Should You Build an ASIC? A Practical Decision Guide

Deciding whether to build an ASIC is rarely a clear yes or no. Most teams arrive at the question gradually. FPGA costs rise. Power budgets tighten. Schedules slip. Supply risks appear. At some point, staying on the current platform feels increasingly uncomfortable — but committing to custom silicon feels risky.

That tension is normal.

The goal of this page is not to convince you to build an ASIC. It is to help you decide whether ASIC makes sense for your product now, later, or not at all, using the same reasoning experienced teams apply in practice.

Why this decision is harder than it looks

ASIC decisions fail most often because they are framed too narrowly.

Some teams focus only on unit cost. Others fixate on NRE. Some assume ASIC is only for large companies. Others jump too early because competitors are doing it.

In reality, ASIC decisions sit at the intersection of:

Economics
Product maturity
Risk tolerance
Long-term strategy

Getting the timing wrong can be just as expensive as choosing the wrong technology.

The real drivers behind the ASIC decision

Experienced teams do not start with nodes or vendors. They start with constraints.

Below are the most common drivers that push teams toward (or away from) ASIC. You do not need all of them — but you usually need at least one to be unavoidable.

Power and efficiency

When power, thermals, or battery life limit features or form factor, FPGA optimization eventually stops scaling.

Cost and BOM pressure

If margins compress as volume grows and BOM cost cannot be reduced structurally, platform choice becomes a business issue, not an engineering one.

Volume and break-even economics

ASIC economics depend on amortization across time and volume, not on a single shipment forecast.

Schedule and risk realism

ASIC timelines are often underestimated, especially around verification, IP integration, and signoff.

Node and technology choice

Choosing a node too early — or too aggressively — is one of the fastest ways to add cost and risk without benefit.

Product lifetime and supply risk

Long-lifecycle products face risks that off-the-shelf silicon is not designed to handle.

The three valid outcomes

A good ASIC decision does not force a single answer. In practice, there are three correct outcomes.

1. ASIC makes sense now

This is usually the case when:

Requirements are stable
Volume and lifetime justify NRE
Power, cost, or integration are non-negotiable

In this case, the next step is structured feasibility, not optimism.

2. ASIC makes sense later

Many successful products fall into this category.

Signals include:

Market fit is proven, but scale is still emerging
Architecture is mostly stable, but not frozen
The business case improves significantly with one more generation

Here, the goal is preparation, not commitment.

3. ASIC does not make sense (and that’s fine)

ASIC is the wrong move when:

Volume is low or uncertain
Time-to-market dominates
Flexibility matters more than efficiency

Avoiding ASIC at this stage is often the correct strategic choice.

How experienced teams reduce decision risk

Teams that succeed with ASIC do not guess.

They:

Make the decision explicit
Identify unknowns early
Accept “not yet” as a valid outcome
Use structured checks before committing resources

This avoids emotional or politically driven decisions.

A faster way to get clarity

If you want a neutral, structured way to assess your situation, we built a simple tool to help.

The ASIC or Not? Decision Wizard takes about two minutes and gives a directional answer based on your product’s constraints, maturity, and goals.

No specs required. No sales pitch.

Next step

Run the ASIC or Not? Decision Wizard to see whether ASIC makes sense for your product now, later, or not at all — and what to focus on next.

👉 /asic-or-not

Should You Build an ASIC? A Practical Decision Guide

Why this decision is harder than it looks