Expert Testimony with Ron Maltiel

My expertise in semiconductors, process, and circuits have led to some really interesting places. Thanks for having me on your show Max for a fascinating

Ron

Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

3D Semiconductor Evolution

http://www.3dincites.com/2016/01/2015-retrospective-outlook-2016-3d-nand-flash-one-upmanship/

Semiconductor companies have been building 3D devices (which are  vertical circuits above the silicon die edge surface) for the last couple years. They have been going in the vertical direction due to the complexity of shrinking the devices (see 2012  Moore's Law Slowwwing ). Samsung has been making 3D V-NAND since 2013 (see Samsung’s 1Tb SSD: 3D Vertical NAND ). Samsung is now using its vertical layer manufacturing know-how to increase its market share in V-NAND and DRAM. More about Samsung's progress below.

Ron

Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

As tide turns against chip industry, Samsung forges ahead of rivals

By Se Young Lee

Apr. 26, 2016, 7:02 PM Thomson Reuters

SEOUL (Reuters) - Gloom may be settling over much of the world's semiconductor industry but Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to cope better than most due to its strong technological edge, enabling it to boost market share for some key products and possibly even lift revenue.

A plunge in PC sales and slower growth for smartphones globally has hit the sector hard, prompting Intel Corp to say this month it would cut up to 12,000 jobs.

Qualcomm has said fiscal third-quarter chip shipments could fall as much as 22 percent, while SK Hynix Inc on Tuesday reported a 65 percent slide in quarterly operating income - its weakest result in three years.

Samsung, which reports its first-quarter earnings on Thursday, is also hurting. Chip profits - which accounted for just under half of its overall 2015 operating income - are widely expected to fall, with some analysts predicting a drop of more than 10 percent in January-March from a year earlier.

But if its rivals are getting pummeled, the South Korean tech giant is merely bruised and is in many ways benefiting as clients shift towards premium power-conserving DRAM chips for smartphones, as well as solid-state drives for data storage using 3D NAND chips.

"The technological gap between Samsung and its competitors in fields such as DRAM and NAND has been widening lately, which helps the company avoid the rate of profit decline seen at other firms," said Song Myung-sub, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities.

Even with a first-quarter drop of around 10 percent, Samsung's chip operating profit is expected to be nearly five times that of SK Hynix.

The world's No. 2 chipmaker also happens to run the world's biggest smartphone business, giving it a captive customer for its chips that none of its rivals have.

"This is a safehouse they can go to," said Avril Wu, an analyst at research firm Trendforce.

Healthy initial sales for Samsung's new flagship Galaxy S7 smartphones are expected to be the main driver of first-quarter operating profit, which the firm has said likely rose 10.4 percent from a year earlier to 6.6 trillion won ($5.8 billion).

DOMINANT POSITION

Of its key products, analysts are most upbeat about Samsung's NAND chip prospects. Samsung was the first to mass produce NAND flash chips using a technology called 3D NAND, helping it assume a dominant position in higher-margin products such as solid-state hard drives for computers and servers.

BNP Paribas expects the South Korean firm's NAND revenue to climb 16 percent and NAND operating profit to jump 69 percent this year. Shipments will also likely outpace the industry average, allowing Samsung to seize more market share, it said in a report.

The technology is already contributing to Samsung's profits, analysts say, adding that this is not the case for main NAND rivals Toshiba Corp, SK Hynix and Micron Technology Inc which are estimated to be as much as three years behind.

Investors and analysts also point to Samsung's superior production technology for DRAM chips, saying the firm is ahead of its closest rivals by at least a year. It can mass produce smaller chips than rivals, which boosts performance and conserves power as well as increasing the number that can be made from a single wafer.

Samsung commanded 58 percent of the mobile DRAM market as of the fourth quarter of 2015, according to TrendForce. Mobile DRAM revenue also accounted for more than half of Samsung's overall DRAM sales for October-March, TrendForce's data shows.

