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Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) today announced that Qualcomm River Holdings B.V., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, has extended the offering period of its previously announced cash tender offer to purchase all of the outstanding common shares of NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI). The tender offer is being made pursuant to the Purchase Agreement, dated as of October 27, 2016, by and between Qualcomm River Holdings B.V. and NXP, as amended (the “Purchase Agreement”). The tender offer is now scheduled to expire at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 22, 2018, unless extended or earlier terminated, in either case pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement.

American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, the depositary for the tender offer, has advised Qualcomm River Holdings B.V. that as of 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on June 14, 2018, the last business day prior to the announcement of the extension of the offer, 16,319,317 NXP common shares (excluding 21,739 shares tendered pursuant to guaranteed delivery procedures that have not yet been delivered in settlement or satisfaction of such guarantee), representing approximately 4.7% of the outstanding NXP common shares, have been validly tendered pursuant to the tender offer and not properly withdrawn. Shareholders who have already tendered their common shares of NXP do not have to re-tender their shares or take any other action as a result of the extension of the expiration date of the tender offer.

Completion of the tender offer remains subject to additional conditions described in the tender offer statement on Schedule TO filed by Qualcomm River Holdings B.V. with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on November 18, 2016, as amended (the “Schedule TO”). The tender offer will continue to be extended until all conditions are satisfied or waived, or until the tender offer is terminated, in either case pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement by and between Qualcomm River Holdings B.V. and NXP and as described in the Schedule TO.

Micross, headquartered in Orlando, FL announced a new appointment within the company’s senior management team. Marshall (Mac) Blythe has joined Micross in the role of General Manager of Component Modification Services (CMS) located in Hatfield, PA.

Mac brings more than twenty-five years leadership experience in a variety of business development, operations & executive management roles to Micross. His career has been primarily focused in the Electronic Manufacturing Services industry, supporting customers across the Aerospace & Defense, Industrial, Healthcare and Communication sectors.

Mac comes to Micross from Creation Technologies where he served as Vice President, Business Development for Eastern North America. Previously, Mac was President of Accuspec Electronics (now 4Front Solutions) where he successfully led the team to accelerate revenue growth through improving the company’s operational effectiveness, manufacturing productivity and quality. Mac also spent over 12 years at Celestica, where he held key general management and senior sales leadership roles.

Mac earned his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and holds a BA from UNC, Chapel Hill, NC.

“We are delighted to welcome Mac to the Micross team,” stated Richard Kingdon, CEO of Micross. “We are confident that Mac’s combination of leadership skills and industry experience will both drive Micross’ Component Modification business forward and enhance the effectiveness of our broader organization.”

Micross is the one-source, one-solution provider of Bare Die & Wafers, Advanced Interconnect Technology, Custom Packaging & Assembly, Component Modification Services, Electrical & Environmental Testing and Hi-Rel Products to manufacturers and users of semiconductor devices.

Driven by the colossal Internet of Things (IoT) opportunity, wireless technologies—including wireless local area network (WLAN), Bluetooth, cellular and low-power wireless—will account for 55 percent of connectivity integrated circuit (IC) shipments in 2018, according to a new report from business information provider IHS Markit (Nasdaq: INFO). Over the next five years, wireless connectivity will play an increasingly crucial role in market segments including automotive and transportation, commercial and industrial electronics, communications, computers, consumer and medical.

“Massive IoT use cases requiring long battery life, deep coverage and mobility are fueling demand for cellular and low-power wireless,” said Julian Watson, senior principal analyst for IoT at IHS Markit. “WLAN, Bluetooth and Zigbee are already entrenched in the home automation and consumer electronics segments. And in the coming years, wireless is going to have a huge impact on industries such as healthcare, where providers will lean heavily on wireless connectivity to track and trace costly equipment across large sites and to monitor the condition of patients within domestic settings.”

