Financials
• ST Microelectronics has released its semi-annual report for 2022. It reports that its year-over-year semiconductor industry revenues in the first half of 2022 increased by 18% for its total available market to reach a value of $304 billion. The company’s ADG revenues increased by 27,9% due to the automotive and power sectors, and MDG revenues increased by 37,3% driven by microcontrollers and RF communications subgroup.
• ST also announced the final status of its common share repurchase programme, stating that during the period 22 to 26 August, a total of 183 012 shares at an average weighted share price of €36 0075 were bought back for a total value of €6 589 796 million. The company now holds 4 125 311 treasury shares amounting to 0,5% of the company’s issued share capital.
• Silicon Labs’ board of directors has authorised an extra $200 million share repurchase of the company’s common stock. This brings the stock repurchase program total to a value of $450 million.
• Mycronic AB has presented new financial targets for the period until 2027. The revised profitability and growth targets are based on the company having successfully reached the previous targets set. The ambitious targets include the company reaching net sales of SEK 10 billion, and at the same time reducing its CO2 emissions by 50%.
• While most of the financial news is positive, there is still some uncertainty given the chaos caused firstly by the pandemic and now by the supply chain woes. A rapidly decelerating worldwide economy and rising inflation has caused semiconductor manufacturers to re-evaluate their expansion plans mid-year and many manufacturers have announced substantial reductions in their capex budgets for this year.
• IC Insights has adjusted its 2022 worldwide semiconductor capital-spending forecast. The initial forecast of 24% growth and $190 billion in spending has been revised to a 21% increase this year amounting to a capital spend of $185,5 billion. Although the outlook has been lowered, this increase still represents a new record high level of spending. It has also reduced its worldwide IC market growth forecast for 2022 from 11% to 7%.
This downgrade is almost entirely due to the collapse of the memory market in the second half of 2022. According to the report, the memory market collapse has lifted TSMC into top spot in the Q3 2022 rankings. This move has dropped Samsung and Intel into second and third place respectively.
Companies
• The Fischer family has created the technology group Conextivity to extend its expertise and innovation capabilities across the entire connectivity value chain. The Conextivity group was founded to meet the connectivity challenge posed by the emergence of new cross-functional and scalable ecosystems, from locally interconnected devices and sensors to cloud-managed IoT platforms. The group’s rapidly growing R&D; department is strengthening its teams with new expertise, especially in signal integrity engineering, embedded electronics, the cloud and the IoT.
• Major South African companies, including Fidelity ADT and Discovery, have banded together to help rescue the ailing Sigfox IoT network. This comes a year after the plug was pulled on Sigfox operator SqwidNet because of weak customer demand. Many customers rely on the network for ongoing operations. Customer buy-in eventually came through to rescue the network with shareholders in the newly created Sigfox South Africa including Macrocomm, Discovery Insure, Fidelity ADT and Buffet Investments.
• Experts from Indium Corporation will be present at the SMTA International conference from 31 October to 3 November to share their industry knowledge and expertise during four presentations. The metallurgy-based presentations will revolve around solder alloys and solder paste developed by Indium.
• Motorola Solutions has announced it has acquired Barrett Communications, a design company for high frequency and very high frequency (VHF) mission-critical radio communications, complementary to Motorola Solutions’ existing radio portfolio. This technology is designed to enable critical communications in any location without the need for infrastructure, making it ideal for supporting security and peacekeeping operations, as well as humanitarian response efforts during natural disasters.
• Africa Data Centres, a pan-African technology group, announced that it has broken ground on the expansion of its Samrand facility in Johannesburg, from 10 to 40 MW of IT load. The breaking of ground for Africa Data Centres’ Johannesburg facilities is an integral part of the expansion, as South Africa is one of the most important data centre markets in Africa, and a gateway for smaller neighbouring markets.
• Samsung has reported that the outlook for Q3 and Q4 2022 is looking gloomy and that full recovery in 2023 is also not likely. Rival chip makers SK Hynix and Micron have also recently cautioned about slowing demand. Besides a global slump in the market, the fracas between China and the US is also influencing the market as Samsung relies heavily on supplying chips to the massive Chinese market. Samsung will no doubt have to sharpen its pencil on the proposed R5,7 trillion spending plan over the next five years if the market does not recover soon.
• A report by Bishop and Associates has revealed that the top 100 electronic connector manufacturers account for 86% of the global market. In terms of customer evaluations, leading the list was Samtec followed closely by WAGO.
• JSE-listed company Altron has appointed Werner Kapp as the new group CEO, effective from 1 October 2022. Kapp takes over the reins from former CEO Mteto Nyati, who stepped down on 30 June. Kapp joins Altron from Dimension Data where he has held various roles over the past 22 years. Stewart van Graan, who has been interim CEO since 1 July, said, “After a rigorous search and recruitment process by the board, we are very pleased to appoint a well-recognised leader with extensive expertise and sector experience.”
Technologies
• In a move that will have widespread implications for the engineering and tech industries, the SA government has released a timeline for the termination of both 2G and 3G network service. This information is contained in a draft policy of the licensing of next-generation radio frequency spectrum, which looks to free up spectrum needed for next generation 5G spectrum. It is proposed that 2G be switched off by June 2024 and 3G by March 2025. The policy also proposes that all 2G devices be prohibited from being licensed by the communications regulator Icasa after 30 June 2023.
• A report released by IoT analyst firm Berg Insight states that the global satellite IoT subscriber base will reach 21,2 million by 2026. Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, this IoT subscriber base grew to surpass 3,9 million in 2021. The number of subscribers is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 40,3%. Only around 10% of the Earth’s surface is covered by terrestrial connectivity surfaces, which leaves a massive opportunity for satellite communications.
• Audi Centre Centurion, together with ANH Technologies, has engaged in a sustainable partnership to transform power production and usage. 53 kW of photovoltaic power has been installed on the roof to power the Audi e-tron chargers and offset energy demand on site. In total, 112 solar panels were installed, which substantially reduces the site’s reliance on the grid, providing support during peak loads and helping with consistent e-tron charging.
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