(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Apple Watch Manufacturing Highlights

The article below summarize key aspects of the new Apple watch. It is important to remember that Apple goal is to extend its ecosystem to a new interface- the watch. It pushing the manufacturing envelope further-


‘”The encapsulation of the entire printed circuit board assembly into a single monolithic module is especially noteworthy,” Keller said. “Whereas many products might have some form of semi-flexible encapsulant applied to the board for protection, shock and vibration purposes, Apple has effectively created one large IC out of the entire assembly. This encapsulation is done by encasing the board in the same plastic/epoxy material used for conventional ICs. Indeed, many of the devices found inside the assembly are already encapsulated, effectively creating an IC-within-an-IC affair."

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Apple Watch has lowest cost to price ratio

Posted by IT-Online on May 5, 2015

The much-anticipated new Apple Watch has the lowest hardware costs compared to retail price of any Apple phone IHS Technology has researched, according to a preliminary estimate by IHS and its Teardown Mobile Handsets Intelligence Service.The teardown of the Apple Watch Sport by IHS Technology estimates that the actual hardware costs are only about 24 percent of the manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP). Estimated hardware cost to MSRP ratios for other Apple products reviewed by IHS are in the range of 29% to 38%.

The teardown of the Apple Watch Sport 38 mm by IHS Technology shows a bill of materials of $81.20 with the cost of production rising to $83.70 when the $2.50 manufacturing expense is added. The retail price of the Apple Watch Sport 38 mm is $349.00. The IHS Technology analysis does not include logistics, amortised capital expenses, overhead, SG&A, R&D, software, IP licensing and other variables throughout the supply chain such as the EMS provider.

“It is fairly typical for a first-generation product rollout to have a higher retail price versus hardware cost,” says Kevin Keller, senior principal analyst-materials and cost benchmarking services for IHS Technology. “While retail prices always tend to decrease over time, the ratio for the Apple Watch is lower than what we saw for the iPhone 6 Plus and other new Apple products, and could be of great benefit to Apple’s bottom line if sales match the interest the Apple Watch has generated.”

There are several new features and manufacturing methods used in the Apple Watch Sport, including: a Pulse Oximeter, Force Touch sensor, “Taptic Engine” feedback, encapsulated modular printed circuit board (PCB) assembly and stacked-die integrated circuits (IC). “While these features have been promoted by Apple and none are necessarily revelatory,” Keller says. “It is noteworthy that many features are appearing for the first time – in combination – in one device. It could be a bellwether for other future Apple products.”

The Taptic Engine built into the Apple Watch, and integrated with the loudspeaker, contains a linear actuator which provides haptic feedback and vibrations. “We found that the device consumes a substantial amount of space inside the watch, and we would expect further miniaturization of this function in future iterations of the product,” he adds.

The preliminary results of the teardown do not show any big surprises in the IC content; all of the manufacturers identified so far were expected. The Apple Watch NAND memory is a Toshiba Flash 8GB and DRAM is a Micron SDRAM 512Mb. Broadcom, STMicro, Maxim, Analogue Devices and NXP are used for connectivity and interface. One noteworthy change is a shift from Invensense to STMicro for the accelerometer/gyroscope.

“The display is LG’s plastic OLED display and the touchscreen overlay module is a TPK Slim GG utilising their ‘Force Touch’ technology,” Keller says. “Force Touch was recently incorporated into the latest MacBook and is expected to be found in the next iPhone generation.”

The fabrication of the enclosure continues the Apple “Unibody” tradition of precision machining from a single block of aluminium. Apple is now extending this design philosophy into a highly miniaturized realm, mating the legacy of precision watchmaking with Apple’s specialized manufacturing practices. As with their previous products, Apple has taken fabrication techniques – once typically restricted to low-volume manufacturing and prototyping – and scaled them into a high-volume production environment.

‘”The encapsulation of the entire printed circuit board assembly into a single monolithic module is especially noteworthy,” Keller said. “Whereas many products might have some form of semi-flexible encapsulant applied to the board for protection, shock and vibration purposes, Apple has effectively created one large IC out of the entire assembly. This encapsulation is done by encasing the board in the same plastic/epoxy material used for conventional ICs. Indeed, many of the devices found inside the assembly are already encapsulated, effectively creating an IC-within-an-IC affair.

