The Week In Review: Aug. 27
By Mark LaPedus
SEMI announced the introduction of 450 Central, a web-based information service to help the semiconductor industry efficiently transition to 450mm-ready solutions.
Samsung has taken a 3 percent stake in ASML in a move to accelerate the development of 450mm fabs and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography. Intel in July entered into a series of agreements with ASML in a combined deal worth up to $4.1 billion. TSMC also invested in ASML for similar reasons.
Big data, 3D printing, activity streams, Internet TV, Near Field Communication (NFC) payment, cloud computing and media tablets are some of the fastest-moving technologies identified in Gartner’s 2012 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies.
GlobalFoundries is projected to surpass UMC as the world’s second-largest foundry vendor, according to IC Insights.
Mentor Graphics has announced that Denso has adopted its ICanalyst tool. Mentor also said that iD has selected its Questa CDC for clock domain crossing verification.
Qualcomm has acquired cell-phone chip maker DesignArt Networks.
International Rectifier has announced its results. IR plans to close its El Segundo, California, fabrication facility. The company is also downsizing its fab in Newport, Wales.
ON Semiconductor plans to cut about 250 jobs.
The hybrid product line from Cirrus Logic’s Apex Precision Power business unit has been sold for $26 million to a group of private investors led by Alerion Capital. In doing so, Apex Microtechnology, which Cirrus Logic acquired in 2007, has been re-established as a stand-alone corporation.
A technology roadmap for the PV industry is set to emerge during 2013, bringing the PV industry into alignment with adjacent technology sectors where roadmaps typically have broad industry support, according to Solarbuzz.
Slow growth in the gallium arsenide (GaAs) device market in 2011, coupled with a shift away from GaAs technology for handset switches, dropped demand for semi-insulating GaAs bulk substrates by 4 percent, according to a firm.
Healthy growth in information technology (IT) spending in China will stimulate adoption of technologies, including desktop and server virtualization, software, and media tablets, according to Gartner.
LG Display more than doubled its tablet display sales revenue in the second quarter compared to the first, thanks to panel shipments for Apple Inc.’s iPad, according to iSuppli.
Global semiconductor revenue now is expected to decline slightly for the year, contracting by 0.1 percent, according to preliminary results from iSuppli. The previous forecast called for marginal growth of less than 3 percent. This will mark the first annual decline for the global semiconductor industry since 2009.
Tags: 450mm, Alerion Capital, Apex Microtechnology, ASML, China, Cirrus Logic, Denso, Gartner, GlobalFoundries, iD, Intel, International Rectifier, iSuppli, IT, LG Display, Mentor Graphics, ON Semiconducor, PV, SEMI, UMC