Southern Africa
Allied Technologies (Altech), has agreed to sell 25% of its Netstar vehicle fleet management firm to black-owned Nariku. A new company named Altech Netstar Fleet Management Services (ANFMS) has been established to purchase the fleet management division from Netstar, and to operate the business.
Denel Optronics has won an Armscor contract to supply the Argos 410-Z military airborne observation system to the airforce.
Siemens Southern Africa has announced that Linacre Investments, a 100% subsidiary of Sekunjalo Investment Holdings, and Business Venture Investments No. 626, a 100% subsidiary of New Africa Millennium Telecommunications, have each acquired an additional 2% shares in Siemens. This means that BEE shareholders Sekunjalo and Africom each now own 15% shares in Siemens Limited whilst Siemens Germany now owns 70% shares. The BEE ownership of Siemens Limited has therefore increased to 30%.
Carl Zeiss of Germany has taken a 70% stake in the optronics division of defence parastatal Denel.
ICASA has allocated frequency spectrum in the 800 MHz band to Neotel, South Africa's first infrastructure-based fixed-line operator. This allocation follows a Gazette notice published on 31 October 2006 where ICASA ruled that non-broadcasting companies can apply for spectrum in the 800 MHz band. Access to this spectrum had been earmarked by Neotel as key to rolling out cost-effective voice and Internet services for individual and SMME customers across South Africa. According to Neotel, the use of CDMA2000 mobile technology in the 800 MHz spectrum has been proven globally to provide larger coverage for both voice and high speed Internet services, at lower costs, providing optimal economies of scale.
Components & System Design has been appointed as an exclusive distributor for Datakey Electronics, a manufacturer of portable, rugged keys and tokens containing non-volatile memory.
VIA Technologies is setting up an office in South Africa for local operations. The office will be headed by business development manager for MEA, Werner du Plessis, who has six years working experience at VIA's head office in Taipei, Taiwan.
PEM Technologies has announced that Electrocomp has been appointed as a Value Added Reseller for its range of Balver Zinn solder products. Electrocomp will stock the Balver Zinn range of SN100C lead-free solder wire at its offices in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. Seen at the signing were: (R to L) Grant Langley (PEM), Glynn Watkins (Electrocomp) and Steve Eglinton (PEM).
CHI Control announced its 2006/7 Sales Person of the Year at its annual conference. Emilia Moreira, the award winner, is seen here in the photograph being congratulated by Rory Reid (left), Gauteng regional sales manager for CHI.
The South African Electrotechnical Export Council has moved premises to Unit 21, Coventry Park, 675 Pretoria Main Road, Halfway House. Tel: +27 (0)11 315 0209; fax 086 661 1327.
Overseas
Business
Intel posted first-quarter revenue of $8,9 bn and net income of $1,6 bn. Sales fell 9% from the previous period and 1% from the like quarter a year ago. Net income was up 7% from the previous period and up 19% from a year ago. Total microprocessor units were lower sequentially, according to Intel.
Companies
Avago Technologies is acquiring Infineon's polymer optical fibre (POF) business, based in Regensburg, Germany. Infineon's POF business is a leader in the fast growing market for automotive multimedia infotainment networks and transceivers for safety systems. This business unit also provides transmitters and receivers for transportation switching and home broadband services.
Entropic Communications, a specialist in network processors for coaxial-cable home networks, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire RF Magic, a developer of microtuners for digital TV.
BASF Future Business and Polyera are jointly collaborating on the development and commercialisation of new organic semiconductors and dielectrics for use in CMOS analog printed circuits. The partners intend to develop these materials as well as a printed prototype CMOS circuit within the next three years.
Industry
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has reported that the three-month average of worldwide sales of semiconductors was $20,09 bn in February, 6,5% lower than the three-month average in January when sales were $21,48 bn. February sales increased by 4,2% from the $19,28 bn recorded in February 2006. Microprocessors were up almost 8% sequentially but ASPs declined 15%. Meanwhile sales of NAND flash memory units grew by over 40% while experiencing a nearly 50% drop in ASPs.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue totalled $262,7 bn in 2006, a 10,2% increase from 2005 revenue of $238,3 bn, according to final results released by market analyst Gartner. Intel remained the No. 1 chip vendor in 2006 by far, while Samsung Electronics maintained the No. 2 ranking, according to the figures.
Objective Analysis has forecast that strong end market growth and stabilising average selling prices (ASPs) will drive semiconductor industry revenue to $316 bn in 2008, an increase of nearly 18% from projected 2007 chip industry sales. It projects chip revenue growth of 6,3% in 2007, based in large part on improved ASPs.
