Electronics Industry News & Analysis | Market Outlook & Trends

Microsemi to Buy Symmetricom for $230 Million

Chip vendor says it plans to acquire precision time and frequency technology provider Symmetricom in a cash deal worth about $230 million.

More Electronics Manufacturing Expected to Return to North America

More electronics companies plan to return manufacturing back to North America from China, according to a new study by the Association Connecting Electronics Industries.

Imagination's P5600 Avoids Big-Little 'Complexity'

The six-core cluster supported by Imagination's P5600 processor allows licensees to implement their own low-power/high-performance core instantiation.

Chang to Remain 'Ultimate Authority' at TSMC

Morris Chang told analysts he will continue as chairman and remain in charge of foundry TSMC after he stands down as CEO sometime before June 2014.

Renewable Energy Technology Innovation Rising

The number of patents issued for renewable-energy technologies has risen sharply over the last decade, according to a study.

TSMC Sees Fast Ramp for 20-nm

TSMC's 16-nm FinFET manufacturing process will hit volume one year after 20-nm planar CMOS does early in 2014 and production ramps are set to be faster than they were at 28-nm, according to CEO Morris Chang.

Materials Breakthrough Could Lead to More Efficient Solar Cells

Researchers at several universities have collaborated to create a heat-resistant thermal emitter that could significantly improve the efficiency of solar cells by using ceramic-type materials.

Teardown: Fitbit Flex

IHS performs a teardown analysis of the Fitbit Flex wrist-worn activity monitor.

TSMC Forecasts Q4 Dip

TSMC sees fourth quarter sales declining due to an inventory correction but CEO Morris Chang stressed that the dip will be temporary in a market that is generally strong.

PC Market Still Struggling; Numbers are Down in Q2

The PC market continued to muddle through as shipments declined once more in the second quarter, with computers as a whole proving no match against the unrelenting popularity of...

Startup Ports Gesture Software to Mali GPUs

Processor IP licensor teams with Israeli startup EyeSight Mobile Technologies on an optimization of EyeSight's gesture recognition software to run on ARM's Mali T600 series graphics processors.

Intel Delays 14-nm Broadwell, Posts Mixed Q3

Under new CEO Brian Krzanich, Intel continues to suffer due to a weak PC market and has confessed to a one-quarter delay for its 14-nm Broadwell processor.

Qualcomm Working on Neural Processor Core

Fabless chip giant Qualcomm Inc. is working with a San Diego-based startup called Brain Corp. to develop a neural processor architecture to provide human-brain like cognition and processing for mobile computing.

SK Hynix Places Memory R&D in Taiwan

SK Hynix builds on acquisition of Link_A_Media Devices by locating a NAND memory controller development center in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Besides being close to customers, it's also where the "superior" engineers are, according to the company.

Carbyne Said to Be Strongest Material for Future Electronics

Rice University researchers have determined from first-principle calculations that carbyne—a material made from a chain of carbon atoms—would be the strongest material yet discovered.

Europe's Ambitious Plan to Bring Back Chip Manufacturing

At Semicon Europa 2013, Rania Georgoutsakou, the director of public policy Europe, went into detail about the EU's 10|100|20 initiative to bring chip manufacturing back to the continent.

Global Silicon Demand to Slow Down as Year Finishes

Semiconductor manufacturers confronting slowing orders will see demand for silicon taper off as the year comes to a close. Worldwide silicon shipments representing the raw material...

Imagination Fights Back with Warrior MIPS Core

Imagination, the owner of the MIPS architecture and brand, has put down a marker that it wants to compete head-to-head with ARM providing CPU cores for mobile device application processors.

Micron's Phase-Change Memory under Review

Micron is trying to assimilate a lot of technology and R&D capability as a result of its acquisition of Elpida Memory Inc. One result is that Micron is redefining its strategy for phase-change memory.