blockchain

Part 2 of 2-part series on MSEC 2019 highlights. Read Part 1. Neural Networks on ChipTo be sure, low power is king when bringing machine learning to the sensor edge. Battery-powered, always-on sensing devices require it since frequent recharging is the death knell of any electronic product. That’s why semiconductor companies are offering new ways to conserve power.“MEMS sensor suppliers have made significant strides in the power, size and performance of their devices,” said Aspinity CEO Tom Doyle. “Yet these gains deliver only incremental power improvements to the system.”Doyle advocates a new architectural model that uses an analog neuromorphic processor to analyze all sensor data at the start of the signal chain instead of sending it downstream so power-hungry chips such as DSPs can digitize it before analysis.“The technology industry wants to take advantage of the many benefits of always-on sensing applications,” said Doyle. “Before we can reach mass proliferation, however, we need to resolve the power issues that are deal-breakers for some applications. We believe the answer to this challenge is architectural. All the data gathered by always-on sensing systems is analog in nature, yet as soon as it’s captured, it’s digitized immediately for analysis. Determining which data is important up front eliminates the digitization and processing of irrelevant data so that voice-first devices such as smart speakers and wearables/hearables can run for long periods of time without requiring battery recharge.”Syntiant CTO Jeremy Holleman agreed that on-device intelligence is the future.“Did you just fall? Is your heartrate a bit off? Deep learning provides a toolset that yields vastly superior decisions,” said Holleman. “The problem is that deep learning is computationally intensive. The answer is a neural network that performs on-device edge inferencing.”Holleman added that Syntiant’s neural decision processor was recently certified as Amazon Voice Service (AVS)-compliant for wake-word detection, making it easier to design voice control in battery-powered devices such as earbuds and wearables.MSEC Technology Showcase WinnerWith the groundswell of interest in intelligence at the edge, it was no surprise that Cartesiam won top honors among all competitors in the MSEC Technology Showcase for its NanoEdge AI, software that brings AI to the edge of the signal chain, making it easier for designers to create intelligent objects that can learn and understand.“Unlike other AI algorithmic technologies for sensing devices, NanoEdge enables both learning and inference at the edge, providing accurate and adaptive intelligence,” said Cartesiam Managing Director and Co-founder Marc Dupaquier, who accepted the award. “It’s also the only tool of its kind that does not require data scientists on board for implementation, which saves a tremendous amount of money. Our clients can build a machine learning library and embed it into their own code within weeks to realize the same caliber of unsupervised neural network that was once the exclusive domain of AI cloud vendors.”MSIG 2019 Hall of FameAt this year’s conference, MSIG Director Carmelo Sansone recognized two longtime contributors to the commercialization of MEMS and sensors: Peter G. Hartwell, Ph.D., chief technology officer at InvenSense, a TDK group company; and Thomas Kenny, professor and senior associate dean of engineering at Stanford University.Hartwell leads technology strategy and the InvenSense advanced technology research group. He has more than 25 years’ experience commercializing silicon MEMS products, including advanced sensors and actuators, and developing MEMS testing techniques.Kenny’s academic accomplishments include authoring or co-authoring more than 250 scientific papers and holding 50 issued patents. He has also advised more than 50 graduated Ph.D. students from Stanford.MSEC 2020Mark your calendar for next year’s MSEC, October 12-14, at Coronado Island Marriott Resort Spa in Coronado, Calif. Get updates from MSIG on MSEC and other upcoming events including MSTC 2020.Stay in Touch with MSIGMEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, is the industry association representing the global MEMS and sensors supply chain. To learn how MSIG enables professionals in the MEMS and sensors industry to innovate, address common challenges and accelerate business results, visit us today.Connect with MSIG on Twitter and LinkedIn. Subscribe to SEMI Blog: Technology and Trends.Maria Vetrano is a public relations consultant at SEMI.

