Tag Archive
IC inventories head up, but don’t worry, says iSuppli
Chip suppliers are reporting rising inventory, but market research firm iSuppli Corp. says there is no cause for concern with demand expected to increase during the coming months. »
Power management IC market to grow nearly 40% in 2010
The power management semiconductor market will reach $31.4 billion in 2010, up 39.9 percent from $22.4 billion in 2009, according to a new report from iSuppli Corp. This year's expansion will reverse the losses of 2009, which declined 15.8 percent, and is expected to yield the highest growth rate during the next four years. »
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. »
Amkor, TI claim first fine-pitch copper pillar flip-chip packages
Amkor and TI offer the industry's first fine-pitch copper pillar flip-chip packages. The new package shrinks bump pitch up to 300 percent compared to current solder bump flip-chip technology, reducing chip size and cost. »
EU research project targets energy efficiency
A publicly-funded European research project is targeted at developing new products and technologies aimed at energy-efficiency improvements, while advancing Europe's competitiveness. Participants include STMicroelectronics, Numonyx, NXP and ON Semiconductor. »
iSuppli raises Q1 2010 semiconductor revenue
Global semiconductor revenue in the first quarter of 2010 rose by 2 percent compared to the fourth quarter, exceeding previous expectations and indicating strong growth in 2010, according to iSuppli Corp. Renesas Electronics also made its debut in the top ten ranking. »
Electronics distributors struggle in 2009
Due to an industry downturn marked by lower demand, falling prices and shrinking profit margins, the total North American revenue for the top 50 distributors fell by $4.4 billion or 16 percent to $22.8 billion in 2009, according to Electronics Advocate's survey of the electronic components distribution industry. »
Infineon takes top spot for automotive ICs, Freescale slips to third
Infineon Technologies outsold Freescale Semiconductor as the leading supplier of semiconductors to the automotive industry in 2009, according to a report from Semicast Research. »
ESC: element14 presents lifetime achievement awards
element14 will present engineering veterans Bob Pease, Martin Giles and Nick Gray with lifetime achievement awards at an element14 LIVE event in San Jose on April 28, 2010. Engineers visiting the Embedded Systems Conference (ESC) are invited to attend the element14 LIVE event. »
eSilicon to buy Silicon Design Solutions
eSilicon is acquiring Silicon Design Solutions (SDS), a privately held supplier of niche semiconductor memory intellectual property (IP) cores. »
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.
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.

NXP offers a low-power IC aimed at MPPT applications using PV cells or fuel cells.
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.