SoC Silicon and Software Design Cost Analysis: How Rising Costs Impact SoC Design Starts

One of the most pressing problems silicon and software designers face today is the rising design costs they face at each new process node going forward. These costs have an impact on the number of 1^st time System-on-a-Chip (SoC) designs and the resultant derivative designs. Additionally the cost to integrate all the discrete IP blocks used in contemporary SoC designs is also rising.  A new report from Semico Research, "SoC Silicon and Software Design Cost Analysis: How Rising Costs Impact SoC Design Starts" states that the design costs for both the silicon and software efforts, will rise at a 43.7% CAGR through 2018.

"Forecasts for SoC silicon and software design costs are given from the 90nm node out through the 7nm node focusing on Advanced Performance Multicore SoCs, Value Multicore SoCs and Basic SoCs" says Rich Wawrzyniak, Senior Analyst.  "Categories of effort with definitions for silicon and software designs are established with a forecast given at each node for the three types of SoC silicon.  An analysis of 1^st Time efforts is also given that shows from 2014 – 2018 the average number of most expensive designs is only 2.3% of all 1^st effort SoC designs over that time period."

This recent Semico Research report findings include:

• Total SoC design costs increased 89% from the 28nm node to the 14nm node and are expected to increase 32% again at the 10nm node and 45% at the 7nm node.
• Total Software design costs increased 74% at the 28nm node and are forecast to show a CAGR of 69% through the 7nm node.
• 14nm silicon with a $20.00 ASP is required to ship 9.954M units to reach the breakeven point.
• The average design cost for all 1^st effort SoC types for all effort levels and all process geometries is forecast to be $5.7M in 2014 with a 10.8% CAGR through 2018. Even though design costs are rising quickly at the advanced nodes, the number of low cost designs holds the average cost down.

The report "SoC Silicon and Software Design Cost Analysis: How Rising Costs Impact SoC Design Starts" SC101-15, contains 103 pages with 36 tables and 55 graphs and is a ‘must-have’ report for financial planners, operations managers, engineering managers, SoC designers and silicon architects concerned with rising design costs and their impact on the market at large.

Forecasts include:

• SoC silicon design costs and software design from the 90nm node through the 7nm node for Advanced Performance Multicore SoCs, Value Multicore SoCs and Basic SoCs.
• Categories of effort with definitions for silicon and software designs are established with a forecast given at each node for the three types of SoC silicon.
• Comparison of 1^st effort and Derivative SoC design costs at the 28nm node.
• Forecast for IP Integration costs from 90nm through 7nm for both silicon and software.
• Analysis and forecast for 1^st effort Advanced Performance Multicore, Value Multicore and Basic SoC design starts from 180nm – 7nm and weighted average design cost for each from 2008 - 2018.
• Analysis and forecast for SoC design starts from 180nm – 7nm by average design cost from 2008 - 2018.
• Analysis and forecast for the most expensive SoC designs from 2008 - 2018.