Part of 1 of 2-part series on MSEC 2019 highlights. Read Part 2. MEMS and sensors are proliferating across consumer, automotive, biomedical/healthcare, robotics, industrial and agriculture applications to harvest sensory data in a hyper-connected world and meet demand from consumers and organizations alike as they clamor for more intelligence in electronics.Take the ubiquitous iPhone. Shipped in 2007, Apple’s first iPhone sported five sensors. By contrast, the most feature-packed smartphones will embed up to 20 sensors by 2021, according to Yole Développement’s Jérôme Azémar. He estimates that the devices will feature four MEMS microphones, four CMOS image sensors (CIS), a RGB color sensor, a laser rangefinder, an infrared sensor, a gas sensor, a heart rate monitor and a fingerprint sensor, not to mention the MEMS inertial sensors that device users have come to know and trust.The MEMS market is expected to reach $18.5 billion in 2024 [1], up a whopping 60 percent from $11.6 billion in 2018, according to Azémar, who presented at MEMS Sensors Industry Group’s 15th annual MEMS Sensors Executive Congress (MSEC) in late October in Coronado, Calif. Add other types of sensors to the mix – CIS, environmental sensors, LiDARs, radars, ultrasonics, and fingerprint sensors – and the market will mushroom to $93 billion by 2024, said Azémar.Since MEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG) joined SEMI as a Strategic Association Partner three years ago, SEMI has expanded its MEMS and sensors programs to Europe and Asia while continuing to grow its U.S. conferences. “SEMI is continually investing in MEMS and sensors innovation across the supply chain,” said Dave Anderson, president of SEMI Americas and host of MSEC. “For example, MSIG is contributing to the development of the Heterogeneous Integration Roadmap, an initiative designed to drive heterogeneous integration technology development and accelerate electronics innovation. The roadmap spans device design, test and fabrication, ecosystem development, R D, equipment and materials. “At MSEC, executives and other speakers explored how AI and blockchain are remaking the food supply chain, air transportation and other sectors as MEMS and sensors improve the quality of our lives,” said Anderson.Sensing at the EdgeThe concept of artificial intelligence (AI), that a machine can harness intelligence that rivals or outperforms humans – and act without human intervention – has been a feature of the human imagination since at least the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. MEMS and sensors facilitate intelligence in a wide range of electronics such as smartphones, healthcare wearables, robots, industrial predictive maintenance systems, and cars. AI is sure to augment that functionality.MEMS and sensors are now in their third wave of evolution, a focus on edge AI, Bosch Sensortec CEO and General Manager Stefan Finkbeiner told MSEC attendees. For its part, Bosch is working to add AI to MEMS devices. The first wave integrated software with MEMS sensors, and the second, sensor fusion, enabled designers to allocate performance and power strategically to tune MEMS for resource-constrained devices. The third wave is “an active-learning phase in which MEMS facilitates real-time learning at the edge to promote greater personalization, environmental feedback, privacy of user data and improved battery life,” said Finkbeiner.Small sensor nodes with edge AI exemplify third-wave applications. Integrating low-power environmental sensors (e.g., gas, temperature, pressure, humidity and air-flow sensors), the nodes could be deployed in fire-prone forests to assess fire risk and support early detection. Access to this real-time environmental information could prove invaluable to residents and public-safety personnel alike.Google takes another tack, applying machine learning to resource-constrained devices, said Nick Kreeger, a senior software engineer at the Internet giant. The company’s Google Brain creates machine learning models that can run on inexpensive, low-power microcontrollers using Google’s TensorFlow Lite, an open-source machine learning tool that’s been deployed on a multitude of mobile devices. Inferencing is done at the device’s edge, rather than transmitted to the cloud.Meeting the power constraints of battery-powered sensing devices is another matter that starts with minimizing energy and data waste. “Deep learning is compute-bound and runs well on existing microcontrollers,” Kreeger said. “Because it’s all arithmetic, it’s low-power compared to storage access.”Already Google has worked with Plant Village, a research unit at Penn State University, and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) to help farmers improve food production by using machine learning and cheap sensors to spot and manage planet diseases in developing countries. And that production chain is in dire need of a boost, according to Rajendra Rao, general manager of IBM Food Trust, an enterprise-class blockchain solution.