Question 1

There are currently only three manufacturers that leverage the latest technologies and
manufacture chips with leading edge process nodes compared to 25 manufacturers in 2003. The
leading edge process node is currently 7nm moving to 5nm. The three manufacturers are Intel,
TSMC and Samsung. Why is the number of manufacturers declining?
The investment costs for setting up a leading edge facility are very high.
The number of customers has been declining since 2003.
It is hard to get the right permits to set up a leading edge facility.
The chip market has been shrinking since 2003.

Question 2

Some analysts predict that Moore’s law will end in the next decade. What alternatives are being
explored in the sector? Select all that apply.

China aims to reduce its reliance on imports

New design principles

New manufacturing tools and technologies

Quantum computing

Question 3

Which of the following are the challenges that the semiconductor sub-sector is facing? Select all
that apply.

Sector approaches physical boundaries that limit performance improvement based on

current technologies

Semiconductor supply chain faces potential disruption due to geopolitical events

Chip development costs are increasing exponentially

Growth in semiconductor demand will soon turn into a long-term decline thanks to maturity of the
industry

Question 4
Which company is the current market leader in microprocessors for PCs and servers and is
looking to diversify into automotive and machine learning?
Intel
Qualcomm
Infineon
TSMC

Question 5
As per Gordon Moore’s observation, what is the duration when the number of transistors
incorporated in a chip double?
12 months
6 months
5 months
24 months

Question 6
Semiconductor design and manufacturing are complicated processes that require a lot of
investments. That is why companies deploy several strategies in the market. Which strategy is
NOT being deployed?

Companies strive for the geographic focus to avoid competition

Companies strive for market leadership to maximize earnings potential

Companies strive for scale to offset investments needed

Companies strive for process specialization to carve out a niche

Question 7

Which of the following statements is True for the business models in the semiconductor sector?

Outsourced Assembly and Test (OSAT) companies focus on the front-end processes of
manufacturing.
Foundries focus on providing manufacturing services for end users.
Integrated Design Manufacturers (IDM) combine chip design and manufacturing.
Fabless companies invest in manufacturing capacity to focus on chip design for their end
users.
Question 8
Which devices emit and detect light?
Sensors
Optoelectronics
Microcomponents
Discretes

Question 9
Moore’s Law is named after Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel. What observation did he make,
that is a defining character of the semiconductor sector?

The number of chips needed to operate a smartphone approximately doubles every 24 months.

The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months.

The number of chip vendors in the market will approximately double every 24 months.

The number of people employed in the chip sector approximately doubles every 24 months.

Question 10
What is a key risk caused by the globally integrated supply chain in semiconductors where the
failure of one company can disrupt the entire supply chain?
Single source dependency
IP & Licensing
Regulation compliance
Price competition
Question 7
Which of the following statements about semiconductor segments is true?

The memory segment is the least cyclical of all semiconductor device segments

The global semiconductor sale is driven by the number of semiconductor competitors operating
in a country

Semiconductor end market growth is driven by increasing regulation

Semiconductor demand is shifting towards the Asia Pacific and to China in particular

Question 9
During which step in the supply chain are the integrated circuits being created on thin silicon
slices?

Design

Assembly, Packaging & Test

Wafer Manufacturing

IP Development

Question 2 (Check)
Why do fabless semiconductor companies outsource their manufacturing to foundries? Select all
that apply.

To avoid high barriers for entrants

To focus solely on chip design

To avoid high IP costs for using specific chip architecture

To avoid potential losses from manufacturing

Question 6
The trade dispute between the US and China can cause which of the following problems in the
sector? Select all that apply.

Trade ban for companies on the entity list and ban to supply chips to Huawei made with US
equipment will cause sales decline with Huawei as one of the world’s top chip buyers

The uncertainties could endanger planned investments in equipment, hurting the semiconductor
equipment sector

Chinese chip buyers could start sourcing their chips from alternative vendors or develop in-house
solutions
Tariffs cause market distortion, and companies start moving manufacturing lines, if possible to
mitigate costs
Question 10
Identify the reason why the semiconductor supply chain is exposed to geopolitical events.

Semiconductor companies invest a lot in research.

The semiconductor industry has many clients.

Semiconductor is considered to be a crucial industry and the supply chain is a globally integrated
ecosystem.

Semiconductor technology is advanced.

Question 10
Which companies have adopted the business model to focus on providing manufacturing
services for others?

Equipment manufacturers

Integrated Design Manufacturers

Fabless companies

Foundries

Question 7
To define the key risks for semiconductor companies, what does the methodology takes into
consideration?