“To provide electromagnetic shielding, the encapsulated PCB assembly is further treated with a metalized coating deposited over the surface,” Keller adds. “This shielding process is used in place of conventional stamped sheet metal shielding, saving a significant amount of space, as well as cutting down slightly on weight.”

The Apple Watch is equipped with inductive charging technology and is being shipped with a wireless charger, based on Apple’s own proprietary MagSafe charging technology.

“It has been speculated that the Apple Watch could be compatible with the Wireless Power Consortium’s (WPC) Qi wireless charging specification,” says Vicky Yussuff, analyst-power supplies & wireless power for IHS. “AppleInsider recently shared a video which appears to show the Apple Watch MagSafe charger being used to charge the Moto 360 smart watch. This would suggest that Apple’s charger is Qi-compatible.

“Apple has not been announced as a member of the WPC or even a supporter of the consortium, so it is unlikely that they have produced a ‘certified’ Qi product. However, the Qi specification is an open standard meaning it is still possible for Apple to build products which are compatible to the specification. This could be the case with the Apple Watch MagSafe charger,” Yussuff says. “Although it cannot be verified if both the Moto 360 smartwatch and
Magsafe wireless charger used in the video were both un-modified ‘off the shelf’ products, this could potentially be another boost for the wireless charging industry looking to increase interoperability.”

The Apple Watch battery appears to be somewhat simpler to replace than the batteries in many other Apple products. As long as the display can be carefully removed, the battery is attached with a simple snap-on connector.

Next iPhone Be Fabricated at TSMC

The article below discuss Apple fabricating 30% of A9 at TSCM fab. A9 is the microprocessor running the next iPhone.








More about Apple fabrication at Samsung and TSCM from October 2012 Apple Cutting Out Samsung Chips

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Apple makes 'last-minute decision' to use TSMC for 30% of 'A9' chip orders for next iPhone

By Neil Hughes
Wednesday, April 15, 2015, 06:21 pm PT (09:21 pm ET)

Facing poor yield rates from chipmaker GlobalFoundries, Apple has apparently made an eleventh-hour call as it solidifies its supply chain for the next-generation iPhone, opting to award nearly a third of "A9" chip orders to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.

Well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities issued a note to investors on Wednesday, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, revealing that Apple has apparently made what he called a "last-minute decision to recruit TSMC." Apple is said to have called an audible after partner GlobalFoundries continued to experience poor yield rates on production of the next-generation CPU.

Specifically, GlobalFoundries' "A9" chip yield rate is said to currently be at about 30 percent yield rate, which is well below what Kuo said is a mass-production "basic requirement" of 50 percent.
Apple is said to have turned to TSMC after partner GlobalFoundries showed exceptionally poor "A9" chip yield rates of around 30%.
"Recruiting TSMC reduces supply uncertainties for Apple," the analyst said.

Another factor in the decision, according to Kuo, are concerns from Apple that Samsung's chipmaking business may not be able to supply enough of its 14-nanometer design. That's because initial sales of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge have apparently been greater than expected, and may pull 14-nanometer orders away from Apple.

Finally, Kuo also indicated that TSMC's competing 16-nanometer FinFET Turbo design has exceeded Apple's expectations in both yield rate and performance.

Another industry analyst said much the same in a report last month. Citing a recent trip to Asia, Timothy Arcuri from Cowen and Company said strong yields and attractive pricing led him to believe that TSMC had secured a large portion of Apple's A9 order. 

Apple's 2015 iPhone update is widely expected to sport a next-generation processor based on a smaller and more efficient design. Multiple reports have indicated that Samsung will build the majority of "A9" processors for Apple's next-generation iPhone. 

Samsung had a stranglehold on Apple's mobile processor business, building all units for the iPhone until last year. That's when TSMC began contributing chips for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, using a 20-nanometer process for the A8 processor that powers Apple's flagship handsets.

