FEATURES
- Synaptics capacitive touchscreens: Just the right touch for appliances
June 24, 2010 | 7:59 pm
Touch user interfaces have made significant advances in the consumer electronics market particularly for mobile phones and notebook computers, opening the door for adoption in other applications including white goods, computer peripherals, medical equipment, and instrumentation. Synaptics made its debut in the home appliance market earlier this year with the launch of the Samsung Hauzen ZERO air conditioner. - SID 2010 roundup: Day 3
May 27, 2010 | 7:27 pm
The standout products on day three of the SID 2010 conference is Universal Display's new PHOLED display architecture with a unique four-color, sub-pixel design, which promises to drive commercial development of all-phosphorescent active-matrix OLEDs and Sony's tiny rollable OLED display that can wrap around a pencil. - Top 50 Distribution Leaders
May 13, 2010 | 1:55 pm
Smaller distributors were the only ones to post sales gains in 2009. Interestingly, two of the five distributors that posted growth last year -- Interstate Connecting Components and Sherburn Electronics -- derive 100 percent of their sales from interconnect products. Both of them also target the military/aerospace industry. Here are the top 10 sales leaders by ICs, passives/electromechanical devices, interconnects and computer products as well as sales growth.
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Linecard Expansions
- Digi-Key, PEWA expand distribution agreement
July 23, 2010 | 6:06 pmDigi-Key’s expanded distribution agreement with Panasonic Electric Works Corporation of America (PEWA) allows the distributor to sell PEWA’s products in the Asia-Pacific territories, in addition to the existing franchises for the Americas, Japan, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan.
- Arrow, Exar sign pan-European distribution agreement
July 23, 2010 | 5:59 pmExar as signed a pan-European distribution agreement with Arrow Electronics to distribute its entire product portfolio.
- Symmetry signs AvaLAN Wireless Systems
July 21, 2010 | 4:30 pmSymmetry Electronics has signed an agreement with AvaLAN Wireless Systems to distribute its entire product lineup, targeting its long range RF modules.
- Digi-Key, Silicon Labs offer 24-hr lead times for programmable XOs
July 20, 2010 | 5:47 pmSilicon Laboratories Digi-Key are partnering to deliver high-performance programmable oscillators (XOs) with 24-hour lead times.
- TTI adds Cooper Bussmann products
July 15, 2010 | 2:12 pmTTI has entered into a global distribution agreement with Cooper Bussmann to distribute the Coiltronics, PowerStor and Bussmann product brands.
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Manufacturing Trends
TI expands analog capacity with acquisition
TI will purchase two wafer fabs and manufacturing equipment in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Japan, which will increase the company's production capacity of analog semiconductors. The assets currently are operated by Spansion Japan Limited (SJL) and are being acquired under a court-approved plan of reorganization, said TI. »
Samsung to invest $3.6M in Austin fab
Samsung Austin Semiconductor LLC has announced plans to expand the capacity of its 12-inch semiconductor fabrication plant in Austin with an investment of $3.6 billion to support production of advanced logic devices. The company will also hire an additional 500 employees. »
R&D spending remains stable in EMS industry
There was no significant change in R&D) expenses from 2008 to 2009 in the EMS industry, according to a benchmarking study from IPC-- Association Connecting Electronics Industries. The median 2009 R&D expenses as a percentage of net sales was 1.5 percent, while the median expenses for capital equipment as a percentage of net sales... »
Kyocera starts solar module production in San Diego
Kyocera Solar has started manufacturing solar modules in San Diego, Calif., to meet growing demand in the U.S. market. The U.S. module production line is expected to help Kyocera meet its global production volume target of 1,000 megawatts (1 GW) of solar cells per year by March 2013. »
ON Semi to expand production capacity at wafer fab
ON Semi, a supplier of high-performance, energy-efficient silicon solutions for green electronics, plans to add $11 million in production equipment to its eight-inch Pocatello, Idaho, wafer manufacturing facility »
Flextronics to build power facility in China
Flextronics plans to develop a power manufacturing and service facility in Ganzhou, Jiangxi, aimed at supporting telcommunications, computing and consumer OEMs. »
AUO invests in two JVs for TFT-LCD modules
AUO has announced two joint ventures for TFT-LCD module manufacturing in China with Haier Group and TCL King Electrical Appliances. The joint venture agreements are expected to expand AUO's presence in all regions of China. »
TI expands analog IC production capacity
TI is again expanding its analog IC manufacturing capacity with the recent purchase of more than 100 tools from Qimonda. »
Quincy, Ardmore, Lenoir top best small cities for high-tech manufacturing
Quincy, Wash., Ardmore, Okla., and Lenoir, N.C., earned the top U.S. small market city rankings for high-tech manufacturing in the western, central and eastern regions, respectively, according to a study from The Boyd Company Inc. The national site selection study compared the cost of operating a high-tech manufacturing facility in 45 small market cities... »
Flextronics beefs up clean-tech biz
Aimed at strengthening its solar module manufacturing business, Flextronics has dedicated one-million-square-feet to create a Clean Tech Super Site at its existing facility in Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) Malaysia. It also complements its service offerings to OEMs of inverters, wind power, smart grid, smart metering, and energy-efficient lightning solutions. »
EA Blog
- Next-gen smartphones need multisensor devices
July 13, 2010 | 12:31 pmThere is no doubt that designers of next-generation smartphones will add gyroscopes to their bills of material for enhanced gaming functionality and indoor location-based services. But, most likely, we will start to see, in addition to multi-axis gyroscopes, more multisensor packages that combine accelerometers and a gyroscope. The benefits: speedier design, simplified supply chain and lower costs.
- Global Wind Day: Five wind facts
June 14, 2010 | 5:40 pmThe American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) has highlighted “Five Wind Facts,” a guide to the benefits of wind energy as one effort to market Global Wind Day, June 15. AWEA also plans to announce the winner of its Twitter background photo contest via Facebook and Twitter on Global Wind Day.
- Mobile designs fuel the demand for smaller, cheaper and less power hungry accelerometers
May 27, 2010 | 7:39 pmSeveral top suppliers of three-axis accelerometers — including Analog Devices, Bosch Sensortec, Freescale, and STMicro — have beefed up their product portfolios over the past year with some significant enhancements aimed at lower power consumption, higher resolution, and smaller packaging.
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New Products
- NXP low-power IC targets solar PV apps
August 27, 2010 | 6:08 pm
NXP offers a low-power IC aimed at MPPT applications using PV cells or fuel cells. - C&K mini slide switches withstand high temps
August 27, 2010 | 5:59 pm
C&K Components offers a series of low-cost, miniature slide switches. The OS Series of RoHS-compliant switches feature a new high-temperature option for lead-free soldering. - Archive for New Products »