The IoT opportunity is also spurring competition among wireless technologies such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and Long Term Evolution (LTE) and challengers like long-range wide area network (LoRaWAN), Sigfox and Thread. “The diversity of IoT use cases requires multiple technologies, and because of this we’ll see competition between technologies intensify,” Watson said. “The end result is that connectivity technologies will either compete, complement or combine—and whatever is most cost-effective will win out.”

Five connectivity technologies to watch

In its new Connectivity Technologies report, IHS Markit identifies five connectivity technologies to watch:

5G

The move to 5G will trigger significant investment across the value chain from 2020 to 2030, with $2.4 trillion in capital expenditures during this time frame. 5G will start by addressing enhanced broadband uses cases, but industry, not humans, will be the chief 5G driver. Most growth in new subscriber connections will come from industrial use cases rather than consumer markets.

Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)

NB-IoT enables connectivity in devices used in a wide array of applications such as utilities, digital sensor monitoring, agriculture, location-based services and smart cities. Strong NB-IoT deployment in China and Europe will continue, while LTE Cat-M1 will remain dominant in the US. Asia is projected to account for 88 percent of global NB-IoT connections in 2020.

LoRa

Despite intense competition from NB-IoT, LoRa is the low-power WAN (LPWAN) technology of choice for private networks and non-traditional service providers such as cable operators due to its accessibility and differentiation. LoRa has earned a leading role in the LPWAN market, with more than 32 million nodes shipped in 2017, growing to over 57 million nodes in 2018.

Bluetooth mesh

Bluetooth’s momentum and massive installed base gives it an advantage that will be hard for incumbent technologies like Zigbee to challenge. Although it is still perceived as a consumer technology, mesh technology will allow Bluetooth to cross over into commercial and industrial applications such as lighting and building automation, with an anticipated 392 million lighting and building automation device shipments in 2022.

802.11ax

As greater numbers of Wi-Fi–enabled devices are added into homes and enterprises, the 802.11ax standard will gain more prominence in the marketplace and is expected to become the de facto Wi-Fi standard in the next decade. The 802.11ax market will grow rapidly beginning in 2020, after the Wi-Fi alliance launches a certification program. 802.11ax chipset revenue is expected to reach $855 million in 2022.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) today announced that Aledia, a developer and manufacturer of next-generation 3D LEDs for display applications based on its gallium-nitride-nanowires-on-silicon platform, has selected Veeco’s Propel® GaN MOCVD system to support advanced research and development. Aledia noted the tool’s large process window, single-wafer reactor technology and defect stability as key factors in its decision to adopt the Propel system.

“We believe that the opportunity for our breakthrough nanowire-LED display technology on large-area silicon is very large, and we need the best and most scalable technology available to support our continued R&D around 3D display applications—we believe Veeco is best positioned,” stated Giorgio Anania, CEO, chairman and co-founder of Aledia. “Veeco’s cutting-edge Propel system delivers unsurpassed results, and very good homogeneity throughout the entire wafer, making it the best choice and one we know will help us continue to push the limits of innovation.”

Designed for leading-edge GaN applications like power, RF, laser diodes and advanced LEDs, the Propel system’s single-wafer reactor platform enables the processing of six- and eight-inch wafers or two- to four-inch wafers in a mini-batch mode. In addition to Veeco’s proprietary TurboDisc technology, the system also includes Veeco’s IsoFlange™ and SymmHeat™ technologies, which provide homogeneous laminar flow and uniform temperature profile across the entire wafer.

“On the heels of the company’s previous adoption of Veeco’s K465i™ MOCVD system, Aledia’s decision to turn to Veeco once again to support future generations of nanowire-LED technologies for mobile displays is a testament to our shared commitment to excellence,” noted Peo Hansson, Ph.D., senior vice president and general manager of MOCVD at Veeco. “We look forward to our continued partnership and to support Aledia as it continues to innovate new discoveries in the LED space.”

Innovators in display technology are focusing on the next big technological shifts such as micro-LED and 3D LED. Industry analysts predict a scenario where the market for advanced LED displays could potentially reach 330 million units by 2025. This optimism is fueled by the promise of sub-100 micrometer LEDs, which is considered the critical enabler to achieving the ultimate display.

