The business lifecycle of a semiconductor product, from the first sign of a market opportunity through concept, definition, development, validation, sampling, qualification, launch, ramp, maturity and decline to end of life and the support that continues after the last shipment. The engineering lifecycles run inside it.
Start here: what it is, how the related terms differ, what this lifecycle covers and its phases in order, then the detail.
A semiconductor product is what a company sells and stands behind, not only the silicon inside it. A customer orders a part number, but relies on the whole offer: a chip that behaves as its datasheet says, software and tools, documentation, samples and evaluation hardware, qualification evidence for their market, a dependable supply and a stated view of how long the part will be made.
The silicon is the core of that offer. A die is one copy of the circuit, cut from a processed wafer. Mounted in a package, tested and marked, it becomes a packaged part with a part number. The product is that part, or a set of related parts, with everything a customer needs to design it in and keep buying it.
So two companies can ship similar silicon and still offer very different products.
These words are often used loosely. On this Hub they mean the following, from the smallest piece to the widest.
| Term | What it is | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Die | One copy of the circuit, cut from a processed wafer. | Bare silicon; it must be packaged or mounted before use. |
| Chip | The everyday word for an integrated circuit. |
13 stages from the first market signal to support after the last shipment, with 31 gates along the way. Each stop opens its stage; each sign opens its gate. Point at a stop or tab to it to read what the stage is for. What the codes mean
In collaboration with The Digital Electronics Blog (opens in a new tab)
Start: the first signal
Support continues after shipments end
In collaboration with The Digital Electronics Blog (opens in a new tab)
Most products start as a signal rather than a plan: a customer asking for something nobody sells, a standard changing, a process technology opening a new cost point, or a competitor leaving a gap.
The concept stage turns an accepted opportunity into a product idea specific enough to judge: who it is for, what it must do, roughly what it costs and sells for, and when it must be ready.
Definition and planning fixes what will be built and what the business commits to.
Product requirements approved gateSpecification freeze gatePlan approval and development commit gate
Development is where the product is built, and it is where the engineering lifecycles sit.
Validation checks that what was built is what the product requirements asked for, in the systems customers will use it in.
Sampling and design-in is where customers decide whether to use the product.
Qualification proves the product will last its intended life in its intended market, and production readiness proves the business can make and ship it in volume.
Qualification samples gateQualification start gateQualification passed gateCustomer qualification approved gateProduction release gate
Launch puts the product on the market.
Pricing approved gateLaunch readiness gateLaunch review gate
Ramp and growth turns design wins into revenue.
First production order gateVolume ramp gateRamp complete gate
In maturity the product earns most of its return, and the work shifts from growth to efficiency and continuity.
In decline, demand is falling or supply is becoming hard to sustain, often because a process, package or material the product depends on is itself reaching end of life.
Not recommended for new designs gateDiscontinuance decision gate
End of life withdraws the product in an orderly way.
Discontinuance notice gateLast-time buy gateLast-time ship gate
Obligations continue after the last shipment.
| Informal: it can mean the die, the part or the product. |
| Packaged part | A die in its package, tested and given a part number. | What is shipped and soldered. One die can appear in several packages. |
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| Product | The part, or a set of parts, with datasheet, software, support, qualification, supply commitments and roadmap. | The offer the business manages through this lifecycle. |
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| Product family | Products on a shared design that differ in features, memory, package or grade.For example: A microcontroller in several flash sizes. | Managed together; one change can reach every member. |
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| SKU | Stock keeping unit: one orderable item, down to package, grade and packing. | The finest level; a product usually has several. |
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| Platform | A shared architecture, IP and software base from which several products are derived. | Usually not sold as such; its choices shape a whole family. |
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| IP block | A reusable design for one function, such as a processor core. | A design, not a part; it ends up inside someone's chip. |
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| SoC | System on chip: one die combining processors, memory and interfaces. | A kind of chip, engineered in the SoC lifecycle. |
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| Chiplet | A die designed to work with other dies in one package. | Not used alone; the product is the multi-die package. |
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| Module | One or more chips with other components on a small board, sold as one part.For example: A wireless module with its antenna. | Qualified and sold as an assembly. |
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| Reference design | A proven circuit, layout and software showing how to use the part. | Supports design-in; not the product itself. |
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| System | The customer's finished equipment, such as a phone or a vehicle controller. | Where the product is designed in, on its own timescale. |
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The product lifecycle is the path a product takes as a business, from the first sign of an opportunity to the end of support after the last shipment. It answers commercial questions: is this worth doing, what will we build and sell, are customers ready, and when do we stop.
It is not the development process. The engineering lifecycles on this Hub, such as the SoC and IP lifecycles, describe how the silicon and software are designed and made. They run inside its development and validation stages and report up to it.
Nor is it the market lifecycle, which describes how demand rises and falls. The product lifecycle adds the decisions a company takes: when to invest, when to reduce cost and how to discontinue.
The product line manager, or an equivalent business owner, usually owns it.
Gates exist because spending rises sharply as a product moves from paper to masks, silicon, qualification and stock. Each gate sits before a commitment that is hard to reverse, where the owner checks the evidence and decides to continue, change course or stop.
A dotted underline opens the full definition in the glossary.
Credible sources, named for further reading. Standards are available from the body that publishes them.
The full lifecycle detail, with its charts, flows, tables and every section, is for registered members. Registration is free and takes a minute. You come back to this page afterwards.