01/22/2007  January 22, 2007 - A coalition of memory suppliers formed last spring to develop a chip-level standard interface for NAND flash memory has delivered its first specification, which the group says simplifies flash controller design to facilitate integration of a wide range of NAND flash components into diverse end-use applications.

01/22/2007  January 22, 2007 - Having finally received the green light from Taiwan's government to transfer 200mm/0.18-micron technologies to mainland China, Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. reportedly will expand its current partnership with Japan's Renesas to include setting up a 200mm fab in China

01/18/2007  January 18, 2007 - Lam Research Corp. said 4Q06 net income nearly doubled from a year ago on 77% higher revenues, beating Wall Street expectations thanks to surging demand from DRAM and NAND flash customers. But the company warned that it's already seeing signs of order postponements from customers in what promises to be a "transition year" in 2007.

01/18/2007  Consumer products have become a leading technological and market driver of the semiconductor industry, fostering an ever-increasing demand for power density in devices targeted for that segment.

01/17/2007  January 17, 2006 - Lithography tool vendor ASML says its profits surged fourfold in 4Q06 from a year ago to about $265 million on record revenues, and expects to continue the good news with " healthy" order levels in 1Q07 and a yearlong ramp-up of 45nm volume manufacturing utilizing immersion lithography.

01/16/2007  January 16, 2007 - Renesas Technology Corp. and Taiwanese memory foundry Powerchip Semiconductor Corp. say they will establish a joint venture to design advanced memory devices and "overcome key issues they are currently facing," according to a statement.

01/16/2007  January 16, 2007 - Ending months of speculation following its private-equity buyout, former Philips chip unit NXP Semiconductor is ending its participation in the Crolles chipmaking partnership with STMicroelectonics and Freescale at the end of this year, although ST says it's still committed to the partnership.

01/16/2007  January 16, 2007 - Ovonyx Inc. and Qimonda AG have entered into a long-term cross license agreement targeting discrete memory products using their IP related to phase-change random-access memory (PCRAM) technology, with Ovonyx supporting Qimonda's program to develop products based on the memory technology.

01/12/2007  January 12, 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has slightly lowered its planned capex for 2007 despite higher sales and profits in 2006, though the company sees better demand in early 2007 and hinted at "significant" growth later in the year from new products.

01/11/2007  January 11, 2007 - ProMos Technologies Inc. plans to establish a $10 million fabless operation in the US to design sensor chips using CMOS processes for handheld devices, reportedly with Cypress Semiconductor Corp. as a partner, according to the Taiwan Economic News.

01/11/2007  January 11, 2007 - Rambus Inc. and Spansion Inc. have agreed to a five-year royalty-based patent license deal giving Spansion access to various Rambus patents. Specific terms of the deal were not disclosed, though Rambus said revenues generated from the license would be nonmaterial.

01/10/2007  January 10, 2007 - Micron Technology Inc. says it has reached a settlement agreement with a group of direct purchasers of certain DRAM products, with the total payment not to exceed $80 million. The company says the deal dismisses it from a class-action suit stemming from guilty verdicts against price-fixing charges in the DRAM market.

01/10/2007  January 10, 2007 - Tokyo Electron Ltd. (TEL) says it has acquired Epion Corp., a supplier of gas cluster ion beam (GCIB) technology, for an undisclosed amount. Applications for GCIB include etching, smoothing, doping, and physical and chemical surface modification.

01/09/2007  Six months after drastically rewriting their outlooks for a bleak 2007 for semiconductor equipment and capex, most analysts surveyed by WaferNEWS appear to be moderating their expectations a bit for both a less-harsh 2007 and less-ambitious 2008. With healthy and diverse end-demand helping to stabilize chipmakers's spending habits, the real questions now surround the macroeconomic environment, and whether memory firms show they've learned to reign in their capital spending.

01/09/2007  January 9, 2007 - Silterra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. has appointed Eg Kah Yee as CEO and executive director, replacing Bruce Gray, who held the position since July 2005 after serving two years as EVP and COO.

01/05/2007  January 5, 2007 - DRAM sales are set to reach their second-highest level ever in 2007, second only to the peak year of 1995, but year-on-year growth will be stunted due to price erosion, according to analyst firm iSuppli Corp.

01/05/2007  January 5, 2007 - SEMATECH has appointed Sitaram Arkalgud, appointee from Qimonda/Infineon Technologies, as director of its new 3D interconnect initiative, in addition to his duties leading SEMATECH's interconnect division.

01/04/2007  January 4, 2007 - Samsung says it is now sampling 16Gbit NAND flash memory devices made with 50nm process technology. Mass production is planned for 1Q07.

01/03/2007  January 3, 2007 - With a record 29 fabs set to come online and ramp to mass production, the stage is set for a banner year in capital spending in 2007, according to Strategic Marketing Associates.

01/02/2007  A key problem looming for semiconductor manufacturing at the 45nm node and beyond is gate leakage, yet there's no high-k/metal gate solution ready to tackle it in a manufacturing environment. However, Mears Technologies recently announced what it believes to be a solution -- using band engineering to re-engineer the physical properties of silicon.