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By Emmy Yi, SEMI Taiwan

Since 2010, 474 companies have poured $51 billion into developing products enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), with the bulk of these investments targeting autonomous driving and in-vehicle experiences, according to the McKinsey reports. With AI and automotive electronics promising massive growth potential, it’s no surprise that IHS Market predicts the Advance Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) market will reach $67.43 billion by 2025 and that, by 2040, 33 million AI-enabled autonomous vehicles will be on the road worldwide.

Lured by this immense business opportunity, many key semiconductor industry players are jumping into the automotive market. Their ICs, however, will face far more stringent reliability requirements than most consumer products, making testing crucial to accelerating the realization of level 5 autonomous driving – a fully autonomous system that rivals the behind-the-wheel performance of a human driver even in extreme road conditions like snow and ice.

With testing such a vital aspect of autonomous driving, SEMI Taiwan recently connected industry experts from IC design and testing-related fields to facilitate cross-discipline collaboration and help inspire innovative solutions to current testing challenges. The early February AI IC and Automotive IC Test Seminar is part of a series of SEMI Taiwan events focused on hot topics including like AI, IoT, smart automotive, smart data and smart MedTech. Following are a few key takeaways from the seminar.

A Paradigm Shift is Needed in Automotive Electronics Testing Strategies

Designers of automotive electronics need to transform their test strategies to match the technical rigors of autonomous driving. The traditional process of build, test, and then fix-for-compliance must be changed in the era of self-driving vehicles. Adding AI to already electronically complex automotive systems will dramatically increase the number of ICs and sensors in vehicles.

The process of testing component points of failure falls well short of the requirement to test under countless driving scenarios during a which a device might fail. Testing, therefore, must be holistic. Starting in the development phase of their own electronics systems, automotive electronics designers must work closely with component and other technology suppliers to ensure that designs are well-integrated and rigorously tested for interoperability and points of failure under any conditions a human driver would face.

Wafer-level Test is A Trend

The cost and time for IC testing have steadily increased to meet the relentless scaling requirements of highly integrated advanced technologies, placing immense pressure on current wafer-level packaging and testing methodologies to maintain cost efficiencies, chip yields and time-to-market speed. The challenges will intensify with the multiple-component parallel testing required for autonomous vehicles. Demands on automotive electronics manufacturers to maintain DDPM quality levels key to smart functionalities, powertrain operation, safety and reliability will also complicate current IC testing methodologies.

Beyond Technology

To fulfill the promise of autonomous automobiles and other AI applications, industry, academia, and government in Taiwan must work together to solve underlying technical challenges, create profitable business models and develop a strong programming and system integration workforce. Taiwan has a solid foundation to build on. With its strong semiconductor manufacturing industry and advanced IC testing capabilities, Taiwan is well-positioned as a growth engine for the advanced automotive electronics needed for autonomous vehicles.

 

 

ClassOne Equipment, Atlanta-based provider of refurbished name-brand semiconductor processing equipment, has announced the sale of multiple systems to a major global components manufacturer as part of a significant upgrade to their UK fab. Semitool Batch Spray Solvent Tools and Tepla barrel etch processing equipment – all refurbished by ClassOne – will be installed at the customer facility in England.

“They selected ClassOne for two important reasons,” said ClassOne CEO, Byron Exarcos. “First, our refurbished tools are providing “better-than-new” performance because the equipment is completely refurbished from the frame up, replacing all older-technology elements with current state-of-the-art parts – such as the advanced Windows 7 control systems. And secondly, ClassOne is able to provide this customer with a very strong local service and support infrastructure in the UK, which is essential to their operation.”

“This is a milestone fab upgrade, and we’re proud to be playing an important role in it,” said Exarcos. “Because we’ve built a strong relationship with this particular customer for nearly a decade. Now we’re able to support their UK facility with a local team of senior product, process and field service engineers – and with the fast response times they’re looking for.”

