Transforming the U.S. semiconductor business model

Charlie Cheng, Kilopass Technologies Inc.
12/13/2010 9:20 AM EST

Since the recession in 2009, the semiconductor industry has led the recovery and is projected to see between a 10 to 15 percent growth for 2010-2012, far exceeding what’s projected for the global gross domestic product (GDP) growth.

Here, in the Silicon Valley, the semiconductor industry is very much yesterday’s news, ignored by venture capitalists, talented employees and trade publications. That makes industry pundits wonder what’s happening to the U.S. semiconductor industry, especially the startups who aspire to become another Atheros, Marvell or NVIDIA.

In my opinion, 2011 will be the year that transforms the U.S. semiconductor business model from fabless companies designing chips and building them off-shore, to focusing on just licensing the core technologies to chip companies worldwide. This model is formally called the semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) licensing business, and after its meteoric rise in the mid-1990s and much neglected due to a lack of success, is finally making a comeback again.

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