Plasma-Therm, the manufacturer of plasma etch, deposition, and advanced packaging equipment for the production of specialty semiconductor devices, announced today the successful acquisition of CORIAL, a France-based plasma processing equipment supplier.

“This transaction is expected to produce significant cost savings from operational synergies while increasing the group’s top line revenue by leveraging the combined sales and service network. This acquisition enforces Plasma- Therm’s commitment to the European market by further enhancing our support infrastructure for the European customer base” stated Abdul Lateef, Plasma-Therm CEO. “With this acquisition we take one more step in the execution of our vision of a Technology Center of Excellence and Research in the Grenoble ecosystem” further emphasized Abdul Lateef.

Thierry Lazerand, Plasma-Therm Director of Marketing said, “CORIAL is a strategic acquisition that strengthens our presence in the R&D market space and for all other markets requiring small footprint and technology-rich equipment. We are also excited about the addition of the experienced team of Engineers with differentiated know-how for product development. The combination will leverage Plasma-Therm’s award-winning service, as recognized by the VLSIresearch Customer Satisfaction Survey”.

“We are excited to become a subsidiary of Plasma-Therm”, comments Andrei Uvarov, CORIAL’s Chief Research Officer. “It is a great opportunity for CORIAL to consolidate its future and accelerate the development of innovative stand-alone equipment based on joined CORIAL and Plasma-Therm expertise and advance our commercialization initiatives globally”.

Sparking conversation is a goal of SEMICON West, and SEMI Americas and Applied Materials invite working journalists across the electronics spectrum to a special AI Design Forum luncheon on Tuesday, July 10, from noon to 1:30 p.m., at The Forum at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, in San Francisco. The event is presented in conjunction with SEMICON West at the Moscone Center.

In addition to the exchange of fresh news, ideas and insights on industry trends, executives from SEMI Americas and Applied Materials will host an interview by John Markoff of The New York Times with Dr.  David Patterson of Google. Patterson is known for his pioneering contributions to reducing the design complexity of MIPS, RISC and other microprocessors found in most chips today. A former professor of computer science at UC Berkeley and a distinguished engineer at Google, he is co-recipient of the 2017 Turing Award, widely regarded as the Nobel Prize for computer science.

Like this special lunch session, almost everything about SEMICON West is stronger this year.  Led by 200 industry leaders and visionaries, conversation topics are far-ranging, with special focus on five industries that promise to define future electronic devices: artificial intelligence (AI), automotive electronics, biotechnology, smart manufacturing and IoT. The event will also tackle the tough question of how to attract new talent into a global industry that requires greater creativity, innovation, and ingenuity to deliver the electronic advantages for tomorrow.

To reserve your seat at this special luncheon event, request your press credentials for free attendance at www.semiconwest.org/registration. Seating is limited and available until June 26 per your RSVP to [email protected].

What’s on the SEMICON West Program

Keynote speakers:

  • Dr. John E. Kelly, III, Senior Vice President, IBM Cognitive Solutions and IBM Research
  • Gary Dickerson, Chief Executive Officer, Applied Materials
  • Amir Husain, Chief Executive Officer, SparkCognition
  • Dr. Melissa Schilling, Professor, New York University
  • Dr. William Dally, Chief Scientist, nVIDIA
  • Mark Papermaster, Chief Technology Officer, Advanced Micro Devices
  • Dr. Wolfgang Juchmann, Vice President, Business Development, AutonomouStuff

 

  • AI Design Forum: The AI era is expected to be the largest and longest-lived of any in electronics history. This Forum, sponsored by Applied Materials, will present new approaches to computing and device architectures required to drive widespread AI adoption.
  • Semi Venture Funding Gaps and Solutions: With semiconductor and hardware investments dwindling in the U.S. and Europe due to rising capital requirements and development costs, a map will be shared for how to maintain technological leadership in future semiconductors.
  • Smart Manufacturing Pavilion: Marked by explosive growth in data availability, AI, biomed, IoT and other information sources are driving demand for new technologies. The Pavilion features data-sharing breakthroughs that can create smarter manufacturing processes, increase yields and profits, and spur innovation across the industry.
  • Smart Transportation Pavilion: Leading all new application spaces for chip growth, the transportation market promises great potential for related segments like FHE and MEMS and Sensors.
  • Smart Workforce Pavilion: Sustaining the industry’s pace of innovation and growth has become a top priority for companies. With chip businesses facing stiff competition from other tech-related segments, the Pavilion’s mission is to inform entry-level prospects that microelectronics is a smart career choice.