Exarcos noted that ClassOne’s UK support group has over 100 years of combined experience specifically on Semitool equipment and single-wafer systems. He cited this as an example of ClassOne’s ongoing initiative to provide “an unbeatable level of quality products and support” across Europe for single-wafer electroplating, batch spray tools, and other process equipment.

In addition to the refurbished systems sold by ClassOne Equipment, ClassOne also sells its own brand of newprocessing systems through a sister company, ClassOne Technology. These include new Solstice electrochemical plating systems and Trident spray solvent tools (SSTs) as well as new spin rinse dryers (SRDs). The stated goal of both ClassOne companies is to provide advanced processing solutions for a broad range of budget-conscious users, many of whom are in emerging technologies.

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE) announces that it signed a strategic long-term agreement to produce and supply its Wolfspeed silicon carbide (SiC) wafers to Infineon Technologies AG (FSE:IFX) (OTCQX:IFNNY). The agreement governs Cree’s supply of advanced 150 mm SiC wafers to Infineon, which will broaden Infineon’s product offering to address today’s high-growth markets, such as photovoltaic inverters and electro mobility.

“Infineon is a longstanding, valuable commercial partner with an excellent reputation,” said Gregg Lowe, CEO of Cree. “This agreement validates the quality of Cree’s SiC wafer technology and our capacity expansion, as well as the accelerated adoption of SiC-based solutions that are critical to enabling faster, smaller, lighter and more powerful electronic systems.”

“We have known Cree for a long time as a strong and reliable partner with an excellent industry reputation,” said Reinhard Ploss, CEO of Infineon. “Based on the secured long-term supply of SiC wafers, we strengthen our strategic growth areas in automotive and industrial power control. As a consequence, we will create additional value for our customers.”

Wolfspeed, A Cree Company, is a manufacturer of silicon carbide wafers and epitaxial wafers. The supply agreement, valued at well over $100 million, enables SiC applications in broad markets such as photovoltaic, electro mobility, robotics, charging infrastructure, industrial power supplies, traction and variable speed drives.

STMicroelectronics and Sigfox have announced a collaboration agreement to support and accelerate the growing demand for connected devices for a broad range of applications, including supply-chain management, building and equipment maintenance, water and gas metering, security, transportation, agriculture, mining and home automation. ST will include the Sigfox networking software in its development tools that enable developers to bring their LPWAN-based products and solutions to market faster.

To speed customer adoption of Sigfox as a standard low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) for securely connecting physical devices to the Cloud and the IoT, ST will now offer the Sigfox networking software as part of ST’s MCU software package, including STM32 tool compatibility. The collaboration agreement ensures tool compatibility for the industry-leading STM32 family of general-purpose microcontrollers, as well as with ST’s unique portfolio of technologies and products suitable for Sigfox technology. These include the S2-LP, a high performance and ultra-low-power sub-GHz radio transceiver, the highly secure, Sigfox-compatible STSAFE-A1SX secure element, a wide range of motion, environmental, and audio sensors, and power and power-management devices.

 

ReportsnReports.com adds Smart Lighting Market is forecast to reach $20.98 billion by 2023 from $7.93 billion in 2018 at a CAGR of 21.50% during (2018-2023) driven by the modernization and development of infrastructure to transform cities into smart cities, need for energy-efficient lighting systems, increasing adoption and decreasing cost of LEDs, increased demand for intelligent solutions for street lighting systems, and growing awareness about energy savings among consumers and governments worldwide.

Browse 68 Market Data Tables and 50 Figures spread through 169 Pages and in-depth TOC on “Smart Lighting Market by Offering (Hardware (Lights & Luminaires, Lighting Controls), Software, and Services), Communication Technology (Wired and Wireless), Installation Type, Application Type, and Geography – Global Forecast to 2023” http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/226128-global-smart-lighting-market-2013-2018-by-component-sensors-controllers-chipsets-others-lighting-type-led-fl-cfl-hid-connectivity-wired-wireless-application-commercial-industrial-public-government-residential-geography.html .