DRAM Market Consolidation=> 32% Growth, All Time High Revenue

6+ DRAM vendors in 2001

Worldwide semiconductor revenue grew 7.9% in 2014, led by DRAM 32% increases;

"memory market was the best performer for the second year in a row, growing 16.6 percent, meaning the rest of the market only achieved 4.9 percent growth," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "As a group, DRAM vendors performed best, lifted by the booming DRAM market, which saw revenue increase 32 percent to $46.1 billion, surpassing the all-time high of $41.8 billion set in 1995." (more in the article below).  

The consolidation in the number of memory manufacturers from 20+ in the early 90s to 3 vendors help to firm DRAM memory chip price. Due to the limited number of vendors and the high cost of new fabs will keep the floor under DRAM chip costs in the future.

More about fab consolidation in my blog from March 2012 – Moore's Law End? (Next semiconductors gen. cost $10 billion)

DRAM vendors market shares are at S. Korea's share in DRAM market hits all-time high in 2014

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.

Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 7.9 Percent in 2014, According to Final Results by Gartner

Booming DRAM Market Sees Revenue Increase 32 Percent During 2014

Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $340.3 billion in 2014, a 7.9 percent increase from 2013 revenue of $315.4 billion, according to final results by Gartner, Inc. The top 25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenue increased 11.7 percent, which was more than the overall industry's growth. The top 25 vendors accounted for 72.4 percent of total market revenue, up from 69.9 percent in 2013.

"2014 saw all device categories post positive growth, unlike in 2013, when application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), discretes and microcomponents all declined. The memory market was the best performer for the second year in a row, growing 16.6 percent, meaning the rest of the market only achieved 4.9 percent growth," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "As a group, DRAM vendors performed best, lifted by the booming DRAM market, which saw revenue increase 32 percent to $46.1 billion, surpassing the all-time high of $41.8 billion set in 1995."

Intel saw a return to growth after two years of revenue decline, as PC production recovered, with sales up 7.7 percent (see Table 1). The company retained the No. 1 market share position for the 23rd consecutive year by capturing 15.4 percent of the market, which was down slightly on the previous year.

2014 saw significantly more merger and acquisition (M&A) activity among the major semiconductor vendors than the previous year, with some announced deals still to close in 2015. Among the most significant deals was Avago Technologies' acquisition of LSI, propelling the company into the top 25 semiconductor vendors for the first time. MStar Semiconductor was merged with MediaTek after a prolonged merger, and ON Semiconductor acquired Aptina Imaging. After adjusting for closed M&A activity, the top 25 semiconductor vendors grew at 9.1 percent.Source: Gartner (March 2015)

Additional information is provided in the Gartner report "Market Share Analysis: Semiconductors, Worldwide, 2014."

Apple Ask Samsung for iPhone 6 Parts

The flash memory bug of TLC performance versus MLC leads Apple to fix the memory IC controller and move from MLC to TLC NAND. It takes about a year to implement such changes. In the meantime, Apple looks to Samsung to provide MLC NAND (see the article below).

This is just another example of the limitations that the consolidation of semiconductor fabrication companies cause on their customers such as Apple. More about semiconductor industry consolidation from March 2012 Moore's Law Slowwwing and from February 2013 Semiconductor Moore's Law Running out of Money.

Ron

Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Samsung to Provide Parts for Apple’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in Order to Fix Huge Bug

By Arjit Singh | December 4, 2014

Samsung and Apple have been at war with each other for a long time due to a legal issue where the American tech giant sued Samsung for copying its iPad design. The trial turned out well in the end for Samsung, who continued to heavily criticize Apple and taunt the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus devices in their promos and video adverts.

Taking this into consideration, it comes off as a huge and ironic surprise that the South Korean tech company will be providing parts to Apple. Apparently, there have been some discussions between the two tech companies in order to obtain NAND flash memory chips, as Apple needs some supplies of the triple-level cell NAND flash used in the iPhone 6.