SEMICON West is organized by SEMI Americas to connect more than 2,000 member companies and 1.3 million professionals worldwide to advance the technology and business of electronics manufacturing. SEMICON West is celebrating its 47th year as the flagship event for the semiconductor industry.

The MEMS pressure sensor market is still driven by automotive applications. Established automotive applications increase MEMS pressure sensors adoption in the integrating systems, and also widespread their geographical adoption especially in China thanks to new automotive regulation.
Consumer is the second pressure sensor business with new consumer applications including wearables, electronic cigarette, drones, which are giving attractive perspectives to the devices’ manufacturers.

MEMS pressure sensor technologies are basically segmented into piezoresistive and capacitive categories. Both two technologies are not hugely different in terms of performance but capacitive is limited to absolute pressure applications. Today piezoresistive is leading the industry in terms of market share, and that will probably continue in the future despite growing adoption of capacitive technology in consumer application.

To complement Yole Développement (Yole) technology & market report, MEMS Pressure Sensor Market and Technologies 2018, System Plus Consulting, part of Yole Group of Companies, has conducted a unique comparative review of pressure sensors chips, modules and TPMS.

Under this new MEMS Pressure Sensor Comparison 2018 report, the reverse engineering & costing company provides insights into the structures, technical choices, designs, processes, supply chain positions and costs of a selection of key MEMS pressure sensors. 7 consumer, 14 industrial and 13 automotive MEMS pressure sensor products from the leading suppliers are so deeply analyzed in System Plus Consulting’s study. Suppliers include All Sensors, Amphenol, APM, Bosch, Denso, First Sensor, Fuji Electric, Freescale/NXP, Honeywell, Infineon, Melexis, Merit SensorSystems, Mitsubishi Electric, Nagano Keiki, Sensata, Sensirion, SMI and STMicroelectronics.

The MEMS pressure sensors comparison from System Plus Consulting points out the diversity of devices and related technologies, which are a characteristic of this industry. All manufacturing process flows and cost reviews are detailed in this report to highlight the technical choices made by each player, according to the market segments.

“In this new analysis, we identified lot of different manufacturing processes”, comments Audrey Lahrach, Cost Engineer at System Plus Consulting. “Indeed MEMS pressure devices’ packaging and pressure range differ widely according to application.”

System Plus Consulting’s report includes multiple comparisons based on physical analyses of 34 MEMS pressure sensor components. It offers buyers and device manufacturers the unique possibility of understanding MEMS pressure sensor technology evolution, and comparing product costs.

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) today announced that Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Mike McDevitt will retire from his executive positions following a transition period. Mr. McDevitt intends to stay on until a successor is appointed, and thereafter will remain available as a consultant to the Company to ensure a seamless transition of leadership responsibilities.

Since joining Cree in 2002, Mr. McDevitt has held numerous executive financial positions with the Company, helping grow Cree from less than $200 million to approximately $1.5 billion in annual revenue, with approximately 6,900 employees worldwide. Mr. McDevitt has served as the Company’s CFO since May 2012.

Gregg Lowe, CEO, said, “Mike has made significant contributions to the continued success of the Company during his role as CFO, and we appreciate his dedication to helping us solidify and introduce the new business strategy. Now that we have made our pivot, we are gaining traction in the market with the new strategy and believe that we have collectively positioned the Company to support our growth plans and achieve a successful future.”