The report profiles the top players in the smart lighting market along with providing their respective market ranking. Prominent players in the market include Philips Lighting (Netherlands), Hafele Group (Germany), Acuity Brands (US), OSRAM (Germany), Cree (US), Hubbell Lighting (US), Zumtobel Group (Austria), Honeywell (US), Legrand (France), Eaton (Ireland), Lutron Electronics (US), and General Electric (US).

The smart lighting market in APAC expected to grow at the highest CAGR between 2018 and 2023. The growth of the market in APAC is attributed to the rapid infrastructure building activities being undertaken in APAC, mainly China, India, and Japan, where smart lighting paves the way for the modernization of infrastructure. Further, the increasing investments from the government sector also enhance the infrastructure facility in the country. Moreover, rising government expenditure on public infrastructure and increasing adoption of energy-efficient lighting systems are the major driving factors for the growth of the smart lighting market in APAC.

Inquire for DISCOUNT on “Smart Lighting Market by Offering (Hardware (Lights & Luminaires, Lighting Controls), Software, and Services), Communication Technology (Wired and Wireless), Installation Type, Application Type, and Geography – Global Forecast to 2023″ research report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/contacts/discount.aspx?name=226128 .

The smart lighting market for wireless connectivity will grow at higher CAGR between 2018 and 2023. However, factors such as perception of higher costs of installation and limited awareness about payback periods, and security and privacy issues in smart lighting systems are restraining the growth of the smart lighting market. Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographic regions, and recent developments in the overall smart lighting market

Wired technology is expected to hold a larger share of the Smart Lighting Market by 2023. Currently, the smart lightings based on wired technology are widely adopted for different types of structures as this technology offer reliable connectivity, with no limitation on long-distance data transfer. Wired communication technologies for smart lightings include Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI), Power-Line Communication (PLC), and Power over Ethernet (PoE), and various wired hybrid protocols which include various company-specific proprietary protocols. Wired communication protocols are preferred in the applications where performance and reliability are crucial.

The smart lighting market for services will grow at highest CAGR between 2018 and 2023. From an insight perspective, this research report has focused on various levels of analysis – market ranking of top players; value chain analysis; company profiles that provide the basic views on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth segments of the market; high-growth regions; and market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges.

Order a copy of “Smart Lighting Market by Offering (Hardware (Lights & Luminaires, Lighting Controls), Software, and Services), Communication Technology (Wired and Wireless), Installation Type, Application Type, and Geography – Global Forecast to 2023” research report at http://www.reportsnreports.com/purchase.aspx?name=226128 .

The smart lighting market based on offering covers hardware, software, and services. The smart lighting market based on communication technology has been segmented into wired and wireless technologies. The smart lighting market based on application type covers indoor and outdoor applications. The smart lighting market based on installation type includes new installations and retrofit installations. The geographic analysis has been conducted with regard to North America, Europe, APAC, and RoW.

In the process of determining and verifying the smart lighting market size for several segments obtained through secondary research, extensive primary interviews have been conducted with the key industry people. The break-up of the profile of primary participants has been given below.

  • By Company Type: Tier 1 – 20%, Tier 2 – 45%, and Tier 3 – 35%
  • By Designation: C-Level Executives – 35%, Directors – 25%, Others – 40%
  • By Region: Americas – 45%, Europe – 25%, APAC – 20%, and RoW – 10%

Another research titled Ambient Lighting Market Global Forecast to 2023 says, the ambient lighting market is expected to grow from $46.48 billion in 2016 to $96.09 billion by 2023, at a CAGR of 10.71% between 2017 and 2023. Hardware to hold a major share of the ambient lighting market in 2017. Ambient lighting market in APAC to grow at a high rate between 2017 and 2023. Companies such as Philips Lighting Holding B.V. (Netherlands), Cree Inc. (US), General Electric (US), Acuity Brands Inc. (US), OSRAM Licht AG (Germany) have been profiled in this 148 pages research report available at http://www.reportsnreports.com/purchase.aspx?name=1150242 .

Explore more reports on Semiconductor and Electronics Market at http://www.reportsnreports.com/market-research/semiconductor-and-electronics/ .

