The purpose of this book is to illustrate the magnificence of the fabless semiconductor ecosystem, and to give credit where credit is due. We trace the history of the semiconductor industry from both a technical and business perspective. We argue that the development of the fabless business model was a key enabler of the growth in semiconductors since the mid-1980s. Because business models, as much as the technology, are what keep us thrilled with new gadgets year after year, we focus on the evolution of the electronics business. We also invited key players in the industry to contribute chapters. These “In Their Own Words” chapters allow the heavyweights of the industry to tell their corporate history for themselves, focusing on the industry developments (both in technology and business models) that made them successful, and how they in turn drive the further evolution of the semiconductor industry.

Dr. Paul McLellan has a 25 year background in semiconductor and EDA with both deep technical knowledge and extensive business experience. He works as a consultant in EDA, embedded systems and semiconductor. Paul was educated in Britain and spent the early part of his career as a software engineer at VLSI Technology both in California and France, eventually becoming CEO of Compass Design Automation. Since then he was VP engineering at Ambit, corporate VP at Cadence, VPs of marketing at VaST Systems Technology and Virtutech, and interim CEO at Envis Corporation. He blogs at dac.com and at semiwiki.com and has published a book EDAgrafitti on the EDA and semiconductor industries. Daniel Nenni has worked in Silicon Valley since 1984 with computer manufacturers, electronic design automation software, and semiconductor intellectual property companies. Currently Daniel is a Strategic Foundry Relationship expert for companies wishing to partner with TSMC, UMC, SMIC, Global Foundries, and their top customers. Daniel is the founder of the Semiconductor Wiki Project (www.semiwiki.com).