03/29/2006  March 28, 2006 - Revenue from Taiwan's IC industry rose 1.7% in 2005 to NT$1.12 trillion (US $34.34 billion), well below the total global industry's ~7% growth for the year, but is seen rebouding to 16% growth in 2006.

03/28/2006  March 28, 2006 - New forecast data from iSuppli Corp. indicates concerns over NAND flash memory demand, but continued optimism for DRAM sales and the memory market overall.

03/27/2006  March 27, 2006 - A Japanese court reportedly has ruled in favor of Toshiba Corp. in its NAND flash patent infringement suit against South Korean competitor Hynix Semiconductor Inc.

03/24/2006  March 24, 2006 - AmberWave Systems Corp., Salem, NH, a developer of IP relating to strained silicon and other advanced materials, and Purdue U. have agreed to jointly develop technologies for integrating semiconductor devices on III-V materials.

03/24/2006  March 24, 2006 - Furnaceware provider Integrated Materials Inc., Sunnyvale, CA, has unveiled a new suite of tools for vertical furnace processes that it says offer performance than quartz and silicon carbide consumables.

03/24/2006  March 24, 2006 - Three executives of Samsung are the latest to be punished for their roles in a DRAM price-fixing conspiracy, according to the US Justice Department.

03/24/2006 

03/23/2006  March 23, 2006 - Rudolph Technologies Inc., Flanders, NJ, is rolling out a second-generation replacement for August Technology's E20 wafer edge inspection system, to provide edge inspection for CMP, etch, clean, deposition, pre-RTP and final QA processes.

03/22/2006  March 22, 2006 - Demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment from North American-based suppliers continued slow but steady growth in February, with the market showing orders outweighing sales for the first time since mid-2004, according to new data from SEMI.

03/21/2006  March 21, 2006 - Entegris Inc., Chaska, MN, is investing $5.2 million to nearly double manufacturing capacity at its facility in Kulim, Malaysia, to prepare for an anticipated upswing in the region that produces more than half of its revenues.

03/21/2006  San Jose, CA — Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales totaled $32.88 billion in 2005, which shows an 11% drop year-over-year, claims the new Worldwide Semiconductor Equipment Market Statistics (SEMS) Report, compiled by SEMI members and the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

03/21/2006  March 21, 2006 - Rambus Inc. has signed what it calls its "first system-level patent license" with Fujitsu Ltd., a wide-ranging and potentially lucrative deal spanning all of Fujitsu's business.

03/21/2006  March 21, 2006 - Worldwide sales of semiconductor manufacturing equipment dipped 11% in 2005 following significant expansion in 2004, but it was still the third-strongest year in history for suppliers overall, according to new data from SEMI.

03/21/2006 

03/20/2006  March 20, 2006 - Elpida Memory Inc. plans to boost production of DRAM chips used in cell phones by year's end to nearly half its total output, in an effort to tap a high-growth market while minimizing its PC market exposure.

03/20/2006  March 20, 2006 - 2005 may have been a soft year for semiconductor sales, but the perennial top three suppliers -- Intel, Samsung, and Texas Instruments Inc. -- all beat the industry's overall growth to solidify their respective spots, according to final 2005 rankings from iSuppli Corp.

03/17/2006  March 17, 2006 - Semiconductor industry capital spending was expected to be flat to slightly up in 2006, but unexpectedly strong investments from chipmakers have caused another analyst firm to raise its capex forecasts to 10% growth in 2006.

03/16/2006  March 16, 2006 - Demand for chips used in handsets and LCD displays has maxed out older-process capacity at top foundry Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), causing the foundry to use up other lines and refer some orders to affiliate Vanguard Semiconductor International Corp.

03/16/2006  March 16, 2006 - Barely a month after it acquired scatterometry pioneer Accent Optical Technologies Inc. for roughly $80 million, Nanometrics Inc., Milpitas, CA, is back at it again, snapping up overlay metrology firm Soluris Inc. for $7.0 million in cash.

03/16/2006