Africa
Engen Maths and Science Schools (EMSS), the long-running supplementary tuition programme for matric learners, achieved a 95% national pass rate for last year, beating the national average of 78% by a significant margin. The class of 2013 also outdid the rest of the country’s matrics in the number of ‘bachelor passes’ attained – 78% compared to the national average of 38%. The EMSS programme facilitates access to highly skilled teachers, supplementary educational material and extra academic support for about 2000 learners annually. A total of 642 EMSS learners wrote the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate in 2013.
Sivan Electronics Supplies has moved premises to the corner of Newick Road and Louis Botha Avenue in Gresswold, Johannesburg. The company’s phone and fax numbers remain unchanged.
Zetech has secured an exclusive agreement to represent iTAC Software in South Africa. iTAC’s Manufacturing Execution System supports manufacturers in their goal to maximise productivity, optimise costs and achieve zero defects. This new offering further extends the range of products, equipment and support Zetech has been providing the local electronics manufacturing industry since 1986.
Of 1000 entries from 19 countries in this year’s DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, winner in the essay category, Francine Mazala (Zambia), has won a trip to Paris and onwards to a launch site to witness a rocket launch into space. The runner up in the essay category was Eshlin Vedan (South Africa) who wins a trip for two to visit MultiChoice facilities and the South African Space Agency near Johannesburg. In the poster category, first place went to Lloyd Ossei Baffour (Ghana) who will visit Eutelsat in Paris. Angel Gabriella (Uganda) was the runner up in the same category. The four winning schools attended by the overall award winners and runners-up were also rewarded with a DStv installation and free access to the DStv Education Bouquet.
Overseas
Business
Analog Devices announced results for its first quarter of fiscal year 2014, which ended 1 February 2014. Revenue totalled $628,2 million, up 1% over the same quarter of last year but 7% down on the preceding quarter. Net income was $152,6 million or $0,48 per diluted share.
Silicon Labs reported fourth quarter 2013 revenue of $146,2 million, a slight decrease from the $146,9 million reported in the third quarter. Revenue for fiscal 2013 was a record $580,1 million, compared with $563,3 million in 2012. Net income and diluted earnings per share for the full year were $49,8 million and $1,14 respectively, compared to 2012’s figures of $63,5 million and $1,47.
Companies
Xilinx celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Some of the company’s most notable achievements include over 3500 patents and 60 industry firsts, as well as the introduction of the first FPGA and the inception of the fabless model. Today the company employs more than 3400 people worldwide.
Microchip Technology has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Supertex for $33 per share in cash, which represents a total equity value of about $394 million.The acquisition is expected to be accretive to Microchip’s non GAAP earnings per share in the first full quarter after completion of the acquisition, which is expected to close in the second quarter of calendar 2014.
Samsung presented RF Micro Devices with its Quality Grand Award at a ceremony held at Samsung Electronics’ smartphone manufacturing operations in Gumi, South Korea. The award recognises RFMD’s superior execution in product quality and customer satisfaction and was accepted by RFMD’s cellular products group. RFMD was selected as the best quality supplier among Samsung Mobile’s approximately 450 global suppliers.
The DesignCon 2014 judging panel selected Altium Designer 14 as the winner of the DesignVision award in the PCB design category. The judges cited the software’s 3D PCB design environment and support of flex and rigid-flex design.
Industry
According to the Semiconductor Industry Association, worldwide semiconductor sales for 2013 reached $305,6 billion, the industry’s highest ever annual total and an increase of 4,8% from the 2012 total. Global sales for the month of December 2013 reached $26,6 billion, marking the strongest December on record. Total sales for 2013 narrowly exceeded expectations from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation’s industry forecast.
The global market for connected devices that allow users to access the Internet is set to surpass 6 billion units this year, as new products including cell phones, tablets and computers enter the electronics ecosystem, according to a new report from IHS Technology. Among connected devices, those expected to enjoy higher production numbers this year include video game consoles, media tablets, mobile handsets, LCD TVs, set-top boxes and mobile PCs. In contrast, equipment markets that will suffer reduced production this year are digital still cameras, camcorders, desktop PCs, DVD players/recorders and portable media players.
IC Insights predicts that total semiconductor unit shipments (integrated circuits and opto-sensor-discrete) will top one trillion units for the first time in 2016. Semiconductor unit shipments first topped the 100 billion mark in 1987, exceeded 500 billion units for the first time in 2006 and then surpassed 600 billion units in 2007 before the global financial meltdown and recession caused shipments to fall in 2008 and 2009.
Technology
Agilent Technologies has installed a new 5 metre semi-anechoic electromagnetic compatibility chamber facility for electronic test at the company’s Santa Rosa, California site. Equipped with dual antennas and two standards-compliant N9038A MXE EMI receivers, the chamber (pictured) supports simultaneous measurements of vertical and horizontal polarisation up to 18 GHz. For real-time troubleshooting during product development, the display of each MXE can be projected on a wall inside the chamber.
With so much research going into the development of 3D chip stacking technologies to increase the density of future semiconductors, a new company called ThruChip Communications has developed a wireless solution as an alternative to the more established through-silicon vias for die-to-die data communication. This provides a way for signals to go through multiple stacked dice using near-field inductive coupling by placing small coils on each die. The company says chip manufacturers stand to benefit in several ways from this technology, including the ability to mix and match dice made by different vendors, even using different technology nodes, using standard CMOS processing.
Artemis Networks is a US startup company touting its pCell technology as a potential game changer for cellular network operators by consistently delivering full-speed mobile data to every mobile device concurrently, regardless of how many users are sharing the same spectrum at once. Instead of dodging interference, pCell exploits interference, combining transmitted radio signals from multiple pCell base stations to synthesise tiny ‘personal cells’ of wireless energy around each mobile device. So, rather than hundreds of users taking turns sharing the capacity of one large cell, each user gets an unshared pCell, giving the full wireless capacity to each user at once.
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