ARM architecture, not Intel’s x86, the dominant desktop and server architecture since the late 1970s, Swanson noted. TSMC’s Arizona investment provides not only “supply-chain resilience but also an overall boost to America’s bleeding-edge info-tech leadership,” he said. An Intel spokesperson emailed Wednesday that its 7-nanometer process "remains on track" with first products due by the end of 2021. On Apple's decision to move to its own processors, she said: "Apple is a customer across several areas of business, and we will continue to support them. Intel remains focused on delivering the most advanced PC experiences and a wide range of technology choices that redefine computing. We believe Intel-powered PCs -- like those based on our forthcoming Tiger Lake mobile platform -- provide global customers the best experience in the areas they value most, as well as the most open platform for developers, both today and into the future."
Incompas CEO Chip Pickering praised House Democrats’ Moving Forward Act infrastructure legislative package, which includes $100 billion in broadband funding (see 2006220054). Incompas is “pleased the House infrastructure legislation takes initial steps toward delivering faster speeds,” Pickering said Tuesday. “New networks mean more jobs, and competition means better broadband at a better price.”
The iPhone as a car fob, facial recognition in HomeKit webcams and an immersive sound experience on AirPods Pro were among the highlights of Apple’s virtual Worldwide Developers Conference keynote Monday launching iOS 14. Speaking from an empty Apple Park in Cupertino, California, CEO Tim Cook opened the event addressing racism, inequality and injustice. Apple announced its transition from Intel processors to its own chips for the Mac, for a common architecture across all Apple products, Cook said. The next major release of the macOS is Big Sur, which includes technologies that will “ensure a smooth and seamless transition to Apple silicon,” he said. The first Big Sur silicon will be available by year-end in what the executive called a two-year transition. Intel-based devices will be available “for years to come” and are “still in the pipeline,” he said. Apple engineers have been building and refining the company’s own SoCs as part of a scalable architecture custom-designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, the company noted. IOS 14 added home screen features and widgets designed to make it easier for users to get to apps more quickly. Scaled-down versions of apps, called App Clips, load a small part of an app experience within seconds using near field communication. Apple partnered with Amazon, Google and other companies to define an interoperability standard for the smart home. Any accessory using HomeKit or the new standard will work across all Apple devices, said Yah Yah Cason, software engineer. Cook didn’t mention Sonos. A report suggested Apple might buy the wireless multiroom audio company. Sonos shares closed 18% higher at $14.07. The company didn't comment.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and top lawmakers weighed in Thursday and Friday with additional broadband legislative proposals aimed at tying into COVID-19 aid legislation and broader infrastructure measures. House Democratic leaders announced plans Thursday to merge existing proposals into a $1.5 trillion Moving Forward Act infrastructure measure that would include $100 billion for broadband (see 2006180062). President Donald Trump’s administration is believed to be preparing a $1 trillion infrastructure proposal that will have funding for 5G infrastructure and rural broadband deployments (see 2006160049).
There’s “emerging consensus” the next Senate-side COVID-19 aid bill will include funding to bolster E-rate and other broadband initiatives, Incompas CEO Chip Pickering said Thursday. Some GOP lawmakers voiced growing interest in including broadband funding in coming pandemic legislation since House passage last month of the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act. HR-6800’s broadband funding includes an $8.8 billion Emergency Broadband Connectivity Fund and $5 billion for E-rate (see 2005130059). President Donald Trump’s administration recently narrowed the scope of their desires for a fourth major aid measure (see 2006050058).
Center for Democracy & Technology Vice President-Strategy and General Counsel Lisa Hayes has left CDT ... University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications hires Angela Bradbery, ex-Public Citizen, as Karel endowed chair in public interest communications and on faculty of public relations department, succeeding Ann Christiano, who was Karel inaugural chair and remains director, Center for Public Interest Communications ... Twitter hires Jim Bakeras deputy general counsel ... Crisis Text Line board fires CEO Nancy Lublin; director Dena Trujillo becomes interim CEO.
U.S.-China technology competition and Trump administration restrictions on Huawei likely dashed prospects of a phase two trade deal, China experts said. Robert Dohner, of Atlantic Council and former Treasury Department official, called the deal “dead,” adding the U.S. approach to protecting technology damaged future negotiations. “I think the technology policies, particularly the pursuit of Huawei, have made it impossible now to go back and negotiate with China on technology policy or domestic industrial policy,” Dohner told a council webinar Tuesday. Leland Miller, a Chinese economy expert with the Atlantic Council, said the administration needs to reassess how it wants to approach Huawei and needs to better follow through on threats. Companies are trying to determine what they can “get away with,” said Dexter Roberts, also of the council. “All the restrictions in the world are going to be very, very hard to implement as long as Huawei is providing fast, cheap chips and cheap telecom gear that countries around the world want.” The White House declined to comment Thursday. The office of U.S. Trade Representative didn't comment.
Israel-based Tower Semiconductor licensed Invensas ZiBond and DBI 3D semiconductor interconnect technologies, said Tower and Invensas parent Xperi Wednesday. The license supports manufacturing of time of flight and advanced sensors for CE, machine vision, autonomous vehicles and smart devices. Tower will also explore the use of Invensas 3D integration technologies for memories and micro-electromechanical system devices. Xperi and TiVo completed their merger June 1 and will operate under Xperi (see personals section, June 9).
A slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could combine with rising U.S.-China trade tensions to pose a big risk to U.S. investment-grade tech companies, S&P Global Ratings reported Wednesday. “Unprecedented measures from the U.S. government and Federal Reserve will be sure to mitigate the effects of the sharp decline in economic activity due to COVID-19,” said the debt ratings firm. “But the path to recovery remains uncertain both in terms of timing and trajectory.” Until there’s an effective COVID-19 treatment or vaccine, “significant uncertainties surround the resolution of the pandemic and its effects,” said S&P. The “near-term risk” to the semiconductor industry would be “manageable” amid heightened U.S.-China trade friction, said the report. But it “adds incremental pressure on an industry that we already forecast will shrink by 7% in 2020.”
April's $34.4 billion of global semiconductor sales was 1.2% lower sequentially, 6.1% higher than April 2019, reported the Semiconductor Industry Association Monday. COVID-19 disruptions “have so far not substantially impacted overall global sales.” The monthly sequential decline was “in line with seasonal trends,” SIA said. Despite the industry’s “early signs of resilience," it said that “significant uncertainty remains."