Since manufacturing costs make up the largest part of chip production expenses, fabless semiconductor companies increasingly outsource manufacturing to low-cost foundries overseas to save millions of dollars per chip design.

Unfortunately, this clearly defined cost savings is offset by the very real possibility that chips based on their IP will find their way to the gray market, through overproduction or theft. The gray market costs fabless chip design companies millions of dollars in lost revenue – since a company ends up competing with low-cost versions of their own products.

In fact, industry research from KPMG and the Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement (AGMA) shows that gray market sales account for $40 Billion in revenue each year and cost IT manufacturers up to $5 billion annually in lost profits.

Certicom Security For Silicon Design Protection

Certicom® Security for Silicon Design Protection™ enables fabless semiconductor design companies to protect valuable silicon IP at every stage of the production process. By adding a manufacturing security system with sophisticated hardware blocks to chip designs, fabless design companies can defeat gray markets and make low-cost foundries as reliable as high-priced alternatives.

Certicom Security for Silicon Design Protection combines Certicom® KeyInject™ with a production control core to extend security right to the silicon, insuring:

  • Protection of your silicon IP (intellectual property)
  • Control over the production process through metering and reporting
  • Increase in bottom-line profitability
  • Elimination of gray market threats

Certicom Professional Services

Offset the costs and challenges of implementing your security solution. Call on Certicom Professional Services for help.