08/28/2007 GE Inspection Technologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire phoenix|x-ray, developer of high-resolution computed tomography (CT) / X-ray technology used in non-destructive testing (NDT) applications.
08/28/2007 Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation honored Rohm and Haas Electronic Materials, CMP Technologies with the company's 2007 Excellent Supplier Award, recognizing the efforts of the four Rohm and Haas business units that support SMIC: CMP Technologies, Microelectronic Technologies, Packaging and Finishing Technologies and Ion Exchange Resins.
08/27/2007 August 27, 2007 - Surface Technology Systems Plc (STS), a UK-based supplier of deep silicon etch and deposition systems, says its parent company Sumitomo Precision Products Co. (SPP) has offered to buy back the 37% of shares in the company it does not own, in order to register the firm as a private company.
08/27/2007 August 27, 2007 - Concerns about LSI Logic's strategy in the NAND flash memory segment are "no longer warranted," according to an industry analyst, who says the company is showing better end-market fundamentals and a clearer direction in NAND, including how to address several implementation hurdles for solid-state storage devices (SSD).
08/27/2007 Discera, Inc., qualified its MEMS-based oscillators with a series of frequency-stability and standard semiconductor qualification and reliability tests, comparing the silicon-based MEMS resonators to quartz for timing devices. Discera tested three separate manufacturing lots to prove process consistency in high-volume production, said Venkat Bahle, VP of marketing, Discera.
08/27/2007 August 27, 2007 - Months after initiating a policy that requires government approval to invest in or export certain technologies, the Korean government has narrowed its definition to 40 core "technologies of national interest" in a variety of industries, with DRAM and NAND flash chipmaking at the top of the list.
08/27/2007 August 27, 2007 - A roundup of the past week's headlines from Japan nets an interview with Elpida Memory president Yukio Sakamoto, musing about a $3 ceiling for DRAM prices, softness for 200mm tools, and the market impact of Samsung's recent multiline production blackout. Also in the news are Renesas/NEC's 45nm ramp schedule, new quake-minimizing systems, an investor rebuff from NEC, and a miniature lamp for a new breed of tiny inspection devices.
08/27/2007 A group of petroleum-producing and oil field service companies have proposed to join with the University of Texas at Austin to engage in joint R&D concerning the application of nanotechnology to the exploration and production of oil and gas.
08/27/2007 Technology Partners, a venture capital firm investing in clean tech and life sciences, has formed Fund VIII, which it has capitalized at $300 million. Fund VIII will be equally directed toward clean tech and life sciences companies.
08/27/2007 August 27, 2007 - Nanometrics says it has completed the sale of facilities in Narita, Japan, related to the flat-panel display business that it sold in 2005 and "had sat unutilized" ever since. Also sold was a residential condo near the company's headquarters in Milpitas, CA. Together the sales will add about $2 million in cash and both reduce debt and add income of approximately $1.2 million in 3Q07.
08/27/2007 August 27, 2007 - TSMC says it will purchase up to about $168 million worth of shares in Vanguard International Semiconductor, in a bid to increase its stake from its current 26.8% stake up to about nearly 38%. The deal is part of TSMC's strategy for boosting its 200mm capacity, and TSMC spokesperson/CFO Lora Ho noted that the foundry "has no intention to merge" with Vanguard.
The character of RF design has changed quite dramatically in the past few years. It's quite rare that RF designs are isolated pieces of circuitry, but rather part of a much bigger context. RF designs today typically are much larger and much more complex. They are multi-technology designs consisting of multiple RF modules integrated with high-speed digital, analog, power, and bias networks, all on the same dense circuit board.
08/24/2007 August 24, 2007 - Fabless giant Qualcomm became the first fabless company to crack the top 10 chip supplier ranks in 2Q07, buoyed by its ascent in the wireless area, according to new data from iSuppli Corp. Meanwhile, many well-known Asian chip suppliers took hits during the quarter.
08/24/2007 August 24, 2007 - After nearly a year and a half of price competition that undercut ASPs, the microprocessor market should cover "modestly" in 2007 as PC demand now picks up, according to a report from IC Insights.
08/24/2007 Viscom AG will acquire the MX family of infrared (IR) inspection systems for semiconductor, MEMS, and package inspection from Phoseon Technology. The deal includes intellectual property (IP), product development, licensing, customer base, and employees attached to the inspection line. It will broaden Viscom's offering beyond AOI and X-ray inspection tools, said Volker Pape, co-founder and board member, Viscom.
08/24/2007 August 24, 2007 - Sanmina-SCI has hired Joseph Bronson as president/CEO and a board member, responsible for the company's business execution, financial results, operational performance, and the overall business development and growth.
08/24/2007 August 24, 2007 - Maxim Integrated Products has agreed to acquire a portion of Vitesse Semiconductor's storage products business for $63 million in cash, plus up to $12 million in performance incentives, in a deal that bolster's Maxim's storage portfolio and lets Vitesse focus on its networking/Ethernet business.
08/24/2007 August 24, 2007 - Chip equipment subsystems provider Ultra Clean Technology says that its president, Leonid (Leonard) Mezhvinsky, will retire at year's end, though he will remain a director and assist the transition of responsibilities to a successor, the search for whom will begin "immediately."
08/24/2007 With its recent move into production and commercial shipment of its top-emissive, polymer-based organic light-emitting diode (P-OLED) microdisplays, MicroEmissive Displays (MED) has become the first European company to manufacture such devices at volume levels. Small Times' Tom Cheyney reports.
08/24/2007 August 24, 2007 - Despite recent financial woes and product delays, AMD has assured New York state officials that its proposed $3.2M 300mm fab complex in the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta, NY, is still very much in the works, according to a local report.
