04/26/2006  April 4, 2006 - Tokyo Electron Ltd. is offering a new wafer-level microelectromechanical system (MEMS) tester to help manufacturers isolate and validate electrical and mechanical functionality at the wafer level prior to packaging.

04/26/2006  April 26, 2006 - Elpida Memory Inc. reportedly plans to raise production capacity at its 300mm site in Hiroshima, Japan, by about 24% from current levels to 67,000 wafers/month by fiscal 1Q07.

04/26/2006  April 26, 2006 - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. reportedly has signed a contract to provide 0.13-micron manufacturing services to MediaTek Inc., Taiwan's top fabless house, for its LCD TV chips.

04/26/2006  April 26, 2006 - Cadence Design Systems Inc., San Jose, CA, is extending its "segmented" product strategy to its system interconnect design platform, used for simplifying and streamlining designs for printed circuit boards.

04/25/2006  April 25, 2006 - Nova Measuring Instruments Ltd., Rehovoth, Israel, has agreed to acquire former ATMI subsidiary HyperNex, a developer of x-ray diffraction metrology systems, for approximately $4.5 million.

04/25/2006  April 25, 2006 - Jazz Semiconductor Inc. has filed a registration statement with the SEC for a proposed $105 million initial public offering (IPO) of common stock, nearly a year after pulling its original -- and more ambitious -- IPO plans.

04/24/2006  April 24, 2006 - The market for chemical-mechanical planarization (CMP) products is expected to see strong growth as chipmakers continue to switch to copper interconnects, according to a new report from Linx Consulting, Boston, MA.

04/24/2006  April 24, 2006 - The roster of companies spending more than $1 billion is set to expand to sixteen companies, vs. 13 a year ago, with memory firms particularly aggressive in their capacity investments, according to a new report from IC Insights Inc.

04/24/2006  April 24, 2006 - Qcept Technologies Inc., Atlanta, GA, a developer of surface inspection systems for semiconductor manufacturing, has closed a follow-on Series B round of funding to help accelerate product development, sales, and marketing brand awareness.

04/24/2006 

04/21/2006  April 21, 2006 - Taiwanese fabless IC design house Solid State System Co. has received pilot devices of a new type of SONOS dielectric storage memory from UMC.

04/21/2006  April 21, 2006 - Several Japanese chipmakers plan to extend working hours during the "golden week" of holidays in late April and early May, in order to capitalize on projected demand for digital consumer electronics devices ahead of this summer's World Cup soccer matches.

04/21/2006  April 21, 2006 - A late-year ramp in demand was not enough to prevent lower 2005 sales for suppliers of critical subsystems for the semiconductor, flat-panel display, and data storage manufacturing industries, according to data from VLSI Research Inc.

04/21/2006  April 21, 2006 - Thanks to sliding NAND flash ASPs and a strong Korean won vs. the US dollar, Hynix Semiconductor Inc. said 1Q06 profits sunk about 61% in 1Q06 on 18% lower sales.

04/21/2006 

04/21/2006  Amtech Systems Inc., a supplier of production and automation systems and related supplies to the semiconductor, solar cell and silicon wafer industries, announced that a major U.S. manufacturer of solar energy products awarded the company an order for its Bruce Technologies horizontal BDF 200 diffusion furnace.

04/21/2006  April 18, 2006 -- /MARKET WIRE/ -- AUSTIN, Texas -- Austin Community College (ACC) and SEMATECH today announced the launch of a $4 million, multi-year program to train technicians and engineers in nanoelectronics, including internships in the Advanced Technology Development Facility (ATDF).

04/20/2006  April 20, 2006 - The market for power transistors, which accounts for half of the discrete semiconductor market, will swell to record levels over the two years, due to demand for devices to keep chips operating at peak efficiency but at low voltages, according to IC Insights Inc.

04/20/2006  April 20, 2006 - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has developed a 2GB MultiMediaCard with four 4Gbit NAND flash devices, the highest capacity card for mobile phones.

04/20/2006  April 20, 2006 - Nanochip Inc. has secured $10 million in funding from sources including Intel Capital, to support its push toward commercialization of MEMS-based data storage chips.