Electronics Supply Chain News & Analysis

Chip Sales Up 6% in Q1

Global chip sales were up not only for the entire 2014 year but also in the first quarter sequentially despite continuing macroeconomic challenges

EPC Claims GaN Power Win Over Silicon

A seven-year-old company with a vision of helping gallium nitride power transistors displace silicon MOSFETS, reckons it has reached a tipping point with GaN transistors that are smaller and faster than the competition.

Knowles to Acquire Audience

MEMS supplier signs agreement to acquire Audience Inc. in a cash and stock deal that will strengthen Knowles’ signal processing and intelligent audio portfolio.

TSMC Aims for 7nm in 2017

Executive gives update on company's progress at the leading edge of IC manufacturing. Success is more likely if EUV tool productivity can be increased.

Panasonic, IMEC Take Embedded ReRAM to 28nm

A team drawn from Panasonic and research institute IMEC is set to present their research next month on a "highly reliable" tantalum oxide variant of resistive RAM for use in 28nm CMOS.

SigFox, TI Collaborate on Sub-1GHz IoT

French firm rolling out global network of IoT networks based on narrowband communications in the ISM bands below 1GHz.

Uniquify Rolls DDR3 IP for Samsung

IP vendor creates a DDR PHY intellectual property designed for Samsung’s 28nm foundry process to improve performance and help secure against timing shifts in design.

Silicon Motion Buys Chinese SSD Startup

A leading supplier of memory controller ICs has agreed to purchase a Chinese startup that is beginning to gain traction in its domestic market supplying Internet companies with PCIe-interface solid state drives.

China’s Underdog Chipmakers Make IP Grab to Compete in SoC Market

Once considered knock-offs to Western system-on-chip devices, China’s semiconductor underdogs are gobbling up IP in order to create home-grown devices that will compete against heavyweight chipmakers.

X-FAB Introduces UV Photo Diodes for Wearables

German foundry has introduced ultraviolet photo diodes to work with its 0.18 and 0.35 micron process technologies for smartwatches, smartphones, water purification systems and other industrial applications.

Microsemi Completes Vitesse Acquisition

Combined company to focus on furthering Ethernet technologies as well as increasing its presence in the Internet of Things.

Philips to Supply Lighting for Dutch Airport

Deal to provide fixtures and installations for Amsterdam Airport Schiphol seen as early example of “lighting-as-a-service” business model.

Fab Tool Bookings Continue Momentum

Chip gear book-to-bill ratio rises to 1.10 as bookings continued to exceed billings but remain above the parity level.

MIPS Architecture Opened to Universities

Processor architecture, born out of academia 30 years ago, opened up to foster interest with another generation of student engineers.

Applied Materials, TEL Scrap Merger

Plan to combine major semiconductor equipment companies discarded after U.S. regulators balk.

Samsung Pumps $9 Billion Into Chip Fab

South Korean electronics giant investing to boost production of future DRAM chips at fab in Pyeongtaek.

KLA-Tencor to Cut 10% of Workforce

Announcement comes as quarterly sales decline 11%.

Freescale Says NXP Merger On Track

Freescale's chief executive says integration of the firms has already begun and that the deal is on track to close by the end of 2015.

TI Echoes Concerns Over PC Market

TI says its results in the first quarter were on the low end of expectations due to weakness in wireless equipment and the PC market, echoing with the assessment made by Intel earlier this month.