08/09/2012 

Heavy monsoons moving through the Philippines are causing floods in and around Manila, the capital. The Philippines is a small but growing area for microelectronics manufacturing and packaging facilities.

08/09/2012 

ARM and Cadence announced the availability of the first in a series of combined solutions enabling designers to improve performance, power and time-to-market for ARM's processor-based system-on-chips (SoCs). 

08/08/2012 

Citing continued financial struggles in Europe, an inventory buildup at TSMC, and lower US GDP, Semico revised its 2012 semiconductor industry forecast from 8-10% to 6-8%.

08/08/2012 

Tektronix Component Solutions, a custom microelectronics services provider, tapped supply chain aggregator MOSIS to help its customers develop complete, high-performance ASICs with lower early-stage ASIC development costs.

08/07/2012 

Global smartphone applications processor revenues grew 55% Y/Y in Q1 2012, reaching $2.47 billion, according to Strategy Analytics. Qualcomm dominates in revenues and units sold, though it faces increasing competition.

08/07/2012 

The biggest change in the DRAM industry in 2012 has been Micron’s acquisition of Elpida. One key asset for Micron is mobile DRAM, which is growing in adoption thanks to integration into smartphones and tablets.

08/07/2012 

Agilent debuted its compliance test application, Agilent N6462A DDR4, for systems using DDR4 memory.

08/06/2012 

The Annual SPIE/BACUS Symposium, serving the worldwide photomask industry, will take place September 10-14, with the theme of successful integration and optimization of design, mask-making, and wafer fabrication in the deep sub-wavelength era.

08/06/2012 

Magnetic sensor semiconductors are robust but steady in application sectors like automotive, military/medical, and data processing. But the devices saw 50% growth in one segment last year: wireless/consumer, according to IHS.

08/06/2012 

A “leading semiconductor technology innovator” ordered Qcept Technologies Inc.’s ChemetriQ 5000 NVD inspection system for unit process development and process integration activities for advanced nodes, including 2Xnm and 1Xnm logic nodes for both front-end-of-line and back-end-of-line processes.

08/06/2012 

Zeta Instruments will install multiple optical profilers for micron-scale surface analysis at sapphire substrate maker Rubicon Technology, for metrology and inspection on sapphire substrates and wafer production aimed at the HB-LED market.

08/06/2012 

TSMC took a 5% stake in ASML, worth EUR 838 million, as part of the ASML Holding N.V. Customer Co-Investment Program to accelerate development of EUV lithography and 450mm wafer processing. TSMC will also commit EUR 276 million to ASML’s R&D programs.

08/03/2012 

Germany has launched a new project, EUV projection optics for 14nm resolution, or ETIK, led by Carl Zeiss and 6 other German companies and research institutes. The aim is to improve extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography resolution to the 14nm node.

08/03/2012 

Global semiconductor sales stayed flat in June 2012, hitting $24.38 billion, reports the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Y/Y, sales fell just 2% in June, a slower decline than the semiconductor industry has seen since October 2011.

08/03/2012 

Panasonic Corporation (NYSE:PC, TOKYO:6752) will reform its head office and governance as of October 1, aiming to reduce internally focused work and focus on customer needs.

08/03/2012 

ON Semiconductor Corporation (Nasdaq: ONNN) will be looking for a new CFO, with Donald Colvin vacating the post within 90 days. ONNN also authorized its first share repurchase program, and reported flat growth for Q2, with similar guidance for Q3.

08/02/2012 

In the third installment in a series called Process Watch, the authors discuss some of the challenges of 450mm wafers. Authored by experts at KLA-Tencor, Process Watch articles focus on novel process control solutions.

08/02/2012 

IC Insights released a Q2 update to its top-20 ranking of semiconductor companies. Three pure-play foundries are in the top 20 ranking, with a cumulative increase of 20% from Q1 2012 to Q2 2012.

08/02/2012 

The ConFab, Solid State Technology’s invitation-only event for the semiconductor industry, took place in June, with presenters from top companies and analyst firms. If you couldn’t be there, check out all the coverage from the event -- reports, presentations, video interviews and more.

08/02/2012 

Following Q3 revenue of EUR990 million, approximately unchanged compared to the previous quarter and outlook for Q4 flat to down slightly, Infineon implemented measures to reduce costs. Full-year revenue will be down approximately 3% from 2011.