近日《華爾街日報(bào)》(Wall Street Journal)報(bào)導(dǎo)，繼超微(AMD)去年底宣布退出世界半導(dǎo)體貿(mào)易統(tǒng)計(jì)組織(WSTS)后，英特爾(Intel)日前也宣布退出，未來WSTS的每月全球芯片銷售統(tǒng)計(jì)，將不會再包含這兩家芯片供貨商的數(shù)字。 WSTS的每月芯片銷售報(bào)告一直廣泛為業(yè)界采用。包括半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)協(xié)會(SIA)和市場分析機(jī)構(gòu)等，都采用WSTS的資料做為判斷芯片產(chǎn)業(yè)是否健康的依據(jù)。而在無法獲得英特爾與AMD的芯片銷售資料后，WSTS大概必須估計(jì)這兩家公司的銷售額，以便提供微處理器和整體半導(dǎo)體市場等統(tǒng)計(jì)資料。 “針對我們所參與的組織，我們會進(jìn)行評估，以判斷是否真有需要加入，或是作為該組織會員的利益為何，”英特爾發(fā)言人在本周二發(fā)出的一封電子郵件中如此表示。“我們認(rèn)為，WSTS已經(jīng)不再是適合我們參與的組織了?！?在WSTS的網(wǎng)站上，該組織聲稱擁有62家會員公司，占全球半導(dǎo)體市場75%以上。而全球最大的芯片供貨商──英特爾決定退出，應(yīng)該會改變這個數(shù)字。該網(wǎng)站還聲稱全球前二十大芯片制造商都是他們的會員，包括英特爾和AMD在內(nèi)。 據(jù)《華爾街日報(bào)》報(bào)導(dǎo)，一些分析師認(rèn)為，在AMD和英特爾相繼退出后，WSTS的統(tǒng)計(jì)資料恐怕不會像以往那樣有價(jià)值了。在PC微處理器領(lǐng)域，英特爾約占全球超過80%的銷售額。 AMD的發(fā)言人也透過一封電子郵件證實(shí)該公司已經(jīng)于去年底退出WSTS?！拔覀円恢痹谠u估所參與的業(yè)界組織和各種機(jī)構(gòu)，并于去年底決定不再與WSTS續(xù)約，”AMD發(fā)言人說。 目前當(dāng)無法明確得知英特爾和AMD退出后將對WSTS的報(bào)告產(chǎn)生何種程度的影響。據(jù)《華爾街日報(bào)》報(bào)導(dǎo)，WSTS的主管Bernd Schniggenfiggig表示，針對不提供銷售資料的半導(dǎo)體公司，該組織會使用多種不同的技術(shù)來進(jìn)行預(yù)估。 IC Insight市場分析總裁 Bill McClean在一封電子郵件中對《EE Times》表示，英特爾和AMD的退出，將使WSTS的統(tǒng)計(jì)資料出現(xiàn)巨大缺口，但他也指出，這對該組織所公布的其它部份資料影響不會太大。“英特爾和 AMD代表了90%的微處理器市場，若沒有這兩家公司的資料，那么所有有關(guān)微處理器的統(tǒng)計(jì)報(bào)告都只不過是猜測罷了，”McClean說。 “我的感覺是，這可能會削弱WSTS每月銷售統(tǒng)計(jì)的可信度，”IC市場分析師Mike Cowan說?！皶r間會證明一切?！?Cowan表示，現(xiàn)在我們可以看看，在沒有英特爾參與的情況下，全球一月份的芯片銷售數(shù)字。WSTS預(yù)訂在3月7日公布一月份銷售額。 《EE Times》尚未獲得Schniggenfittig的響應(yīng)。而SIA的發(fā)言人則表示，她無法在尚未與WSTS討論前發(fā)表評論。 WSTS的會員是依照營收比例來繳交費(fèi)用。根據(jù)WSTS網(wǎng)站公布資料，AMD公司2011年?duì)I收為65.7億美元，會員年費(fèi)為1,700美元。該網(wǎng)站并未列出營收超過100億美元的公司會費(fèi)，而英特爾正屬于此一類別。 本文下一頁：產(chǎn)業(yè)合作精神蕩然無存？ 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載

相關(guān)閱讀：
• SIA: 同比下滑8.8%，1月全球半導(dǎo)體銷售額跌至231億美元
• WSTS：2011年全球半導(dǎo)體銷售額增長0.4%
• 2011年全球半導(dǎo)體銷售額首次超越3000億美元大關(guān)YFKesmc

{pagination} 對半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)來說，業(yè)界間的團(tuán)結(jié)合作一直是最重要的關(guān)鍵。對我這個產(chǎn)業(yè)記者來說，能夠看到來自不同公司的人們齊聚一堂，報(bào)告突破性的技術(shù)成果或是各式各樣的詳細(xì)資料，是最吸引我的事。許多在市場上激烈競爭的公司，也都在此齊聚。來自科學(xué)界、工程界的專家們都能沉浸在全然開放的知識氛圍中。 從商業(yè)角度來看，半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)的廠商們合作程度一直很高，他們?yōu)榱恕蟮睦妗餐献?，以解決所面對的難題。正如我的同事（事實(shí)上也是我的老板）──吉田順子(Junko Yoshida)──稍早前所寫的一篇文章《 Why it’s wrong for Intel, AMD to abandon WSTS 》所指出的，SIA曾經(jīng)扮演著推動半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展的關(guān)鍵角色，特別是在1980和1990年代，當(dāng)時美國的半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)正與日本激烈競爭。 WSTS收集并分析會員公司的資料，讓半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)能獲得更多所需信息，不僅能提高整個產(chǎn)業(yè)的運(yùn)作效率，而且也有助于說服各國政府采取更加支持半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)發(fā)展的策略。 唉….或許合作精神已經(jīng)蕩然無存了。過去幾天以來，我們聽到英特爾和AMD都選擇退出了WSTS；而臺灣的臺積電(TSMC)、聯(lián)電(UMC)和南亞科技(Nanya Technology)則是在去年退出了SIA的半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)能利用率(SICAS)計(jì)劃。 某種程度來說，產(chǎn)業(yè)合作的想法一直充滿矛盾。英特爾或許會在個貿(mào)易組織中與AMD攜手合作，但你也知道，英特爾一直想盡辦法要讓AMD出局。同樣的情況也在臺積電和聯(lián)電之間上演。因此，你可以看到標(biāo)準(zhǔn)程序──在有利可圖時，企業(yè)會參與一些業(yè)界組織，但或許，競爭對手會更加狡滑。 今天，我們經(jīng)常聽到這樣的言論：技術(shù)和供應(yīng)鏈的復(fù)雜性更甚以往，因而更加突顯了產(chǎn)業(yè)之間合作的重要性。許多在《EE Times》網(wǎng)站或其它地方留言發(fā)表意見的業(yè)界人士都表示，這些短視近利的公司做出了退出產(chǎn)業(yè)組織的決策。正如同一位在美國版《EE Times》論壇留言的讀者所說的，當(dāng)業(yè)界缺乏所需信息，因而使供應(yīng)鏈產(chǎn)生更大波動，反過頭來對他們自己造成影響時，這些企業(yè)或許會考慮改變他們的策略。 我們必須尋求更好的解決之道。IC Insight總裁Bill McClean幾天前投稿了一篇文章：《 Hoping Intel, AMD will reconsider exiting WSTS 》，他建議這些公司和WSTS應(yīng)該坐下來商量尋求共識，他們應(yīng)該體認(rèn)到，妥協(xié)的結(jié)果，可能會讓未來的產(chǎn)業(yè)報(bào)告缺乏精確度和可信度。今天，信息的流通程度比以往都更加自由，半導(dǎo)體產(chǎn)業(yè)應(yīng)該追隨此一發(fā)展趨勢，而非背道而行。 編譯： Joy Teng 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 參考英文原文： Intel, AMD pull out of WSTS ； End times for industry cooperation?，by Dylan McGrath

