About CPU Technologies Consulting - Engineering Leadership

Why are so many semiconductor companies struggling???

"If it has stopped being fun, you're doing it wrong!"
- Bill Giovino, Executive Analyst, CPU Technologies

Remember when all this was fun and easy? Remember when we all knew our competition, and we knew what our customers wanted? Now, every time you look at the news, you are surprised by a new and cool groundbreaking application. Marketing reports tell you it's the latest thing. Everyone predicts exciting hockey stick growth. And when a year later, when the new cool application is forgotten (except for a scattering of blame), you read about the next new cool application. And so on.

Why does this happen?

Well, the first problem is the marketing reports. Marketing reports are like bathing suits - what they expose is exciting, but what they cover is vital. One of the vital things marketing reports cover is where their data is coming from. More often than not, the data predicting the staggering growth of that technology comes from the people promoting that technology.

Here are some of the things you need to know about the microcontroller marketplace:

• Development tools are the most important sourcing criteria. A core with poor development tools is like a Ferrari with no steering wheel - all that power and you can't do anything with it!
• A salesperson with a family will sell what returns the best profit for the least effort
  - You can't force a salesperson to sell
• Forget the TAM, get your SAM!
• Any microcontroller start-up can create growth if their product is focused in the right way
• If Price was the most important sourcing criteria, then the 4-bit microcontroller would not have died out!
• Most 8-bit applications can use any 8-bit microcontroller that meets the minimum system requirements for peripherals and performance.
• 8-bit microcontrollers have the highest ROI with the lowest tech support requirements
• 16-bit microcontrollers return the best profits and show the fastest growth
• Sales of some 16-bit microcontrollers have QUADRUPLED in the past two years
• 16-bit is the architecture of choice for embedded networking because most embedded networking protocols are 16-bit
• 16-bit will always be lower power than 32-bit
• Over 200 32-bit cores have been introduced. Only 7 architectures have been successful.
• 32-bit applications are usually not driven by 32-bit math, they are driven by application complexity which can require hundreds of complex tasks.
• Most companies do not succeed selling ARM processors because they do not understand the new 32-bit sourcing & partnership model.
• Most fabless companies cannot be successful selling ARM processors because the market is unfairly dominated by the big boys - unless they are very, very, VERY smart.
• The only way to predict future success is to understand how your customers and salespeople think
• It's all about Sourcing Strategies

CPU Technologies of Boston is focused on making microcontroller technology successful, and we have a proven track record in that field. We can work with your company (or VC), anywhere in the world. We have short-term strategies that can show you significant profits in less than a year, and we can show you how to put long-term strategies in place that can create consistent growth.

We know exactly how your customers think because we know their decision-making process.

Business Intelligence Strategies
Marketing and selling high-tech today is not the same as it was ten years ago. Customers are bombarded with market information from the web, mail, email, trade shows, your field people, and product meetings. There's more industry static out there than a transistor radio. New applications are springing up faster than crabgrass, and every new market decision is over-analyzed by tomorrow's news.

The services by CPU Technologies focus on results. I don't do vision statements, fish charts, or core competencies. This isn't "touchy-feely". My focus is practical and pragmatic.

CPU Technologies provides services that enable you to become competitive again. I measure results in months, not years.

Just What Qualifies Me to Perform These Services For You?

• Over twenty years experience in technical marketing, successfully and profitably bringing leading edge underdog products to market in the embedded industry.
• A series of highly publicized successes
• 15+ years developing embedded systems hardware and software
• A serious history of successful product positioning and placement strategies
• Industry contacts with seasoned professionals the field

If you want to learn more, contact me for a friendly talk (please put the word "Consulting" in the subject line for a faster reply).

Bill Giovino

CPU Technologies

Engineering Leadership™