Management expectations in the most recent analyst presentation

Balance sheet in the most recent annual report and/ or quarterly report

Most recent press releases on company websites

Risk paragraph in the most recent annual report and/or quarterly report

Question 3
Which semiconductor devices perform intensive compute processing and system control tasks?

Microcomponents

Logic devices

Memory devices

Analog devices

Question 5
Identify the reason why the semiconductor supply chain is exposed to geopolitical events.
Semiconductor companies invest a lot in research.

The semiconductor industry has many clients.

Semiconductor technology is advanced.

Semiconductor is considered to be a crucial industry and the supply chain is a globally integrated
ecosystem.

Question 8 (Correct)
Which major segment is the most cyclical in the semiconductors sector where a limited number
of companies invest?
Logic
Analog
Memory
Micro-IC

Question 9
Which companies have adopted the business model to focus on providing manufacturing
services for others?

Integrated Design Manufacturers

Foundries

Fabless companies

Equipment manufacturers

Most cyclical

The semiconductor market can be segmented by end markets, semiconductor

types and geographies.

The semiconductor sector can be segmented by the types of products sold. Different semiconductor
types have different functionalities and capabilities and are being used to perform different tasks. In
recent years, the largest segments of the worldwide semiconductor industry have been memory,
logic, analog and MPU. In 2019, these products accounted for 76 percent of semiconductor industry
sales.

Semiconductor
The Asia Pacific is the largest regional semiconductor market, and China is the largest
single-country market.

In 2001, the Asia Pacific market surpassed all other regional markets in sales, as electronic
equipment production shifted to the region. It has multiplied in size since then – from $39.8 billion
to over $250 billion in 2019.

By far, the largest country market within the Asia Pacific region is China, which accounted for more
than half of the Asia Pacific market and 35 percent of the total global market. This data reflects sales
of semiconductors to electronic equipment makers only – final electronic products containing
semiconductors are then shipped for consumption around the world.

Semiconductor mark

Memory is one of the biggest and most cyclical segment, where a limited number of companies
invest to scale to improve memory performance.

Micro-IC is confronted with the need for high performance computing in premium PCs and large
servers versus the need for energy efficiency and embedded connectivity in other applications.

Within Analog and Logic, companies are looking for scale in the standard product categories while
the more customized products require extensive design processes and close cooperation with end
clients.
Question 1
Which of the following are offered by Mercury?
 
Select all that apply.

Revenue and margin modeling

Price, budget and resource integration

Metrics calculation

Standardized processes

Question 2
You can estimate the rate card by level based on which of the following? (correct)
 
Select the best response.

Cost rate

NSR rate

Standard bill rate

Net standard revenue rate

Question 3
Which of the following metrics provides a clear, globally consistent measure of our profitability?
 
Select the best response.

Margin

Revenue

Price

Discount
Question 4
When selecting resources by level, what criteria are getting considered?
 
Select all that apply.

Location

Rank

Experience

Grade
Question 5
Which of the following tasks is performed under “create pricing plan” within the opportunity and
engagement lifecycle?
 
Select the best response.

Obtaining the necessary approvals

Entering required pricing details

Updating the total opportunity value

Updating the plan

Question 5
Which of the following is based on direct costs and average historical margin?
 
Select the best response.

ANSR

NSR

ROI

EAF

Question 2
Identify the key benefits of opportunity pricing in Mercury.
 
Select all that apply.

You can select resources by a number of different criteria.

You can share plans via email for review and approval.

You can have multiple pricing plans associated with an opportunity.

You don’t always have to start with a blank pricing plan; you can also start from a previous
pricing plan or engagement budget.

Question 4
Which of the following metrics provides a clear, globally consistent measure of our profitability?
 
Select the best response.

Revenue

Discount

Margin

Price

Question 5
Which of the following steps would you perform after creating a pricing plan and performing
acceptance?
 
Select all that apply.

