https://www.eetimes.com/cea-leti-innovation-days-do-more-with-less/I posted this a couple of weeks back but some might've missed it bc some pnut reported it for being off topic.
Very interesting interview with the CEO of CEA-Leti Sebastien Dauve.
They talk about biomimicry, "for me it's the future. I'm pretty sure we'll be able to have the first chip, in say 5 years."
Sebastien was asked what his focus will be for the coming year.
"For us the big focus for the next year, clearly will be the FD-SOI.""Today ST will prepare the 18nm"
"As you know today GlobalFoundries producing the 22nm"
"We have collaboration with Soitec, GlobalFoundries and STMicroelectronics to drive our development "
So my money is on our next tape-out is at 18nm with STMicroelectronics which could be huge. STMicroelectronics currently have a $44.29 billion market cap, larger than GlobalFoundries $35.5 market cap. Two of the biggest customers are Apple and Tesla.
https://www.apple.com/ml/newsroom/2023/05/apple-investments-with-european-suppliers-top-20-billion-in-2022/STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor company with strong roots in France and Italy, develops and manufactures chips that contribute to the industry-leading performance and incredible efficiency of Apple devices. For many years, the company has worked with Apple teams on sensors, power management, and wireless integrated circuits for iPhone and other Apple products. STMicroelectronics employs more than 27,000 workers across its European operations, and is investing more than €3.5 billion in 2023 to increase its manufacturing capacity globally, including in France and Italy, where it also manufactures components for Apple devices. This new expansion of manufacturing capacity will support Apple’s future needs for microcontrollers as well as wireless, analog, and mixed-signal integrated circuits.
STMicroelectronics has been powering its Apple-related operations with 100 percent renewable energy since 2021.
https://www.eenewseurope.com/en/tesla-moves-to-cut-sic-use-in-electric-vehicles-shakes-market/
Tesla is developing a new powertrain for lower cost electric vehicles (EVs) that could use 75% less silicon carbide (SiC) power MOSFETs.
“We believe Tesla is also likely to use Soitec’s SmartSiC wafers, which could reduce SiC die size by around 20%,” said analysts at Jeffries. “The timing of the new platform’s introduction is unknown, but we don’t expect suppliers like STM and On Semi to see any negative impact in 2023 or even 2024.
Soitec now coming to the Tesla party.
(20min delay)