The higher capacity iPhone 6 handsets are apparently experiencing constant crashes and reboots, and apparently it’s because of the TLC memory. Naturally, Apple has to fix affected devices as soon as possible, especially when you think about how much money people spend on them. Apple’s products have some of the steepest price tags in the tech industry, but the quality has been heavily degrading over the years, making it look like Apple has no quality control. Besides supplying parts for Apple, Samsung will be making batteries for the iPhone 6 as well, according to Business Korea. This has been happening for a while, but Apple has been trying to reduce its reliance on Samsung components for its devices.

It seems that the two companies are going to bury the hatchet, but this could be strictly business-related, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Samsung 3D Process Pioneers Next Gen Semiconductor Devices

Samsung is leading the semiconductor industry with a two year leads in development of 3D NAND (see the article below).


The basic 3D process could be applied to other technologies beside flash such as DRAM memory or logic. It enable increasing the number of the transistors on each dies without the need to shrink the design rules below 20nm.

It is a key advantages since you do not need to develop the very difficult EUV photolitography.

More about 3D NAND in August 2013 blog - Samsung’s 1Tb SSD: 3D Vertical NAND

It make sense for Samsung to apply 3D Flash first to enterprise SSD, where the growth rate is +40%.

See also Applied Materials development work on advance patterning  - Applied Materials Develops Advanced Patterning Solution for Memory Devices


Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

Samsung to Mass Produce 3-bit 3D NAND Flash SSD

samsung_hwaseong_2optimized.jpg

An aerial view of Samsung's Hwaseong plant.

10 NOVEMBER 2014

Samsung Electronics is working to strengthen its position in the SSD market by increasing the profitability of its semiconductor memory business.

According to industry sources on Nov. 9, Samsung established a strategy to choose 3-bit V-NAND-based SSD as a new growth engine of its semiconductor memory business.

Since the productivity of 3-bit V-NAND is twice as high as 10 nm class planar NAND flash, the V-NAND is superior in price competitiveness, data processing speed, durability, and power efficiency. Thus, if the 3-bit V-NAND is featured in SSDs, it will increase the performance and price competitiveness of SSDs.

After its success in having a system to mass produce 3-bit V-NAND at the company's semiconductor plant in Hwaseong City near Seoul early last month, the Korean chip maker started to prepare for mass production at its 3D V-NAND production facility in Xian, China.

Considering that it normally takes six months to expand a mass production system to other plants, the industry anticipates that 3-bit V-NAND will be mass produced starting in May or April of next year.

The semiconductor plant in Hwaseong City produces mainly planar NAND flash for mobile devices, and thus it manufactures less than 100,000 V-NAND 300 mm wafers per month.

In contrast, the 3D V-NAND production facility in Xian, which commenced full operations in May, manufactures 300,000 to 400,000 sheets each month. However, the facility is considered to have capacity to produce more than 700,000 sheets.

Samsung aims to strengthen its dominant position in the market by increasing its share in the SSD market through the use of 3-bit V-NAND in SSDs.

The Korean company revealed that it will feature 3-bit V-NAND in SSDs starting next year at a conference call, following its announcement of results for the third quarter at the end of October.

Samsung's decision can be interpreted to mean that it intends to widen the gap with its rival companies in the global market by featuring 3-bit V-NAND in SSDs used in a data center environment and SSDs for PCs.

Market research firm IHS Technology recently reported that the world's largest memory chip maker will record US$3.277 billion in sales from SSDs in 2014, a 60 percent year-on-year gain. Its market share is expected to increase from 26 percent to 29 percent this year, which will put the firm in the top spot, followed by Sandisk with a 19 percent share, Intel (18 percent), Toshiba (9 percent), and Micron Technology (8 percent).

Currently, Samsung is the only company in the world that produces 3D V-NAND flash memory chips. The gap with rival companies in technology is generally acknowledged to be more than two years.