“We are on the cusp of complete failure of the food system,” Rao said. “One out of 10 people gets sick each year from foodborne illness, 420,000 die from this annually, 80 percent of companies in the food supply chain have not digitized, one-third of all fresh food in the US is thrown away, and one in five seafood samples worldwide is mislabeled.”IBM Food Trust’s work with Sucafina, which manages a global green coffee supply chain, shows how sensors can trace food from the farm to the processing plant to the consumer. With the IBM Food Trust platform, Sucafina can track the origin of the beans used in a cup of coffee – a competitive differentiator to coffee drinkers eager to support fair-trade coffee roasters.ripe.io, one of Forbes’ 25 most innovative AgTech startups, is also tackling the challenges and complexities of the food supply chain.“Our secure blockchain platform creates a digital twin of food items, transparently aggregating foods’ journey in real-time, to provide a harmonized trustworthy platform for multiple stakeholders,” said Rachel Gabato, the company’s COO. The ripe.io blockchain-based platform collects data from various sensors – temperature, pressure, light, humidity and inertial MEMS sensors. Growers, distributors and end customers including sweetgreen – a U.S. restaurant chain that depends on fresh produce – use the information to trace the origin and quality of food.MSEC 2020Mark your calendar for next year’s MSEC, October 12-14, at Coronado Island Marriott Resort Spa in Coronado, Calif. Get updates from MSIG on MSEC and other upcoming events including MSTC 2020.Stay in Touch with MSIGMEMS Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, is the industry association representing the global MEMS and sensors supply chain. To learn how MSIG enables professionals in the MEMS and sensors industry to innovate, address common challenges and accelerate business results, visit us today.Connect with MSIG on Twitter and LinkedIn. Subscribe to SEMI Blog: Technology and Trends.[1] Source: Status of the MEMS Industry report, Yole Développement, 2019Maria Vetrano is a public relations consultant at SEMI.

The world of work is transforming. I believe digitalization can be a force for better quality work, unleashing higher productivity and opening up new opportunities to work in different ways. For this to happen, we must set the right framework. We must set the right conditions to enable everyone to reap the benefits from the digital era.One crucial condition is that people have the right skills. That's why the European Commission launched a "Skills Agenda for Europe" in 2016. It sets out 10 actions to make the most of Europe’s human capital, which is crucial to keep Europe on a competitive edge and growing. One of its focus areas for example is better skills intelligence – understanding skills bottlenecks and anticipating needs, including through stronger business-education partnerships. Education needs to be more responsive to labour market needs.The microelectronics industry is one such area in Europe that faces an acute talent shortage. But this technology is crucial for Europe’s competitiveness. Microelectronics enable many of the key technologies and innovations required for advancing a secure, sustainable and digital economy. Data centers, online platforms, autonomous spacecrafts, blockchain algorithms and 5G infrastructure may serve different purposes but share one vital element: microelectronics. The deepening penetration of electronics in the digital economy and new applications is giving rise to industry requirements for a workforce pool with soft skills and expertise in production technologies, software and data science.This is why the European Commission encourages new collaboration models between the worlds of education and industry across all business sectors, including in microelectronics. I welcome the fact that SEMI, the industry association representing the electronics manufacturing supply chain, is fully committed to building and maintaining the needed talent pipeline in Europe. I wish you best of luck in your endeavors. Marianne Thyssen is European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs, Skills and Labour Mobility.

Semiconductor, electronics and equipment manufacturers today face a number of logistics and supply chain challenges that could be overcome by systems providing a secure, tamper-resistant, single source of truth. Chief among these challenges is limited data sharing due to data security barriers among suppliers, shippers, manufacturers and test houses, an impediment to achieving optimal product quality and regulatory compliance. Additionally, inefficient and inadequate processes for tracking goods make it more difficult to isolate shipping problems, track faulty parts and verify product authenticity. Counterfeiting has become a serious problem that costs US-based semiconductor manufacturers $7.5 billion annually.How Blockchain Can Help Clear Data Sharing BottlenecksBlockchain functions could help alleviate many data sharing pain points in manufacturing. Blockchain’s