|
 |
|
| EU probes Qualcomm for antitrust |
7/20/2015 |
|
EU would investigate whether Qualcomm, one of the world’s largest chip makers, had abused its dominant market position in the region by offering financial incentives to potential customers if they bought equipment solely from the American company.
|
|
|
| Semi equipment spending to increase |
7/20/2015 |
|
The equipment market is poised to continue to expand for the next two years. Key drivers for equipment spending are investments by memory and foundry fabs. Front-end wafer processing equipment is forecast to grow 10 percent in 2015 to $32.1 billion, up from $29.3 billion in 2014.
|
|
|
| TSMC foundary growth slows |
7/20/2015 |
|
“We expect customer and market demand will improve in the second half,” Liu said. “Growth is expected to come from industrial and automotive (segments), and new iPhone launches and new Android high-end phones.”
|
|
|
| Prices for MEM parts dropped |
7/20/2015 |
|
Price war triggered by China-based players has led to fierce competition in the market for 2D accelerometers and gyros, the sources indicated. Suppliers engaged in the entry-level and mid-range MEMS sensor market segment have been adversely affected and suffered substantial profit decreases as a result of the price falls
|
|
|
| New iPad to have less performance compared to iPhone 6 |
7/17/2015 |
|
Apple's newest iPod Touch uses an A8 CPU, the same system-on-a-chip used in the iPhone 6. It runs around 1.1 gigahertz, compared with the iPhone's 1.4Ghz, and includes 1 gigabyte of RAM. The display is smaller and has a lower resolution than those of the latest iPhones.
|
|
|
| Microsoft insist that Windows phone is not dead |
7/16/2015 |
|
If no other smartphoone manufacturers stand up to build Windows devices, Microsoft will build them. Ultimately, Microsoft wants to get Windows 10 on as many devices as possible.
|
|
|
| Imec and Panasonic jointly developed stable RRAM |
7/16/2015 |
|
Imec and Panasonic have fabricated a 2Mbit resistive RAM (RRAM) cell based on TaOx technology on a 40nm process. The approach, said to have precise filament positioning and high thermal stability.
|
|
|
| Micron acquisition could lead to memory price competition |
7/16/2015 |
|
"The bigger worry for the market right now is the risk of market oversupply. Micron hasn't been that aggressive in capital expenditure, but there's greater uncertainty as to what happens after a Chinese buyer takes over,"
|
|
|
| DRAM prices dropped 30% |
7/16/2015 |
|
The continued fall in the DRAM price is attributable primarily to shrinking demand caused by sluggish sales of PCs. PC shipments slipped 6.7 percent year-on-year (yoy) to 68,585,000 units in the first quarter (Q1).
|
|
|
| China moved to acquire Micron |
7/14/2015 |
|
Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd. will bid $21 a share, or about 19 percent more than Monday’s closing price in New York, and present the offer as soon as Tuesday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private
|
|
|
| MediaTek to invade Qalcomm LTE Market in China |
7/13/2015 |
|
MediaTek’s LTE market share is likely to double to 40-45% in the second half of this year from 20% in the fourth quarter of last year. Its LTE shipments will fall in a range of 160 million to 165 million units this year, exceeding MediaTek’s own expectations for 150 million unit shipments in 2015.
|
|
|
| Silicon Motion SSD controller supports Micron TLC Nand |
7/13/2015 |
|
Micron's new high capacity 16nm TLC NAND said enables the same capacity as MLC NAND with a 28% savings in the die area, the company said, and is aimed at applications where performance and reliability are important, but cost per GB is critical.
|
|
|
| SK Hynix engaged in UFS2 development |
7/13/2015 |
|
The SK Group's semiconductor affiliate said the solution represents a groundbreaking leap in performance by enabling "high-speed gear 3" interface with dual data lanes.
|
|
|
| Breakthrough in wireless charging |
7/10/2015 |
|
"Our transmitter system is safe for humans and compatible with other electronic devices. We have solved three major issues of short charging distance, the dependence on charging directions, and plane coil structures of both Tx and Rx, which have blocked the commercialisation of WPT."
|
|
|
| IBM made 7nm transistor |
7/10/2015 |
|
IBM's move forward is a significant leap ahead of today's 22-nanometer chips, allowing for the potential production of more advance chips in the future, impacting everything from mobile devices to cloud computing.
|
|
|
| Proposed overtime rule will change work landscape |
7/10/2015 |
|
In California, even if you read the email ... now you're working. One expert suggested companies across the country could take similar steps or elect to shut down email servers altogether after hours.
|
|
|
|
