Palo Alto – December 10, 2024 – It’s a strange feeling. After growing up in semiconductors, a poorly understood and barely recognized industry, we have become one of the most important industries in the modern economy. Our largest trade association, the Global Semiconductor Alliance, put on a spectacular awards show last week that felt more like the Grammy’s than a technology event.
GSA took over most of the Santa Clara Convention Center. Over 1,700 industry leaders attended the event, which was a testament to the growth and evolution of the semiconductor industry. Attendees ranged from top executives to emerging talent. There was no red carpet, but it sure felt like one.
GSA Awards is a chance to catch up with old friends, remember true stories of success, embellish the failures, swap the latest gossip, and get a pulse on the industry. That pulse is the strongest I have ever felt. The sense of hope and optimism was palpable.
Honoree Hock Tan’s keynote summarized our evolution. A central message described how we have grown from cost-driven parts producers to value-driven solutions providers. Our continued success depends on the creation of increasingly valuable solutions.
| Then (1994) | Now (2024) |
| Parts that decreased in price by 10% to 20% a year | System solutions that increase in value over time |
| Hardware only | Hardware, software, and services |
| Vertically organized, large companies that usually owned fabs | Horizontal, from tools to fabs to fabless product companies |
| Static global supply chain with end users and semiconductor suppliers beholden to equipment makers | OEMs are often challenged by large end users who design their own complex custom chips and avoid merchant market chips. |
| Highly cyclical with severe commodity pricing swings (especially in memory) | Cyclical, but demand from AI limits this dynamic by generating enough downstream revenue and value to support large semiconductor development and spend |
| Irrational exuberance during an up-cycle | Irrational exuberance during an up-cycle |
| Drank too much | Did not drink |
| Laughed too loud | Laughed too loud |
| $10.7B total industry revenue | $611B+ total industry revenue |
The event highlighted the excellence and innovation within the semiconductor industry while lightly touching on global trade and security issues. As we look ahead, the GSA Awards Dinner will continue to be a bellwether for the industry.
I still like hearing the old stories, but the new ones are getting a whole lot better every year, especially this one.
Awards
Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award
Hock Tan, President and CEO of Broadcom
Women of Influence Award
Dr. An Chen, Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm
Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving Greater than $5 Billion in Annual Sales
NVIDIA
Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $1 Billion to $5 Billion in Annual Sales
Qorvo
Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $500 Million to $1 Billion in Annual Sales
Lattice Semiconductor
Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company Achieving $100 Million to $500 Million in Annual Sales
Credo
Most Respected Private Company
SambaNova Systems
Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Companies
NVIDIA
Start-Up to Watch
Celestial AI
Outstanding Asia-Pacific Semiconductor Company
MediaTek
Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company
NXP Semiconductors
Analyst Favorite Semiconductor Company
NVIDIA
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