distributed functionality, bundled security measures, and associated features such as smart contracts have the potential to help manufacturers quickly trace goods, manage records transparently, and automate supply chain processes and payments. No isolated blockchain platform would solve all of these problems on its own. But, when combined with other solutions and applied to particular use cases, blockchain has the potential to optimize operations and foster an environment of trust and collaboration among consortium members. Three core features of blockchain make it a valuable technology for manufacturing: Distributed and immutable system of record. With a distributed system of record in the blockchain network, there is no "central" data store controlled by one organization. The distributed ledger provides all participants with a view into the data, thus increasing transparency, data distribution timeliness, information sharing, and data access. Security also improves as there is no single central data store open to external attacks. Once data is inserted onto the chain, it cannot be easily changed. Security and Trust. Blockchain integrates best-of-breed cryptographic mechanisms to guarantee the digital identity of the network participants and secure the privacy of the data stored to enable role-based data access. It brings trust to a potentially trustless environment without the need for a centralized third party. Smart Contracts. Smart contracts are embedded business logic that can be added to a blockchain. They enable the automation of many processes and the secure handling of contracts. Blockchain Use Cases in ManufacturingIn each stage of manufacturing, blockchain could be applied in a variety of use cases to expedite processes and alleviate security issues. A few examples that merely scratch the surface of what may be possible follow.In pre-production, manufacturers may implement blockchain solutions for Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR). These systems monitor inventory levels, enabling suppliers to replenish supplies before they run low. The expensive, proprietary B2B networks used today could be replaced with blockchain as the common sharing protocol, using non-proprietary or public networks.Suppliers may also combine blockchain with IoT sensors on shipping containers to provide a tamper-resistant record of shipping conditions. This could be used to ensure that temperature and humidity tolerances for chemicals and equipment are not exceeded during transit from the supplier. The identity and materials in components and subcomponents of manufacturing equipment could be collected on a blockchain to verify compliance with environmental and health regulations. During production, a manufacturing process machine can be registered on a blockchain with a unique identity; its performance and maintenance history can be recorded. A maintenance service provider could then be automatically notified, via a smart contract, when a predictive maintenance alert is written, allowing repair of machines before they fail. In the distribution stage, customers could search the ledger for a product’s complete history, reducing counterfeiting and solidifying the origin of properly sourced goods. When faulty product is identified, the manufacturer may search the ledger to quickly locate the faulty supplier or bad test results and alert all receivers of the defective product.ConclusionWith blockchain, manufacturing can become a more collaborative process among suppliers, manufacturers and customers. Blockchain can help streamline the supply chain and inventory replenishment, improve tracking and regulatory compliance, and reduce counterfeiting. Augmenting blockchain with IoT enables use cases like predictive maintenance and monitoring of goods during transit. Blockchain is not yet mature and its business value still needs to be proven. However, it is poised to help manufacturers decrease costs and fraud, and provide customers with faster, more secure delivery, increased visibility, and consistency.More Resources on Blockchain and ManufacturingTibco is an active member of SEMI’s Smart Manufacturing Technology Community, which holds regular meetings on this and other topics. Join now to help shape the future of Smart Manufacturing. For more information on blockchain use cases in manufacturing, please see these resources. Read this Whitepaper: Blockchain and Manufacturing: A Match Made in the Factory Watch this Webinar: Blockchain and Manufacturing - A Match Made in the Factory Visit the TIBCO Blockchain Solutions page Mike Alperin is a TIBCO principal manufacturing industry consultant embedded in the Data Science team where he applies analytics, machine learning and big data technology to current industry problems. Prior to this he was the product manager for a leading commercial yield management application. He has worked at start-ups and global semiconductor manufacturing companies as a yield manager, device engineer, process engineer and failure analyst. Mike is based in Austin, Texas.