Super Micro Computer, Inc. (NASDAQ: SMCI) today announced that it has expanded its Silicon Valley Headquarters to over two million square feet of facilities with the grand opening of its new Building 22.

The Corporate Headquarters includes engineering, manufacturing and customer service making Supermicro the only Tier 1 systems vendor to build its servers in Silicon Valley and worldwide.  Supermicro is ranked as the third largest server systems supplier in the world (Source: IDC).  In addition to the branded solution business used in the ranking, Supermicro also services large OEM and system integrator customers and shipped over 1.2 million units in 2017.

This latest building is the second of five facilities that the company plans to build on the 36-acre property formerly owned by the San Jose Mercury News. Additionally, the company continues to expand its other facilities worldwide.

“Having our design, engineering, manufacturing and service teams all here at our Silicon Valley campus gives Supermicro the agility to quickly respond to the newest technologies in the industry and to our customer’s needs and unique requirements, which is a major advantage that we have over the competition,” said Charles Liang, President and CEO of Supermicro.  “As our business continues to rapidly scale with over 1.2 million server and storage systems shipped globally last year, increasing our production capacity and capabilities is vital to keeping up with our rapid growth.  The opening of Building 22, along with the opening of two new facilities at our technology campus in Taiwan, provides the additional capacity and rack scale integration plug and play capabilities to ensure that we can provide the best possible service to our enterprise, datacenter, channel and cloud customers.”

“We’re thrilled to see an innovative, sustainable, and community-minded leader like Supermicro continuing to invest and grow in San Jose, and we look forward to their continued success now and for years to come!” said San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo.

“The Corporation for Manufacturing Excellence – Manex would like to congratulate Supermicro for its continued growth through design and engineering excellence,” said Gene Russell, President and CEO of Manex.  “Its investments in workforce, physical plant and equipment are crucial to the Silicon Valley Ecosystem and to its global client base.  Manex, as a network member of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership and the CMTC California network is a proud partner of Supermicro.”

Working closely with key partners like Intel, Supermicro leverages its strength in design and engineering to lead the way with first-to-market server and storage technology innovations. The company offers the industry’s broadest portfolio of advanced server and storage solutions including the popular BigTwin™ and SuperBlade® product lines and provides rack scale integration with rack plug and play capabilities.

Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled nearly 408 million units in the fourth quarter of 2017, a 5.6 percent decline over the fourth quarter of 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. This is the first year-on-year decline since Gartner started tracking the global smartphone market in 2004.

“Two main factors led to the fall in the fourth quarter of 2017,” said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. “First, upgrades from feature phones to smartphones have slowed down due to a lack of quality “ultra-low-cost” smartphones and users preferring to buy quality feature phones. Second, replacement smartphone users are choosing quality models and keeping them longer, lengthening the replacement cycle of smartphones. Moreover, while demand for high quality, 4G connectivity and better camera features remained strong, high expectations and few incremental benefits during replacement weakened smartphone sales.”

Samsung Retains No. 1 Spot in Fourth Quarter of 2017

Samsung saw a year-on-year unit decline of 3.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, but this did not prevent it from defending its No. 1 global smartphone vendor position against Apple (see Table 1).

Table 1

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 4Q17 (Thousands of Units)

Vendor

4Q17

Units

4Q17 Market Share (%)

4Q16

Units

4Q16 Market Share (%)

Samsung

74,026.6

18.2

76,782.6

17.8

Apple

73,175.2

17.9

77,038.9

17.8

Huawei

43,887.0

10.8

40,803.7

9.4

Xiaomi

28,187.8

6.9

15,751.3

3.6

OPPO

25,660.1

6.3

26,704.7

6.2

Others

162,908.8

39.9

195,059.1

45.1

Total

407,845.4

100.0

432,140.3

100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2018)

Despite the start of a slowdown in sales of Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S8+, the overall success of those models has helped Samsung improve overall average selling price. Samsung is poised to announce the successors to its Galaxy series of smartphones at Mobile World Congress (MWC) this year. The launches of its next flagship devices are likely to boost Samsung’s smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2018. Although Samsung’s significant sales volumes lean toward midprice and entry-level models, which now face extreme competition and reducing contribution, its profit and average selling price may further improve if these next flagship smartphones are successful.

