Historically explore on the patterns of business model for silicon Intellectual Property (IP) providers in the semiconductor industry

Since 90s the advances in semiconductor manufacturing technology and the "system-on-chip (SOC)" design concept have brought a big change in IC Industry. IC design business has dis-integrated into three major business entities: IC product design, IP (Silicon Intellectual Property) component, and IC design service. Each business entity formulates their business portfolio differently. For example, in the IP-related business entities, some companies focus only on IP business, some companies provide a mix of design service, IP and EDA tool service, and some IP providers have been merged or acquired. It is then the goal of this research to explore the underlying business patterns of these IP-related business entities. In this research, 35 IP providers were taken as the samples companies and classified into six patterns, which are (1) Pure IP providers who provide Star-IP or specialized techniques, (2) Pure IP providers who provide IP components with multiple functions, (3) IP providers who provide EDA tools as their core business, (4) IP providers who provide design service and turnkey service as their core business, (5) IP providers who focus on IP and design service, and (6) IP providers or their IP department that have been acquired or merged. Next, history of each IP providers was collected and accordingly causalities underlying these IP business model shifts were provided. Correlation between their business model shifts with economic events or technological changes was then constructed. In addition, managerial implications to the IP-related business were then provided. This study will enlighten the transactional arrangement for IP business in very dynamic contexts for practitioners and will give researchers the industrial insights with strategic foresights.