The Japan semiconductor manufacturing supply chain is a global semiconductor industry workhorse, producing about one third of world’s chip equipment and more than half of its semiconductor materials. In contributing the vast majority of these products, SEMI Japan member companies hold the high distinction of enabling continuous development of the worldwide semiconductor industry. Aptly, then, technology powerhouses IBM, Nissan Motors and Toshiba offered insights into the latest trends and innovations in computing and smart cars at the late-May SEMI Japan Members Days in Tokyo with 133 technologists from member companies in attendance. As the audience discovered, chip innovation never sleeps and, as futuristic as it can be, invariably gives rise to possibilities beyond the human imagination. That was the message of kickoff presentation “Computing Reimagined – AI/Quantum/IoT” – by Dr. Shintaro Yamamichi, Senior Manager, Science Technology at IBM Research-Tokyo. Dr. Yamamichi cited three examples of how semiconductors uncover new technology frontiers. Computational materials discovery, a novel methodology, is the application of theory and computation to unearthing new materials and the key to enabling an ongoing stream of semiconductor innovation. In particular, using cognitive technology to mine huge volumes of literature reveal new insights into materials that uncover even more functionality such as greater conductivity and heat resistance. With new materials the oxygen of ever more advanced semiconductor chip manufacturing, the semiconductor industry will surely benefit from this methodology. The opportunity to accelerate quantum computing innovation is now. Launched in May 2016, the IBM Quantum Experience gives students, researchers and general science enthusiasts hands-on access to IBM’s experimental cloud-enabled quantum computing platform. The online platform features a forum for discussing quantum computing topics, tutorials on how to program IBM Q devices, and other educational material about quantum computing. Dr. Yamamichi encouraged the audience to join the program. The world’s tiniest computer, unveiled by IBM at the company’s Think 2018 conference in Las Vegas, packs several hundred thousand transistors and, IBM claims, the equivalent power of a 1990s x86 chip into a package smaller than a grain of salt. The computer’s small form factor (less than 1mm x 1mm) and low manufacturing cost means it can be embedded in product price tags and packages as an anti-fraud device using blockchain technology. Vehicles need to be both electric and intelligent as countries become more populous and traffic density increases. More drivers extend average drive time, boost greenhouse emissions, devour precious energy resources and lead to more traffic congestion and accidents. Dr. Haruyoshi Kumura, fellow at Nissan Motor, highlighted these issues in stressing the importance of a new era of intelligent mobility. To mitigate these problems, Nissan is focusing on the electrification and intelligence of its vehicles: Nissan’s electric vehicle, Leaf, reduces accidents with electric intelligence systems such as e-Pedal, which uses an accelerator pedal only for both acceleration and deceleration, and ProPILOT Park, a feature that automatically parks the car by using multiple cameras and ultrasonic sonars to detect pedestrians and other objects around the vehicle. With more than 90 percent of traffic accidents caused by driver error, Nissan plans to introduce autonomous driving on multi-lane highways by the end of 2018 and on city streets by 2020. By 2022, the company plans to roll out full autonomous driving to reduce traffic accidents caused by inattentive drivers. For full autonomous driving to materialize, sensor fusion technology must incorporate a combination of technologies – radar systems, light detection and ranging (LiDAR) systems and cameras – to identify the shapes and locations of nearby moving objects and measure their speed. Sensed information is then processed by a 3D graphic analyzer to make electric throttle, braking and steering decisions. The outlook for automotive industry includes car sharing and more electrification – both insights from Yoshiki Hayakashi, general manager, automotive solution strategic planning division at Toshiba Electronic Devices Storage, who offered his perspectives on trends in Japan’s automotive industry and beyond. To meet the requirements of the COP21 Paris agreement, the global automotive industry is shifting to electrification. Toshiba estimates 60 percent of new cars will be electric vehicles by 2040 to meet the International Energy Agency’s global EV outlook. In Japan, autonomous driving or advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) will be offered in certain areas by 2020, the year of the Tokyo Olympic games. Growth of these advanced driving systems hinges on infrastructure development. Supporting data centers, intelligent transport systems, vehicle-to-everything connections, and smart city are all necessary components. Car ownership will begin to cede ground to car sharing with technology elites such as Tesla, Apple and Google leading the way. To expand the car-sharing industry, new alliances will take shape between new and old-guard automotive companies and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers. Autonomous driving requires precise 3D renderings of actual roadways using sensors for route mapping. While sensor fusion must be deployed for these capabilities, LiDAR offers better sensing range and space resolution precision than ultrasonic sonars, radars, and cameras. The next SEMI Japan members day is scheduled for October 30 in Tokyo. SEMI holds similar events in most regions where SEMI and its members operate. For the members events in your region, contact the SEMI office nearest you. Yoichiro Ando is a marketing director in SEMI Japan.

