01/02/2007  Analysts surveyed by WaferNEWS generally reviewed 2006 as a decent year for the semiconductor industry, if you take away a "bloodbath" in microprocessors and a surprising weakness in ASPs. The stage is set for growth in 2007 about at or even slightly better than this year's pace, followed by what most industry watchers think will be the next cyclical peak in 2008, and a slowdown in growth in 2009.

01/01/2007  he use of light signals to connect different chips within a computer or different parts within a chip has attracted lots of attention due to the huge bandwidth provided by optics.

01/01/2007  For disk-drive makers, contamination control is part of fighting the law, Hwang’s law to be precise.

12/15/2006  austriamicrosystems' foundry business unit announced a 50V High-Voltage CMOS process with embedded Flash. The company says this is the consequent next step in extending austriamicrosystems' position in High-Voltage CMOS technology.

12/11/2006  Discera Inc., a San Jose, Calif.-based company developing MEMS resonator technology and provider of MEMS-based timing solutions, announced a pair of partnerships to distribute Discera's MEMS resonator-based timing products.

12/11/2006  Larry Bock has resigned as executive chairman of the board of directors of Palo Alto, Calif.-based Nanosys Inc., a nanotechnology platform and product development company working in a variety of industries, including developing military-related applications using nanomaterials for use in biosensors, solar cells and memory devices.

12/05/2006  Measuring 120 × 100 × 30 mm, the RTE870/C Light Emulator comprises a 60-Kbyte emulation memory, interfaces for an MCU probe and host-connection, and other functions.

11/29/2006  November 29, 2006 - Aviza Technology Inc. has appointed Masaaki Yashiro as president of its Japan KK unit, responsible for managing day-to-day operations, supporting Aviza's current customer base in Japan and broadening and strengthening the company's market presence in the region.

11/22/2006  November 22, 2006 - Saifun Semiconductors Ltd. has extended its partnership with Chinese foundry SMIC to make 8Gbit data flash using advanced process technology, with devices ready for market by 2008.

11/22/2006  Innos, the UK-based nanotech research and development company, said it is providing integration engineering support and prototyping services for the UK Framework 6 Network of Excellence SiNANO project.

11/21/2006  Business will keep slowing down for the equipment segment's 800-lb. gorilla and the overall industry, but it's more of a seasonal trend than a worrisome cyclical downswing, and should only last another quarter or so before picking up steam again, according to Applied Materials execs, discussing their company's fourth-quarter and year-end 2006 performance and 2007 projections.

11/17/2006  November 17, 2006 - AMD and Fujitsu, former JV owners of flash memory device maker Spansion Inc. and now two of the company's larger shareholders, are offering a total of 35 million shares of Spansion stock, about 27% of Spansion's total outstanding shares, for a total of $48.75 million.

11/17/2006  November 17, 2006 - In the latest salvo between the industry's juggernaut foundry and an upstart rival, Chinese flagship foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) has filed suit in the Beijing High Court against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), alleging unfair competitive practices, "breach of good faith," and "commercial defamation," according to an Associated Press report.

11/17/2006  November 17, 2006 - Sarnoff Europe says it has licensed its "TakeCharge" portfolio of on-chip electrostatic discharge protection technology to Fujitsu, for protecting the chipmaker's 65nm CMOS IC products.

11/17/2006  November 17, 2006 - As reported weeks ago, NXP Semiconductors (the former Philips chipmaking business) and partner TSMC have raised their ownership stakes in Systems on Silicon Manufacturing Co. Pte. Ltd. (SSMC), their joint venture chipmaking facility in Singapore.

11/16/2006  November 16, 2006 - The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has slightly tweaked its outlook for chip sales for the next several years, seeing 9.4-10.6% growth through 2008, as the industry becomes even more tightly tied to consumer electronics demand.

11/15/2006  November 15, 2006 - Surprising growth in sales and shipments from the top DRAM memory during 3Q, including a strong push from second-tier Taiwan chipmakers, has brightened the segment's outlook for the entire year, according to new data from iSuppli Corp.

11/14/2006  In an interview following the recent nanoTX'06 event in Dallas (9/26-9/28), Texas Instruments' Senior Fellow and Technology Strategy Manager, Bob Doering, echoed some of the same themes discussed with SEMATECH's Randy Goodall (see last week's story), about ways to advance nanotechnology collaboration with government funding and university R&D.

11/13/2006  November 13, 2006 - Spansion Inc. expanded its share and solidified its lead in the global NOR-type flash memory market in 3Q06, as other competitors lost ground due to inventory overheads amid a weak pricing environment, according to data from iSuppli Corp.

11/10/2006  November 10, 2006 - TSMC has confirmed reports that it will start work on a new 300mm fab in the Hsinchu Science Park by next spring, according to several media reports. The foundry's board has already approved an extra $1.13 billion in capital expenditures to expand 65nm and 90nm process capacity.