Update the plan

Obtain the necessary approvals

Enter pricing details

Update the total opportunity value

Mercury is both a global and scalable solution that helps accommodate different
ways of working, because you can leverage it to fit the size of your opportunity
or engagement, or the type of service being offered. In addition, it supports
better, smarter and more effective ways of working. It offers enriched data
integrity and reduced data entry. To summarize, it provides a globalized,
transparent and integrated working solution.
Select each tab to learn more.
Mercury delivers a globally consistent approach to modeling revenue and
margin, and calculating metrics. It also offers standardized processes and a
system that is scalable and supports small and large opportunities and
engagements across borders and within a single country.
Mercury integrates pricing and budgeting within one system. This will result in
many benefits including better data integrity, reduced data entry as data flows
through the system and the ability to re-use data, for example, using a pricing
plan as the foundation for your budget.
Mercury supports transparency by offering enhanced reporting capabilities
(accessed via My Business suite) that provide partners and business leaders
insights on margin throughout the opportunity and engagement lifecycle. It also
supports transparency by providing clear visibility into drivers contributing to
improved margin.
Mercury is both a global and scalable solution that helps accommodate different
ways of working, because you can leverage it to fit the size of your opportunity
or engagement, or the type of service being offered. In addition, it supports
better, smarter and more effective ways of working. It offers enriched data
integrity and reduced data entry. To summarize, it provides a globalized,
transparent and integrated working solution.
Select each tab to learn more.
Mercury delivers a globally consistent approach to modeling revenue and
margin, and calculating metrics. It also offers standardized processes and a
system that is scalable and supports small and large opportunities and
engagements across borders and within a single country.
Mercury integrates pricing and budgeting within one system. This will result in
many benefits including better data integrity, reduced data entry as data flows
through the system and the ability to re-use data, for example, using a pricing
plan as the foundation for your budget.
Mercury supports transparency by offering enhanced reporting capabilities
(accessed via My Business suite) that provide partners and business leaders
insights on margin throughout the opportunity and engagement lifecycle. It also
supports transparency by providing clear visibility into drivers contributing to
improved margin.
 \

Pricing concept & Fee type

Mercury introduces several new pricing concepts related to engagement

economics, including EAF, NSR and ANSR. Let’s review some of these new
concepts as well as how Mercury enables us to better manage our most
important metric — margin.
Select each tab to learn more.
Margin is the single most critical metric to focus on to effectively manage
engagement economics. While the margin metric does not change with the
deployment of Mercury, Mercury supports the better management of margin.
Margin modeling is in Mercury at every step and flows from step to step. No
more offline MMTs. No more offline ETCs. There are several levers you can
pull to support efficient margin management, including charged hours, staffing
mix and expense management. Remember, managing margin with a view across
portfolios is key.
Net standard revenue rates are based on direct costs and average historical
margin, and also include a stretch margin goal. NSR rates are based on
consistent principles across every country and service line to enable more
consistently based revenue recognition and sharing.
Engagement Adjustment Factor (or EAF) refers to the difference between NSR
and actual fees collected from client (or ANSR).
Adjusted Net Standard Revenue or ANSR is the amount you expect to bill your
client, less expenses you expect to incur on the engagement. ANSR enables
Mercury to allocate hours-based revenue within each engagement in a
consistent manner across each week and across each country, service line, sub-
service line or competency that is booking time.
In Mercury, the pricing and budgeting workbooks support four different fee
types, and how to assess the fee:
  Fixed fee,
 Contingency fee,
 Margin-based fee and
 Rate card fee.

The pricing and budgeting workbook enables you to easily model different
scenarios based on the strategic drivers behind your pricing decision.
or all fee types, the pricing workbook in Mercury helps you in modeling the
right “sold at” amount for a client when bidding. The workbook provides a way
to model the impact of leverage within the team.
Select each fee type to learn more.
Fixed fee

 Use this when you need to generate a fixed fee.

 Changing the staffing mix is the only option available to you for
optimizing your margin. You can assess how you can do this by modeling
different mixes within the engagement team.
 If you select Fixed Fee in the workbook, you must enter a value in the fee
cell.

Now, review the scenario.

Contingency fee

 Use contingency fees for performance bonus structure models, where

bonuses are paid when certain criteria are met.
 You can select resources based on the margin required to deliver the
opportunity using NSR and not the contingent fee.
 If you select Contingency Based, you must enter:
o Contingency amount or
o Sales price and contingency percentage (to calculate the contingency
amount).
 Additionally, capture the confidence level — in percentage — of winning
the contingency fee.

Now, review the scenario.

Margin-based fee

 Use this when an internally agreed margin is required, or expected, for an

opportunity or engagement. Local leadership will set the margin
percentage rate.
  Calculate the “sold at” amount by modeling engagement team resources
that most effectively hit that margin rate, and are of the right caliber to
deliver service quality.
 If you select Margin-Based Fee, you must enter a percentage in the
margin percentage cell.
 Mercury calculates the amount the fixed fee must be to obtain the desired
margin percentage.

Now, review the scenario.

Rate card fee

 There are two rate card options available to you.

 You can use a rate card that has already been agreed upon with the client
to estimate your “sold at” amount, or you can model your rate card.

Select notes icon to learn more.

Please note that rate cards will not automatically be uploaded into the system,
they will need to be set up.
Now, review the scenario.