While Apple’s market share stabilized in the fourth quarter of 2017 compared to the same quarter in 2016, iPhone sales fell 5 percent. “Apple was in a different position this quarter than it was 12 months before,” said Mr. Gupta. “It had three new smartphones — the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X — yet its performance in the quarter was overshadowed by two factors. First, the later availability of the iPhone X led to slow upgrades to iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, as users waited to try the more-expensive model. Second, component shortages and manufacturing capacity constraints preceded a long delivery cycle for the iPhone X, which returned to normal by early December 2017. We expect good demand for the iPhone X to likely bring a delayed sales boost for Apple in the first quarter of 2018,” added Mr. Gupta.

Huawei and Xiaomi — The Big Winners in Fourth Quarter of 2017

Huawei and Xiaomi were the only smartphone vendors to achieve year-on-year unit growth (7.6 and 79 percent, respectively) and grew market share in the quarter. With Huawei’s new smartphone additions in the quarter, including Mate 10 Lite, Honor 6C Pro and Enjoy 7S, the vendor broadened the appeal of its smartphones.

Xiaomi’s competitive smartphone portfolio, consisting of its Mi and Redmi models, helped accelerate its growth in the emerging Asia/Pacific (APAC) market. It also helped Xiaomi win back lost share in China.

“Future growth opportunities for Huawei will reside in winning market share in emerging APAC and the U.S.,” said Mr. Gupta. “Xiaomi’s biggest market outside China is India, where it will continue to see high growth. Increasing sales in Indonesia and other markets in emerging APAC will position Xiaomi as a strong global brand.”

In 2017 as a whole, smartphone sales to end users totaled over 1.5 billion units, an increase of 2.7 percent from 2016 (see Table 2). Huawei, ranked No. 3, raised its share in 2017, continuing to gain on Apple. At the same time, the combined market share of the Chinese vendors in the top five increased by 4.2 percentage points, while the market share of top two, Samsung and Apple, remained unchanged.

Table 2

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Vendor in 2017 (Thousands of Units)

Vendor

2017

Units

2017 Market Share (%)

2016

Units

2016 Market Share (%)

Samsung

321,263.3

20.9

306,446.6

20.5

Apple

214,924.4

14.0

216,064.0

14.4

Huawei

150,534.3

9.8

132,824.9

8.9

OPPO

112,124.0

7.3

85,299.5

5.7

Vivo

99,684.8

6.5

72,408.6

4.8

Others

638,004.7

41.5

682,915.3

45.7

Total

1,536,535.5

100.0

1,495,959.0

100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2018)

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, Google’s Android extended its lead by capturing 86 percent of the total market in 2017 (see Table 3). This is up 1.1 percentage points from a year ago. “The competition in the smartphone market is unabated at this time of the year,” said Mr. Gupta. “Ahead of MWC, several phone manufacturers such as Samsung, HMD (Nokia), Asus and LG have announced that they will launch new Android smartphones.”

Table 3

Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2017 (Thousands of Units)

Operating System

2017

Units

2017 Market Share (%)

2016

Units

2016 Market Share (%)

Android

1,320,118.1

85.9

1,268,562.7

84.8

iOS

214,924.4

14.0

216,064.0

14.4

Other OS

1,493.0

0.1

11,332.2

0.8

Total

1,536,535.5

100.0

1,495,959.0

100.0

Source: Gartner (February 2018)

Further information is available in the Gartner report titled “Market Share: Final PCs, Ultramobiles and Mobile Phones, All Countries, 4Q17.”

A global gathering of more than 650 industry and academic experts, including 140 speakers and 56 exhibitors, shared the latest advancements in both flexible hybrid electronics (FHE) and in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) and sensors at 2018FLEX and MEMS & Sensors Technical Congress (MSTC). Hosted by SEMI strategic association partners, FlexTech and MEMS & Sensors Industry Group (MSIG), the events presented technologies, integration strategies and packaging/process methodologies that are advancing human-machine interaction in health monitoring and the treatment of illness, automotive systems, consumer electronics, Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial applications.