相關(guān)閱讀：
• SIA: 同比下滑8.8%，1月全球半導(dǎo)體銷售額跌至231億美元
• WSTS：2011年全球半導(dǎo)體銷售額增長0.4%
• 2011年全球半導(dǎo)體銷售額首次超越3000億美元大關(guān)YFKesmc

{pagination} Intel, AMD pull out of WSTS Dylan McGrath SAN FRANCISCO—Intel Corp. confirmed Tuesday (Feb. 28) it is no longer a member of the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization, a non-profit organization which publishes monthly reports about global chip sales. Intel's decision, first reported by the Wall Street Journal Tuesday, follows the exit from WSTS of rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD) late last year. The WSTS's monthly sales report is a widely used metric for chip sales. Groups such as the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and market research firms use the WSTS data to gauge the health of the chip industry. Without the sales data supplied by Intel and AMD, the WSTS will presumably need to estimate the firm's sales to provide data on the microprocessor market and the total semiconductor market. "From time to time we evaluate organizations where we have membership and make decisions about our needs and the benefits of that membership," said an Intel spokesman in an email exchange Tuesday. "We decided the WSTS was no longer a fit for us." On its website, WSTS claims 62 member companies that represent more than 75 percent of the global semiconductor market. The withdrawal of Intel, the world's biggest chip maker, would presumably alter these figures. The website also claims that the world's top 20 chip makers are all members, a group that would include both Intel and AMD. The Wall Street Journal reported that some analysts believe Intel concluded the WSTS data was no longer valuable to the company after the withdrawal of AMD, it's only meaningful competitor in the PC microprocessor space. Intel accounts for more than 80 percent of global microprocessor sales. A spokesman for AMD confirmed via email that the company left the WSTS late last year. "We are always evaluating our membership in industry associations and trade groups and made the decision last year to not renew our members with WSTS," the spokesman said. It is unclear how the withdrawal of Intel and AMD from the WSTS will impact the reports that the organization generates. The Wall Street Journal reported that the group's administrator, Bernd Schniggenfittig, said the organization uses a variety of techniques to estimate sales for companies that do not report data. Bill McClean, president of market research firm IC Insights Inc., said in an email exchange with EE Times that the withdrawal of Intel and AMD would leave an enormous hole in microprocessor data published by the WSTS, though he added it would have minimal impact on the rest of the data published by the organization. "Intel and AMD represent about 90 percent of the MPU market and, without them, it will be pure guessing," McClean said. "My feeling is that this could result in the demise of the WSTS as a viable source of monthly industry sales data," said veteran IC market analyst Mike Cowan. "Time will tell." Cowan said it should be interesting to see what January's global chip sales look like without Intel's participation. The WSTS is currently scheduled to report January sales numbers on March 7. Schniggenfittig could not immediately be reached by EE Times for comment. An SIA spokeswoman said she could not comment until she had conferred with the WSTS. WSTS members pay for membership on a sliding scale, based