- See more at: http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/article/7217/focusing-ssds-samsung-mass-produce-3-bit-3d-nand-flash-ssd#sthash.vOPJFbm8.dpuf

iPhone 6+ Secret Sauce

Apple’s customers upgrade cycle to iPhone 6 plus will help many semiconductor companies. The key suppliers are in the article below -

"the biggest winders are Avago, SkyWorks and NXP, who have seen component content for the iPhone 6 increase by 30 to 90 percent compared to the iPhone 5S. Qualcomm also gains more carrier aggregation, and the NAND boost to 128GB "

The 64 bit A8 processor is the secret sauce giving the iPhone its battery and operation performance.

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

What's inside the iPhone 6 Plus?

Summary: A teardown of the new iPhone 6 Plus reveals hidden innovations that Apple didn’t tell us about.

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes for Hardware 2.0 | September 19, 2014 -- 12:37 GMT (05:37 PDT)

(Image: iFixit)

Today's the day that the iPhone 6 finally falls into the sweaty paws of the masses. And one of the first iPhone 6 Pluses off the production line has fallen into the hands of the iFixit team and is immortalized in their latest teardown.

Here is a listing of the chips that have so far been identified:Inside the iPhone 6 Plus are an array of chips from a number of vendors including Qualcomm, Broadcom, NXP, Texas Instruments, and Avago. And taking pride of place in the middle of all that is Apple's own A8 processor, and that's teamed with 1GB of Elpida LPDDR3 RAM.

• Apple A8 APL1011 SoC + Elpida 1 GB LPDDR3 RAM (as denoted by the markings EDF8164A3PM-GD-F)
• NXP LPC18B1UK ARM Cortex-M3 Microcontrollers (which is the proper name for the M8 motion coprocessor)
• Qualcomm MDM9625M LTE Modem
• Skyworks 77802-23 Low Band LTE PAD
• Avago A8020 High Band PAD
• Avago A8010 Ultra High Band PA + FBARs
• TriQuint TQF6410 3G EDGE power amplifier module
• InvenSense MP67B 6-axis gyroscope and accelerometer combo
• Qualcomm QFE1000 Envelope Tracking IC
• RF Micro Devices RF5159 Antenna Switch Module
• SkyWorks 77356-8 Mid Band PAD
• SK Hynix H2JTDG8UD1BMS 128 Gb (16 GB) NAND Flash
• Murata 339S0228 Wi-Fi Module
• Apple/Dialog 338S1251-AZ Power Management IC
• Broadcom BCM5976 Touchscreen Controller
• NXP 65V10 NFC module (likely contains an NXP PN544 NFC controller inside)
• Qualcomm WTR1625L RF Transceiver
• Qualcomm WFR1620 receive-only companion chip
• Qualcomm PM8019 power management IC
• Texas Instruments 343S0694 touch transmitter
• AMS AS3923 boosted NFC tag front end
• Cirrus Logic 338S1201 audio codec

According to Sterne Agee analysts Vijay Rakesh and Troy Cowdrey the biggest winders are Avago, SkyWorks and NXP, who have seen component content for the iPhone 6 increase by 30 to 90 percent compared to the iPhone 5S. Qualcomm also gains more carrier aggregation, and the NAND boost to 128GB is also good for memory suppliers Micron and Sandisk.

The battery is a monster 43 gram unit and is rated at 3.82 V and 11.1 Wh of energy, for a total of 2915 mAh, which is nearly double the capacity of the battery found inside the iPhone 5S, and slightly bigger than the battery inside the Galaxy S5. The new battery gives the iPhone 6 Plus up to 24 hours on 3G, and 384 hours of standby time, which is a huge increase over both the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6.

(Image: iFixit)

There are also many more internal improvements that apple has made to the iPhone 6 Plus. The new iSight camera features phase-detection autofocus – common on DSLRs but relatively new to smartphones – and optical stabilization.

However, when it comes to the protruding "camera nubbin," even iFixit are worried about the impact and impact might have on it (pun fully intended).

"The lens cover may be made out of sapphire glass, but we're still concerned about what this design choice might mean for durability," iFixit writes in their teardown piece.

(Image: iFixit)

Also new is the vibrator assembly that replaces the old style "motor with an off-set weight" with an electromagnet that vibrates a weight. It's a pretty cool and novel approach to vibrations. I suspect the new design is not only more robust, but allows for a greater range of vibrations.