Speakers offered fascinating views of emerging FHE applications, including:

  • Cortera Neurotechnologies Co-founder and CTO Rikky Muller described how her company is replacing existing large wired sensors with small, minimally invasive thin biomaterials that interact more naturally with the neural cortex. Cortera Neurotechnologies’ devices will be used to treat neurological disease and psychiatric illnesses such as major depressive disorder. “I think we need biological invisibility,” said Muller. “We need materials and form factors that cause no reaction in the human body at all. We need stability and longevity, since we need these devices to outlive us.”
  • Auburn University MacFarlane Endowed Professor & Director Pradeep Lall called his department’s AU-CAVE3 Biometric Sensor Band with LifeSaver App a “guardian angel” that autonomously monitors patients without human interaction and can even call 9-1-1.
  • NASA Ames Research Center Chief Scientist for Exploration Technology Meyya Meyyappansaid that 3D printed electronics will support a multi-material “FabLab” on the International Space Station for repairing or replacing failed devices. “This will free scientists from having to send living supplies back and forth between the ISS and earth at a cost savings of up to $10,000 per pound,” he said.

Synergies and Integration Potential

SEMI for the first time co-located 2018FLEX with MSTC, which allowed attendees to explore potential synergies between the component-level technologies of MEMS/sensors and the more wide-reaching integration technologies of FHE. Longtime MSIG Members Mary Ann Maher, CEO of SoftMEMS, and Chip Spangler, president of Aspen Microsystems, offered a popular short-course on the integration of MEMS sensors and actuators with FHE electronics (FHE). “MEMS integrated with FHE offers distinct advantages for wearables and implantable devices, for example, which require conformal and flexible substrates and interconnections and small, accurate form-factor sensors,” said Maher.

Spangler gave the example of a prosthetic eye, saying, “Because the device must fit the form factor of an eyeball, flex circuits are used to make the antenna that connects to an external camera — which is outside the field of view — as well as to the optic nerve. FHE both facilitates the manufacture of the prosthetic eye and allows it to fit within the confined space of the eye socket.”

Awards and Recognitions

SEMI announced the recipients of its annual FLEXI Awards on February 13, 2018, lauding innovators in categories of R&D Achievements, Product Innovation and Commercialization, Education Leadership, and Industry Leadership. (See press release, “2018 FLEXI Awards Innovation and Leadership in Flexible Hybrid Electronics, February 13, 2018.)

SEMI announced the appointment of Frank A. Shemansky, Jr., Ph.D., as executive director and chief technology officer (CTO) of MSIG. Shemansky brings more than 25 years’ experience in microelectronics to MSIG, where he will now direct global activities. (See press release, Frank Shemansky to Lead SEMI’s MEMS & Sensors Industry Group, February 13, 2018.)

SEMI also recognized the “Innovators of Tomorrow” with its student poster session competition: Jonathan Ting, UC Berkeley: “Fully Screen-printed NiO Thermister Arrays;” Telha Alcagyazi, North Carolina State University: “Multi-modal Array Sensing with Textiles;” and Levent E. Ayguh, Princeton University: “Sound Identification Using Physically Expansive Sensing System.”

Nordson Corporation (NASDAQ: NDSN) announces that the SEMI Foundation has appointed Joseph Stockunas, Corporate Vice President for Electronics Systems at Nordson Corporation and the immediate past chair of the SEMI North America Advisory Board, to the SEMI Foundation Board of Trustees in accordance with the association’s by-laws.

“We are excited to leverage Joe’s passion for innovation and his desire to help young people make thoughtful education and career choices,” said Leslie Tugman, Executive Director of the SEMI Foundation. “As the Foundation’s vision is expanding to address the larger industry workforce development pipeline and leadership in the area of women’s issues, Joe’s talent, industry insight, and commitment will be a great asset.”

