03/28/2012 

Strong demand for MEMS sensors, CMOS image sensors, LEDs, fiber-optic laser transmitters, and power transistors enabled the OSD semiconductors market to grow by 8% in 2011, hitting a new record revenue and beating out the overall IC market, according to IC Insights.

03/26/2012 

At the recent Common Platform Technology Forum -- produced by Global Foundries, Samsung and IBM -- Simon Segars, executive vice president and general manager of the physical IP division at ARM, spoke about the impact of the internet of things and mobile computing on the way electronics are designed and used.

03/26/2012 

Hynix officially became a member of SK group, energy and telecommunications conglomerate, changing its name to SK Hynix.

03/23/2012 

Elpida's bankruptcy process moved forward another step, with the Tokyo District Court naming Yukio Sakamoto, Elpida president & CEO and Nobuaki Kobayashi, attorney-at-law as the Trustees for the case.

03/22/2012 

GLOBALFOUNDRIES' Fab 1 in Dresden, Germany has shipped 250,000 semiconductor wafers based on 32nm HKMG technology. AMD commented that it will move ahead with 28nm at GLOBALFOUNDRIES.

03/22/2012 

Apple’s ARM-based processors have created a point of hardware differentiation in applications processors. With the A5X, Apple is going with a much larger die at the 45nm node (shared across the 2 prior generations), shares Chipworks. It's also turned off the PoP track.

03/21/2012 

Semiconductor days of inventory rose 3.4%, hitting an 11-year high of 84.1 DOI at chip suppliers in Q4 2011, but this will decline 0.5% in Q1 2012, with hopes that demand is improving, says IHS.

03/21/2012 

ASIC design starts are evolving under increasing design costs, rising design complexity, and lengthening design cycle times, especially in the SoC market, says Semico Research Corp. New applications are providing an element of stability.

03/21/2012 

Barclays Capital weighs in on rumors that Micron (MU) offered $1.5 billion to take over Elpida. Should the offer stand, it would be about 20-30 cents on the dollar for Elpida's assets.

03/21/2012 

Taiwan raised investment ceilings for Chinese investors in LCDs, semiconductors, IC assembly and test, microelectronics production equipment, and metal tool manufacturing.

03/20/2012 

NIST is soliciting proposals of long-term research in next-generation semiconductor technology, putting up $2.6 million in federal cost-shared funding for a project’s first year, with the potential for continued funding for up to 5 years.

03/20/2012 

One year ago, Japan’s semiconductor industry was rocked by a devastating earthquake and tsunami. However, the real disaster for Japan’s chip industry occurred during the years before the earthquake, says IHS.

03/19/2012 

Columbia Engineering and University of Pennsylvania researchers developed a way measure nanopores with less error, designing a custom IC using commercial semiconductor technology and building the nanopore measurement around the new amplifier chip.

03/16/2012 

Dongbu HiTek named Dr. Chang-Sik Choi, former EVP of Samsung Electronics, as its president and CEO and Chan-Hee Lee, former EVP of MagnaChip Semiconductor, as president of its foundry business.

03/16/2012 

European researchers have manufactured defect-free structures of different semiconductors on silicon wafers, using semiconductor manufacturing processes.

03/16/2012 

The global market for power semiconductors used in LED lighting is forecast to reach over $3 billion in 2016. LED lighting systems require complex electronics, IMS Research notes.

03/16/2012 

3M is investing in research and manufacturing of novel silicon (Si) based battery anode materials, for mobile electronics and electric vehicles.

03/15/2012 

Execs from Samsung, IBM, GlobalFoundries and ARM looked to the future at The Common Technology Platform Forum in Santa Clara. They focused on the innovation pipeline for 20nm and 14nm technology nodes, and the role that EUV, FinFETs, TSVs, CNTs and DSA will play.

03/15/2012 

As products using gallium nitride (GaN) technology continue to gain acceptance in military and commercial applications, development activities at microelectronics companies are accelerating.

03/14/2012 

TI opened a CA-based research lab for analog and mixed-signal circuits, tapping into local universities for a portion of the research. SMIC is teaming with Brite Semiconductor and Zhejiang University for an IC research program in China. Both aim to develop a "home-grown" and dynamic semiconductor industry workforce.