Mr. McDevitt added, “I am confident that it is the appropriate time to begin this CFO transition as the team continues executing the new strategic direction going forward. It has been a privilege working with Cree’s many talented employees and our Board for the last 16 years, first driving the adoption of LEDs, then LED Lighting and more recently our Power and RF products. The Company is on healthy financial footing to enable its future growth. I appreciate the opportunity that Gregg and Chuck gave me to serve as their CFO. I look forward to working with Gregg and the team to find our next CFO and to ensure a smooth transition.”

The Company today also reaffirmed its previously announced business outlook for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018 ending June 24, 2018. As announced on April 24, 2018, for the fourth quarter Cree targets:

  • Revenue in a range of $390 million to $410 million.
  • GAAP net loss of $34 million to $38 million, or a $0.34 to $0.38 loss per diluted share.2
  • Non-GAAP net income in a range of $5 million to $9 million, or $0.05 to $0.09 per diluted share.1,2

1 Targeted non-GAAP income excludes $43 million, net of tax, of expenses related to stock-based compensation expense, the amortization or impairment of acquisition-related intangibles, the inventory basis step-up from the previously reported Infineon RF Power acquisition, transition and integration costs associated with the Infineon RF Power acquisition and charges associated with the restructuring of our Lighting Products business.

2 The GAAP and non-GAAP targets do not include any estimated change in the fair value of Cree’s Lextar investment, any potential reserve for ZTE specific inventory or impact from a potential Chinese LED tariffs.

Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ: ENTG), a distributor of specialty chemicals and advanced materials solutions, announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the SAES Pure Gas business, from SAES Getters S.p.A. (“SAES Group”), an advanced functional materials company headquartered in Milan, Italy. The SAES Pure Gas business, a provider of high-capacity gas purification systems used in semiconductor manufacturing and adjacent markets is based in San Luis Obispo, California and will report into the Microcontamination Control division of Entegris. Under the agreement, Entegris will purchase the shares and assets which comprise the SAES Pure Gas business for approximately $355 million, subject to customary purchase price adjustments.

Materials purity plays an increasingly critical role in the performance and reliability of advanced semiconductors as the sensitivity to contamination approaches the parts per quadrillion level. Advanced memory devices require significantly higher gas consumption per processed wafer to support shrinking geometries and multi-layer device architectures. As a result of this heightened sensitivity to molecular contamination and increased gas consumption, semiconductor manufacturers are depending on bulk gas suppliers to deliver process gases that meet new purity requirements.

“With this acquisition, our customers will benefit from a complete portfolio of gas purifications solutions for both bulk and specialty gases,” said Bertrand Loy, president and Chief Executive Officer of Entegris. “We are excited about the value this transaction will create, as it demonstrates our strategy of augmenting our organic growth with high-value acquisitions that leverage our global business platform and broaden our technology portfolio.”

“As we executed our evolutionary strategy for SAES Group and considered potential acquirers for the SAES Pure Gas business, we viewed Entegris as the ideal partner given its leadership in the semiconductor industry, the complementary nature of its filtration and purification offerings, and its financial and operational strengths,” said Massimo della Porta, president of SAES Getters S.p.A.

According to a recent press release issued by SAES Group, the SAES Pure Gas business recorded revenues of €81 million, or $91.5 million, and an adjusted EBITDA of €29.3 million, or $33.1 million, for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2017 and revenues of €25.5 million, or $31 million, and an adjusted EBITDA of €7.8 million, or $9.6 million, for the first quarter of 2018. Entegris intends to fund the acquisition from its available cash and expects that the transaction will be immediately accretive.

The closing of the transaction is subject to the completion of a pre-closing restructuring of certain of SAES Group’s US legal entities and other customary closing conditions. The transaction is expected to close in the next two to four weeks.

With the rapid rise of AI providing overwhelming possibilities for industry growth, SEMICON West has been designed to help the microelectronics industry get a firm handle on how best to enable and take advantage of AI’s potential. From the lab to the fab, and from design through system, the benefits from conversations at the event will be felt across transportation, medical, manufacturing, IoT and Big Data.

