Sharpening Your
Competitive Edge

When semiconductor chip companies develop their designs, a critical decision they have to make is whether to create it entirely from their technology or ‘buy-in’ parts of it. Imagination’s 25+ year history in the semiconductor IP space has shown us that when chip companies are undertaking this “make or buy” decision, the total cost figure they come up with will typically be out by a factor of between two to five
times. The primary reason behind this is that they are not making a like-for-like comparison between the make and buy options. While they look at the upfront investment, they fail to consider the total cost of ownership, which is made up of both the direct and indirect costs and benefits over a longer period.