The power and volume buttons on the new iPhone now feature a rubber gasket that should help with keeping dirt, dust and moisture from making its way inside the handset.

iFixit awarded the iPhone 6 Plus a repairability score of 7 out of 10 (where 10 is the easiest to repair). Praised was the ease of access and how simple screen and battery replacements, and the fact that the fingerprint sensor cable has been rerouted and lengthened (the previous design made tearing the cable easy when opening the handset). However, they criticized the use of proprietary Pentalobe screws and the fact that Apple doesn't share repair information with third-parties.

3D NAND Race is On

[Image Source: Nikkei Electronics

Since Samsung announced their development of 3D NAND on August 2013 Samsung 3D Stacked NAND Flash has Engineering Samples . The other flash manufacturers have been trying to catch up while transitioning from planar NAND to 3D NAND. See below SunDisk and Toshiba announcement of their transitions plans (more information at 3D NAND Transition: 15nm Process Technology Takes Shape ).

Some background about 3D NAND and at 3D NAND flash is coming .  Also there is an interesting discussion regarding 3D flash from 2009 between Samsung and Toshiba 3D Cells Make Terabit NAND Flash Possible .

Ron
Insightful, timely, and accurate semiconductor consulting.
Semiconductor information and news at - http://www.maltiel-consulting.com/

 NAND Flash War

Toshiba, Sandisk Partnership to Mount Serious Challenge to Samsung

14 MAY 2014

Many computer memory chipmakers worldwide are said to be working to enlarge plants that produce NAND flash memory chips.  

According to the San Kei Shimbun on May 12, Toshiba, the world’s second-largest NAND flash memory chipmaker, decided to make an investment in a 3D V-NAND flash memory production facility in partnership with US-based semiconductor company SanDisk. Both companies are going to equally share the cost of the investment and inject 700 billion yen (7.419 trillion won, US$6.843 billion) for three years at the Yokkaichi Operation plant, the company’s memory production facility in Mie prefecture, Japan. At first, they estimated the amount at 400 billion yen. However, it nearly doubled after the two firms agreed to invest in the construction of a new facility and the replacement of the existing one.  

An increase in investment can be interpreted as Toshiba’s willingness to not lag behind its rival companies like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron. Given that Samsung completed the construction of its 3D V-NAND production facility in Xian, China on May 9, competition between Korean and Japanese firms to dominate the next-gen semiconductor memory market is expected to heat up again. 

Samsung began to mass-produce 3D V-NAND flash memory chips in its plant in Xian. 3D V-NAND flash memory where 40nm-class NAND flash memory is stacked up in 24 layers are twice as fast and last 10 times longer than 20nm-class planar NAND flash memory. The world’s largest computer memory chipmaker is planning to dominate the market by developing 3D V-NAND flash memory chips in a 36-layer stack soon.   

SK Hynix, the world's fourth-largest manufacturer of computer memory chips, is focusing on investing in NAND flash memory. For example, the firm converted its Cheongju M12 Plant that produced both DRAM and NAND flash memory chips into a NAND flash line last year in order to restructure the company whose focus was on DRAM. The chip-maker plans to mass-produce 3D V-NAND at the end of this year. Micron, which is in the third spot, recently changed its DRAM factory in Singapore into a NAND flash plant. 

Unlike its rivals, Toshiba only manufacturers NAND flash memory. Therefore, if competitors outperform the Japanese firm in the global NAND flash memory market, it will be fatal. Industry analysts are saying that Toshiba's lawsuit filed in March against SK Hynix for technology leakage despite its patent cross-licensing deal with the Korean firm was aimed at checking the Korean chip-maker's influence.  

According to the findings of market research firm IHS Technology, sales of NAND flash memory worldwide is estimated at US$25.8 billion last year, and the market continues to grow rapidly. In 2013, Samsung was the world's number one seller of computer memory chips with a 34.7 market share, followed by Toshiba (a 32.2 market share).