The mission of the SEMI Foundation is to support education and career awareness in the field of high technology. The SEMI Foundation produces SEMI High Tech U (HTU), a three-day interactive program that encourages high school students to pursue academic paths that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) and to expose them to high technology careers such as semiconductor manufacturing.

The Nordson Corporation Foundation sponsored its first HTU program February 12 – 15, 2018 at the Nordson facility in Carlsbad, California. This was one of the first HTU events to be held in Southern California. Forty high school students from five local high schools, including Carlsbad, Sage Creek, San Marcos, Rancho Buena Vista, and Mission Hills, attended the program, where they learned from industry instructors and visited the UC San Diego campus for a look at college life. The Nordson Corporation Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life in its communities by improving educational outcomes that enable individuals to become self-sufficient, active participants in the community.

Stockunas has a long history of engaging and supporting STEM activities and the workforce development pipeline. Stockunas sponsored SEMI High Tech U at Air Products in Pennsylvania where he had previously worked for 30 years. In 2013, he joined Nordson Corporation, and has helped facilitate the company’s sponsorship of SEMI High Tech U in 2018.

“I have been a long-time supporter of the SEMI Foundation’s High Tech U program, which helps students make the connection between familiar electronic products and future career choices in high tech,” said Joe Stockunas. “I look forward to working with the Board to help drive new initiatives to support young people and strengthen the industry workforce.”

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) (“Qualcomm”) today announced that Qualcomm River Holdings B.V., an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm, has reached an agreement with NXP Semiconductors N.V. (NASDAQ: NXPI) to increase to $127.50 per share its previously announced cash tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of NXP.  The amended agreement, which was approved by the Qualcomm and NXP Boards of Directors, also lowers the minimum tender condition from 80% of NXP’s outstanding shares to 70%.

Qualcomm also announced that Qualcomm River Holdings B.V. has entered into binding agreements with nine NXP stockholders who collectively own more than 28% of NXP’s outstanding shares (excluding additional economic interests through derivatives) to tender their shares at $127.50 per share.  These stockholders include funds affiliated with Elliott Advisors (UK) Limited and Soroban Capital Partners LP.

The revised price reflects enhanced current value drivers for NXP, including:

  • NXP’s recent performance, including calendar 2017 results that exceeded Qualcomm’s transaction model on revenue, gross margin and EBIT. NXP’s non-GAAP operating income (excluding Standard Products) increased 20% from calendar 2016 to 2017.
  • Strong market dynamics and positive outlook for key segments. NXP’s Auto business has increased revenues by 11% year over year. Qualcomm has also significantly improved its own capabilities in key industry segments such as Auto ($3 billion revenue pipeline), IoT ($1 billion in FY17 sales) and Networking, further enhancing the value proposition of the combined company to its customers and stockholders.
  • High confidence in annualized cost synergies of at least $500 million resulting from insights gathered during the integration planning process.

Steve Mollenkopf, Chief Executive Officer of Qualcomm Incorporated, said, “Qualcomm’s leading SoC capabilities and technology roadmap, coupled with NXP’s differentiated position in Automotive, Security and IoT, offers a compelling value proposition.  We remain highly confident in our fiscal 2019 Non-GAAP EPS target of $6.75–$7.50, which includes $1.50 per share accretion from the acquisition of NXP.  With only one regulatory approval remaining, we are working hard to complete this transaction expeditiously.  Our integration planning is on track and we expect to realize the full benefits of this transaction for our customers, employees and stockholders.”

Tom Horton, Presiding Director of the Qualcomm Board of Directors, said, “The acquisition of NXP will enable us to accelerate our growth strategy.  The Board unanimously believes this is an attractive acquisition at this price for Qualcomm stockholders based on NXP’s recent strong financial performance, the growth in key strategic areas such as Auto and IoT and our high confidence in management’s ability to execute upon the synergy opportunities.”

Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, Chairman of the Board of Qualcomm, said, “NXP is a highly strategic and attractive acquisition for Qualcomm that enhances the value of our leading 5G technologies.  We also believe the revised agreement provides certainty for both Qualcomm and NXP stockholders.”