Powerful winds of change are re-shaping the semiconductor industry as it flexes and re-positions to power a new wave of growth on the back of emerging applications. Today, the industry is thriving, with growth expected to continue through 2019 even as Moore’s Law – the trusty doubling of transistors roughly every two years – begins to pump the brakes. Product mix and production technology are shifting as the dominant smartphone and PC markets, having seen their growth peaks, start to give way to large markets with relatively low semiconductor penetration, such as automotive.What’s more, new potentially ubiquitous technologies and platforms such as AI, blockchain and smart manufacturing are redefining market dynamics and the semiconductor ecosystem that underlies them.Troublingly, the most significant threats to the continued growth of the semiconductor industry are not of its own making. Macroeconomic trends and trade policy disputes loom.These were some of the key takeaways from the SEMI Market Symposium kicking off SEMICON West in San Francisco this week. Following is a deeper look.Semiconductor MarketThe consensus view, reflected in forecasts presented by Clark Tseng of SEMI and Bob Johnson of Gartner, is that the semiconductor industry could top $500 billion in 2019 after reaching $400 billion in 2017. According to Gartner, smartphones and PCs will continue to account for large parts of the market, but will be displaced as major drivers of market growth by the emergence of industrial, automotive and, to a lesser extent, storage, from 2017 to 2022. Johnson noted that while communications and data processing applications drive logic device demand, average sales prices (ASPs) are a bigger contributor to revenue growth than unit growth.Leading-edge processors are a big part of the ASP picture, with equipment costs increasing ~20 percent per node. One challenge is that as Moore’s Law loses steam, leading logic producers are increasingly going their own way with new production technology. The volatile DRAM market – now in a “super cycle,” according to Tseng, and expected to peak in 2019 – has been stoking memory market growth.Initially, supply shortages fueled memory price increases as three of the four leading memory makers invested in flash rather than DRAM capacity. However, memory prices have been more recently been lifted by technology complexity, particularly as DRAM has moved to 3D architectures. The good news is that pricing, at long last, appears to be driven by value.Automotive MarketWith automotive accounting for less than 10 percent of semiconductor demand, there is room for growth. Rudy Burger of Woodside Partners noted that while the end market for automobiles is growing slowly, at 3 percent CAGR, the market size is nearing 100 million units. In market segments such as electric vehicles, the semiconductor content exceeds $1,000 but can be much higher.For example, the BMW i3 sports over $4,000 in semiconductor content. Burger said connectivity, autonomous driving and shared mobility services are also key opportunities for semiconductors to deepen their penetration in automobiles. For instance, the auto market for cameras, is expected to grow from $2 billion in 2017 to $6 billion in 2022.On average, high-end vehicles feature over $1,000 in semiconductor content, whereas low-end vehicles hover in the $400 range, said Anand Srinivasan of Bloomberg. Because the automotive market is segmented by function or subsystem, with different suppliers focusing on different areas, there is little supply concentration. Srinivasan also pointed out that because of significant differences in their objectives, automotive safety and automation systems should be developed separately.BlockchainThe chief benefit of blockchain is the trust it begets among all parties to a digital transaction through four fundamental features, said David Treat of Accenture: The tracking of provenance (knowing who has touched data, and what has happened to it) Tamper evidence (knowing if someone has tried to change the data) Control (which data elements to share with which parties) Security at the data element level While most of the hype over blockchain focuses on tokenized assets and ledgers (bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies), the fundamental application in the semiconductor industry is sharing trusted access to reference data at the data element level. This ability to provide shared trust can reduce costs throughout the supply chain and across enterprises. For example, future blockchain implementations will offer a full ecosystem view to any supply chain participant. While blockchain has typically been deployed through centralized control or platforms, peer consortia, such as SEMI, could help weave the benefits of blockchain through various ecosystems by enabling equipment and material suppliers, device manufacturers, designers and system integrators to share business and technical information securely and, if desired, anonymously.Global and Macroeconomic TrendsThe biggest threats to the continued growth of the semiconductor industry are exogenous. After a decade of steady recovery since the financial crisis, the global economy appears to be heading for a slowdown. Duncan Meldrum of Hilltop Economics made the case that the global economy is at or just past the peak of the business cycle, and semiconductor equipment is past the peak.A key indicator of a looming recessionary is the movement toward an inverted yield curve, in which long-term interest rates fall below short-term rates – a phenomena that could materialize this year or next.The increasingly heated trade climate, marked by high-stakes confrontations between the U.S. and China, threatens complex supply chain arrangements, though mercurial policy statements could do even more harm than stiffer trade tariffs. Underscoring competing interests between the U.S. and China and the unpredictability of their relations, Robert Maire of Semiconductor Advisors pointed out that, in 2019, 60 percent of all semiconductors are expected to be used in China, deepening the dependency of several U.S. semiconductor companies on China.Paul Semenza, for SEMI Industry Research and Statistics