There are many different types of chips used in semiconductor technology, ranging from the ULSI (Ultra Large Scale Integration) to the wafer-level fabrication level including image sensors, infrared detectors, and more. Each technology has specific properties, but some are more useful than others.

Microprocessors

While chips are commonly defined as the approximate size of a single grain of sand, the reality is that the smallest integrated circuits have become smaller and smaller as the industry has advanced. In January 1976, Intel released the Intel 4004 microprocessor. The 4004 was Intel's first CPU to use a commercial process rather than the "one-off" chip design approach that had been used for previous chips. The latest advancements in technology have seen the advent of the two-inch form factor, while the three-inch form factor is still being pursued. The end result of this trend is that there is a wide variety of different microprocessor sizes available in the market today. For instance, the Intel Atom C2350 is based on the industry standard 22nm process. It is a dual core processor with Intel HD Graphics, and supports DDR3L memory.

Memory Chips

The semiconductor industry is one of the largest industries in the world. The basic function of the industry is to produce chips that store data, and output devices, such as televisions, high definition video cameras, and computers. The semiconductor industry has been around for decades, but has grown and changed in the past few decades. The industry has seen a tremendous amount of development and change, and will continue to change.

Graphic Processing Units (GPUs)

Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) have been around for almost 20 years and have been in high demand ever since. Because of this, AMD and Nvidia have continually improved their GPUs, and today, they compete directly with each other. In a nutshell, a GPU is a high-performance processor that is used in computers for accelerating the performance of 3D graphics.

Standard Chips

"Standard chips" are commodity digital integrated circuits used in consumer electronic products, like smartphones, tablets, and TVs. For the most part, the chips are off-the-shelf parts, made in factories in Asia and others around the world. While some of these companies, like Texas Instruments (TI) and Qualcomm, have a long history of manufacturing these parts, others like Freescale Semiconductor, SanDisk, Elpida Memory, and Micron were built around the idea of producing standard chips.

Analog Chips

On January 1, 2015, the FCC adopted new rules that will require all electronics purchasers to have a digital set-top box or converter box in their home by the end of the year. In 2015, nearly 7 million U.S. households will have to purchase a set-top box to continue receiving broadcast signals, and the FCC has mandated that these devices be digital-ready by the end of the decade.