on revenue. AMD, with 2011 revenue of $6.57 billion, would pay $1,700 for an annual membership, according to data on the WSTS site. The site does not list the cost of membership for companies with sales of more than $10 billion, which would apply to Intel. End times for industry cooperation? Dylan McGrath Industry cooperation has always been important to the semiconductor industry. It has always been fascinating to me to attend an industry conference and hear an engineer provide detailed data about technical achievements and breakthroughs to a room full of people that includes some of their biggest competitors. As men and women of science, engineers are steeped in a tradition of openness and the knowledge that great achievements are built on the shoulders of other great achievements. On the business side, as an industry, the semiconductor industry has always been pretty good about working together to solve common issues and work collectively for "the greater good." As my colleague (actually, technically my boss) recalled Wednesday, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has at times been a very successful vehicle for advancing the cause of the semiconductor industry, particularly in the 1980s and 1990s when the U.S. semiconductor industry was duking it out with Japan. As she stated, an important part of the SIA's power at that time and since has been the pooling of data from member companies, arming the industry with the information it needs to not only run efficiently, but also to persuade governments to adopt policies that support the semiconductor industry. Alas, the spirit of cooperation may be crumbling. In the past two days, we have learned that both Intel Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. opted out of the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics program, which pools and reports data on monthly chip sales, and that the SIA is pulling the plug on its quarterly industry capacity report, SICAs, after Taiwanese companies Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., United Microelectronics Corp. and Nanya Technology Corp. withdrew last year. In a sense, the idea of industry cooperation has always been a bit of an oxymoron. Intel may cooperate in a trade group with AMD, but at the same time you know at some level Intel would just as soon AMD be put out of business. Same thing for TSMC and UMC. So you can see where the idea of participating in a program that benefits your own firm but also—perhaps more so—your competitors is tricky. But a rising tide lifts all boats. We hear now more than ever how complex technology and lean supply chains make industry cooperation more vital than ever. As others have already said in the pages of EE Times and elsewhere, the decisions by these firms to withdraw completely from these important programs are short sighted—cutting off the nose to spite the face. As one commenter on the EE Times Forum put it, these firms may change their tune when the decrease in information leads to more frequent supply chain hiccups that come back to bite them in the rear end. There really has to be a better way. As IC Insights Inc. President Bill McClean suggested in an EE Times opinion piece Wednesday, the companies and the organizations that administer these programs should really sit down and try to work out a deal—a compromise that would result in the reports containing less precise (and thus less valuable) information, rather than none at all. The free flow of information in the world is greater than ever; for the semiconductor industry to buck the trend and go the other way would be to its detriment.