05/17/2012 

Barclays Capital’s C.J. Muse looks at the forecast for PC GPUs based on a new report from Mercury Research. Shipments of PC graphic devices in Q1 2012 came in in-line to slightly below historical trends. Nvidia lost share to Intel and AMD due to tight 28nm chip supply.

05/16/2012 

The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium (HMCC) is a collaboration developing and implementing an open interface standard for Hybrid Memory Cube semiconductor memory architectures. Microsoft Corp. has now joined the consortium.

05/15/2012 

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) signed a cooperation framework document between its subsidiary SMIC Beijing and the Beijing municipal government, forming a joint venture for SMIC Beijing's expansion adjacent to its 12” mega-fab.

05/15/2012 

The market for DRAM is expected to partially reverse the drastic losses it incurred in 2011 and achieve revenue growth this year, the result of balanced supply and demand following the exit of major manufacturer Elpida Memory, according to IHS.

05/15/2012 

Infineon Technologies AG (FSE:IFX, OTCQX:IFNNY) CEO Peter Bauer will resign his post at the end of the current fiscal year (September 30, 2012) due to worsening osteoporosis.

05/14/2012 

The top 20 semiconductor suppliers in Q1 2012, compiled in IC Insights' May Update to The McClean Report, show Intel’s firm hold on the top of the rankings, but a disappointing quarter overall. GLOBALFOUNDRIES replaced bankrupt Elpida on the top 20 charts.

05/11/2012 

CMOS image sensors (CIS) are breaking sales records again, after several years without upward momentum, reports IC Insights. New portable systems and embedded imaging are lifting CIS to $6.3 billion in 2012 and new record sales each year through 2016.

05/11/2012 

At Intel’s annual investor day, the chipmaker reported that capital spending will be high in 2012 and 2013, noting that its 22nm and 14nm node capabilities are differentiators. Intel focused on its Ultrabook launches, consolidation in the chip industry, and reiterated that capex is for internal use not foundry services.

05/11/2012 

Memory chip maker Micron Technology Inc. (Nasdaq:MU) confirmed that it is engaged in discussions to take over the assets of bankrupt DRAM maker Elpida Memory Inc.

05/09/2012 

SEMI presented US Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) with its 2012 North American Government Leadership Award for his leadership and support of the US microelectronics and photovoltaic manufacturing value chain.

05/08/2012 

President Barack Obama toured the SUNY - Albany Nano-Tech Complex today, speaking about the economy and education in the CNSE NanoFab Extension Building.

05/07/2012 

III-V Lab, a joint lab of Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs France, Thales Research and Technology and CEA-Leti, provides an update one year into its 4 main research area projects. III-V lab combines compound semiconductor and silicon semiconductor technologies for applications in telecom, industrial control, environmental testing, defense, security, and space.

05/07/2012 

Elpida informally chose Micron to sponsor its restructuring, report severals sources. Micron reportedly will pay about USD1 billion more than it originally offered, investing another $1.25 billion to upgrade 2 fabs in Japan.

05/04/2012 

Texas Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ:TXN, TI) hosted an Analyst Day this week to discuss and review key strategies and progress achieved over the past 15 years. Barclays Capital “heard few surprises” at TI's Analyst Day; its analysts maintain their view that TI is a “high-quality analog company” that raises some concerns that it is not able to benefit from its scale advantages, with a growth trajectory of only GDP-plus (i.e. in line with overall semiconductors). FBR Capital Markets analysts agree that “little new surfaced.”

05/04/2012 

The Heterogeneous Technology Alliance in Europe is focusing on high-performance organic electronic circuits through 2 projects: COSMIC to develop p- and n-type OTFTs for complementary logic, and POLARIC for shrinking critical dimensions of OTFTs.

05/04/2012 

Lux Research profiled 328 companies across 15 different emerging technology domains in Q1 2012. Of these, Lux Research selected its top 10, including a gallium-nitride (GaN) power device maker, printed electronics supplier, and others.

05/02/2012 

Global semiconductor sales hit $23.3 billion in March 2012, up 1.5% from February 2012 and down 7.9% from March 2011, reports the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

05/02/2012 

RF Micro Devices Inc. (Nasdaq GS:RFMD) expanded its gallium nitride (GaN) portfolio with rGaN-HV, optimized for high-voltage power devices in power conversion applications.

05/01/2012 

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) appointed Dr. Leo Li, chairman, CEO and president of Spreadtrum Communications Inc., to its Board of Directors. Li is GSA’s first China-based executive to join the Board.

05/01/2012 

Nitronex was awarded a NASA Phase I SBIR to develop a highly efficient 20W X-band GaN power amplifier MMICs, for use in long range RF telecommunications. The company will deploy its GaN-on-Si technology.