07/24/2012 

SEMI recently conducted a survey of semiconductor fab equipment and materials suppliers, finding that 60+% of respondents say that IP challenges have had an adverse impact on their companies.

07/24/2012 

SiC is a niche material for semiconductor, power electronics, and LED manufacturing. Yole analyzed patents related to SiC growth and wafer manufacturing to glean trends in production, R&D, top companies, barriers to entry, and more.

07/24/2012 

The automotive IC market will grow 8% this year, to $19.6 billion, reports IC Insights. Semiconductor content per vehicle is increasing to $380 in 2012, up 9% from 2011. And the growth will continue in the near future.

07/23/2012 

Qualcomm (QCOM) announced results for Q3 of fiscal 2012. Qualcomm reduced its outlook for semiconductor volumes in fiscal Q4. CEO and chairman Dr. Jacobs pointed out that QCOM is ramping 28nm chip supply, aiming for a strong December quarter.

07/23/2012 

Pacific Biosciences of California will join imec in a multi-year research collaboration focused on the development of advanced microchips for highly multiplexed single-molecule genetic analysis. Pacific Biosciences brings its proprietary zero-mode waveguide technology; imec is contributing expertise in nanophotonics, CMOS sensors, technology integration and fabrication.

07/23/2012 

SRC-sponsored researchers developed new sensor-based metrology technology that can significantly reduce water and related energy usage during semiconductor manufacturing.

07/23/2012 

RED Equipment’s Carl McMahon suggests a different model for handling secondary semiconductor equipment for greater efficiency, cost reduction and quality control: full turnkey services engineered to the fab’s needs without the expense of customization.

07/20/2012 

IPC and JPCA released their first operational-level standard for the printed electronics industry, defining terms and establishes basic requirements for substrate materials used in printed electronics: ceramic, organic, metal, glass and other.

07/20/2012 

"Following seven months of increases, the three-month average bookings declined in June and likely reflects some slowing in investment plans attributed to weaknesses in the broader economy," said Denny McGuirk, SEMI.  "While order activity may slow, equipment spending this year will continue to be directed towards advanced technologies in wafer processing and packaging assembly."

07/20/2012 

AMD reported a “challenging” end to Q2, with president and CEO Rory Read citing "overall weakness in the global economy, softer consumer spending and lower channel demand for [AMD] desktop processors in China and Europe.”

07/19/2012 

Integrated Silicon Solution, Inc. (Nasdaq:ISSI) plans to acquire all the outstanding shares of Chingis Technology Corporation pursuant to a cash tender offer valued at $33 million.

07/19/2012 

IBM is raising its full-year operating earnings per share expectations to “at least $15.10,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM president and CEO, citing H1 performance and IBM’s ability to deliver “greater value to a wider range of clients” for the $0.10 increase.

07/19/2012 

With 18.9% revenue growth, third-party semiconductor intellectual property (SIPs) seem to have had a good year in 2011. However, Semico reports, several very interesting trends in the SIP and broader SoC markets are hidden under the top-level numbers.

07/18/2012 

Intel reported Q2 revenue of $13.5 billion, operating income of $3.8 billion, net income of $2.8 billion and EPS of $0.54. The company lowered its Q3 guidance, citing “a more challenging macroeconomic environment.”

07/18/2012 

IC Insights’ latest survey and ranking of the major semiconductor capital spenders shows that only 6 of the 35 major semiconductor suppliers -- Intel, Samsung, Hynix, TSMC, UMC, and Rohm -- with significant capital expenditure budgets are expected to spend more in 2012 than they did in 2011.

07/17/2012 

SEMI's Collaborative Alliance for Semiconductor Test released a Docking and Mounting Generic Terminology Guideline document that can be used to improve the

07/17/2012 

Sonoscan unveiled its Lab Model 9600 C-SAM acoustic micro imaging system to serve laboratory/failure analysis applications and for use in low-volume semiconductor production inspection.

07/17/2012 

BSE Tech, a BSE Group company, sold diffusion equipment for front-end semiconductor production to Microchip Technology Inc. The equipment will be used in the production of PIC microcontrollers in Microchip’s Tempe, AZ, fab.

07/16/2012 

SEMICON West kicked off with a surprise announcement regarding Intel's investment in ASML, but generally the event highlighted trends “as expected” in the fab supply chain, say Barclays analysts.

07/16/2012 

Cymer is seeing adoption of its focus drilling technology for ArF immersion light sources and SmartPulse data management tool for light source performance monitoring, both introduced in 2011.