End of Startup Era: Chips Face Innovation Gap

Rick Merritt, EETimes
2/14/2014 06:00 AM EST

The problem statement

SAN FRANCISCO — The Silicon Valley venture capitalists who once nurtured the semiconductor industry have almost all moved on to greener pastures in web startups, so it's not entirely clear what will be the source of tomorrow's chip innovations.

That was the conclusion of a panel of veteran semiconductor chief executives and investors at the International Solid State Circuits conference (ISSCC) here. The group was modestly optimistic that advances will come from a variety of sources.

A few big companies such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft are getting more vertically integrated by spending more on semiconductors. Developing countries such as China and India are investing in the industry, though they debated the pros and cons of government involvement. And a handful of investors still nourish a few chip startups.

We excerpt below some of the more insightful comments and lively exchanges from CEOs T.J. Rodgers (Cypress), Scott McGregor (Broadcom) and Nicky Lu (Etron) and investors Andy Rappaport (August Capital), John Doerr (Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers), and Dado Banatao (Tallwood Venture Capital).

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