With the world’s interest racing toward how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can accelerate so many things, six visionary keynoters will reveal what lies ahead for semiconductors and society. Forecasting tomorrow’s trends and their impacts, the keynoters plan to illustrate the semiconductor’s path to enabling a global state of “Beyond Smart.” Complementing the keynotes, nearly 120 experts from multiple disciplines will analyze pivotal aspects of trends that are driving the emerging markets for microelectronics. This year’s preeminent event, SEMICON West, will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, July 10-12.

“SEMICON West is the timeless home where the world’s next innovations are previewed and accelerated,” said David Anderson, President of SEMI Americas. “With the dawn of the AI era ramping up globally, we’ve assembled the richest lineup of talent and resources in SEMI history.”

BEYOND SMART

Through both artificial and organic cognition, the ways that intelligence is being cultivated will be profiled and mapped by world-renowned keynoters:

  • Dr. John E. Kelly, III, Senior Vice President, IBM Cognitive Solutions and IBM Research
  • Gary Dickerson, Chief Executive Officer, Applied Materials
  • Amir Husain, Chief Executive Officer, SparkCognition, and author of The Sentient Machine: the Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence
  • Dr. Melissa Schilling, Professor, New York University Stern School of Business and author of Quirky: The Remarkable Genius of Breakthrough Innovators Who Changed the World
  • Mark Papermaster, Chief Technology Officer, Advanced Micro Devices
  • Dr. Wolfgang Juchmann, Vice President, AutonomouStuff

Dr. Kelly of IBM has shared in interviews that he was an “early-on” believer in Moore’s Law, where he built much of his career. Now, he sees the industry embarking on the early part of an “AI’s Law.” He is focused on IBM’s investments in several new and future areas of the fastest-growing and most strategic parts of the information technology market. He also oversees the specialization of IBM Watson into various industries and domains.

Gary Dickerson of Applied Materials is as well-versed as anyone about the history, and future, of the chip business. In addition to Applied, he also has led semiconductor equipment companies Varian Equipment and KLA-Tencor in their top executive positions for 25 years. His insights to be presented at SEMICON West will include first-hand knowledge of how the markets are changing and where will be the opportunities for the toolmaking and chipmaking businesses.

Amir Husain of SparkCognition argues — from his background as an inventor and computer scientist — that with AI, the chip industry is on the cusp of writing its next, and greatest, creations. Also author of The Sentient Machine, he’ll examine for the audience what complex computer science and AI concepts will mean for a wide variety of chip technologies, including the resulting cultural benefits and challenges. Husain is an advocate for embracing AI in order to advance the state of the art in many critical fields, including security, resource management, finance and energy.

Dr. Melissa Schilling of NYU’s Stern School of Business will speak about “creative genius” as partial reflection of her research focus on innovation and strategy in high-tech industries such as smartphones, gaming, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, electric vehicles and renewable energies. She’s well-studied in platform dynamics, networks, creativity and breakthrough innovation. As author of several innovation strategy textbooks and the recently released book Quirky, she suggests that regardless of whether an innovator is a one-hit wonder or a serial disruptor, a common thread among those introverts and extroverts alike is their cultivation of talents for the benefit of society.

Mark Papermaster of AMD is a veteran of silicon engineering at Apple, Cisco and IBM. He’s responsible for corporate technical direction, product development including system-on-chip (SOC) methodology, microprocessor design, I/O and memory, and advanced research. He also oversees Information Technology to deliver AMD’s compute infrastructure and services. From his leadership roles managing the development of products — from microprocessors to mobile devices and high-performance servers — Papermaster will offer his insights and forecasts around the inflection points for semiconductor applications and AI.

Dr. Wolfgang Juchmann of AutonomouStuff is expert in future automotive options and with the technologies that enable perception sensors, LiDAR and autonomous vehicles. He will include discussion of how and where advanced autonomous driving tasks will rely on new capabilities for radar, vision and ultra-sonic sensors, real-time 3D data fusion middleware, fully by-wire controllable autonomous development vehicles and modular software algorithms.