Industry Squibs

A couple of interesting announcements related to compiling programs for multi-core processor from two very different sides of the industry grabbed several headlines today. On the one side of the spectrum, Intel announced the availability of new C++ and Fortran compilers that optimize program performance on latest Intel multi-core processors. The Intel press release does not yield any performance improvement details; however, EETimes.com reports that a 10-15% percent improvement can be expected over existing compilers – it is unclear if this performance increase is applicable to all applications or only those that can take advantage of Intel’s SIMD extensions and SSE 4 instructions. The compilers are not exactly cheap, starting at $599 and going up to $1,599. The good news though, as also reported by EETimes.com, is that the compilers will be available at student prices as well in the range of $49 to $129.

While the previous press release is clearly posted on Intel’s website, an announcement of Google acquiring start-up PeakStream, who specializes in improving performance of single-threaded applications on multi-core chips, was initially only posted at TheRegister.com. It has since been picked up by several other sources, suggesting that it is most likely credible. Exactly what Google intends to do with this acquisition is anyone’s guess, but speculations are beginning to pop-up all around the web ranging from Google employing the software for personal performance-gains to Google entering the compiler market. One thing is for sure though – while the terms of the deal were not disclosed it can be safely assumed that the venture capital firms most likely got their money's worth.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today released the latest worldwide sales statistics. Overall, chip sales for the first four months of this year are up 3.7%; however, the picture does not look all rosy. According to the article, average selling prices for microprocessors, DRAMs, and NAND flash are declining fast and are offsetting any volume increases. While the accompanying chart does not yield any interesting insights, one key takeaway can be found in the published table. Namely, while year over year sales are up only a modest 1.6%, the year over year sales in Europe, Japan, and Asia were actually quite good, but were offset by a 10% decrease in the Americas. Unfortunately, no detailed breakdown of the increases or decreases is provided. However, the SIA will publish their updated forecast for 2007-2009 in a little more than a week, which might yield a few additional insights.

With speculations running rampant about AMD, and Micron possibly going private, one has to wonder if the private equity firms actually know what they are doing. At the same time, should workers be concerned if their company has gone private or might be going in the future? There is simply not enough data at this point in make conclusions one way or another. But of course, that won’t stop people from arguing. A couple of interesting blurbs on this topic can be found over at Electronicsweekly.com. The first one, titled “It is all change for chip manufacturers” takes a very brief look at upcoming changes in the semiconductor industry, arguing that foundries, IP companies, and design houses provide services of equal value of the most sophisticated IDMs, thus questioning the wisdom of the private equity firms. The second news blurb, titled “Don’t blame the private equity firms, says chip CEO”, contains a few quotes from Altera CEO John Daanec who argues that the boards of directors that agree to sell the companies to private equity firms are those that are indeed making the poor decisions. However all of this might turn out, don’t expect the debate to be settled anytime soon.