Average selling prices for microcontrollers declined across all categories in 2006 and are expected to continue doing so, according to a new Semico report. Overall, the MCU market showed a slight recovery in 2006, growing 3% to reach $12,4 bn. The dollar growth was driven by growth in parts at 32-bit or greater, the firm said. Overall unit growth of MCUs was 19,5% in 2006. Semico said flash MCUs account for the largest share of MCU revenues, capturing over 58% in 2006.
The digital content creation (DCC) market is expected to grow at a rate of 10% between 2005 and 2012, reaching nearly $5 bn in 2012, according to a new Jon Peddie Research report. The total DCC market grew 16% to reach more than $3 bn in 2006 from $2,6 bn in 2005. It says that the fastest growing segments in the future will be interactive development and video, as the Web offers new distribution networks and new programming approaches to enable small compelling applications to be developed that extend the power of individual websites.
The steady growth of IPTV subscribers and service revenue continues on an upward trend in Europe and Asia and, to some extent, in North America, says a new IPTV global forecast report from MRG. It forecasts 14,3 million subscribers in 2007 and 63,6 million in 2011. Service provider revenue is forecast to grow from $3,6 bn in 2007 to $20,3 bn in 2011. Europe continues to be the biggest market for IPTV, it notes, with France easily leading the growth spurt through IPTV operators there.
IC Insights has lowered its expectations for full-year 2007 worldwide IC market growth from 7% to 2%. It attributed the new forecast to excess inventories in the IC industry, severe pricing pressures in the flash memory and microprocessor product segments, and the recent start of a major DRAM price collapse.
iSuppli expects the number of cellphone subscribers in India to triple during the next few years, making it one of the world's fastest growing markets. It says that approximately 5,5 million Indians are signing up each month, which should drive subscriber numbers to 484 million by 2011.
High energy requirements for portable electronics are making micro fuel cell technology increasingly attractive, according to a new report from Innovative Research and Products. Among the various portable-product categories, micro fuel cells' use in PDAs will show the highest average annual growth rate through 2011, of 89,8%, followed by usage in camcorders, chargers and other consumer electronics, with growth rates of 83,7%, and in mobile phone applications, at 50,7%. Among the various technologies being pursued, iRAP says direct methanol fuel cells will capture the largest share, followed by hydrogen-based fuel cells and those based on proprietary fuels.
Now becoming highly popular, Bluetooth shipments are expected to surge 47% this year. According to IC Insights, Bluetooth module shipments are expected to grow to 1,6 billion in 2010. During the 2006-2010 time period, unit shipments will grow 33% per year and revenue will expand from $1,47 bn to more than $3,2 bn.
The market for wired communication infrastructure equipment is projected to reach nearly $41 bn in 2007, despite relatively anaemic growth of 1,6% from 2006, according to market research firm iSuppli. It adds that the level of equipment spending by telecom companies this year will mark the highest level since 2002. But the 1,6% level of growth for the year would be down sharply from the 10,7% that the industry achieved in 2006 and the 8,3% it saw in 2005.
Tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, floods, landslides, forest fires - a spate of disasters in recent times has spelt havoc around the world, profoundly impacting its victims and livelihoods. Access to information and communication facilities is essential for providing vital early-warning information as well as quick response for humanitarian assistance and rehabilitation in the aftermath of disasters. Aiming to strengthen international cooperation in communication technology for disaster mitigation, an ITU conference in Egypt, in April brought together nearly 400 participants. The meeting provided a platform for best practices in disseminating vital information on disaster management, environmental monitoring, and delivery of ICT applications/services such as e-health for the benefit of disaster victims.
MRG has released a new Mobile TV Market Analysis and Forecast that provides an analysis of over 70 trials and deployments, using both the better-known DVB-H and MediaFLO technologies and other technologies like DVB-S, 3G, DAB IP, T-DMB, S-DMB and WiMAX. Covering over 55 countries and five major regions, it illustrates that mobile TV is driven by people wanting to liven up small and boring spots in their everyday life with a drama, news programme or sports programmes that they care about. The report also shows how the drivers of these markets will be similar to home-based TV watching, plus special event programming like sports and large music concerts.
EPCglobal has announced the ratification of the Electronic Product Code Information Services (EPCIS). The product code allows for the seamless, secure exchange of data at every point in the lifecycle of goods and services.
The VSI Alliance (VSIA), an IP standards body for the electronics industry, has announced the availability of the Quality IP (QIP) Metric version 3.0 standard.
Technology
Intel has unveiled a 128 Mbit phase-change memory that will soon roll into volume production. Codenamed Alverstone, the device is Intel's first phase-change memory product and is being billed as a NOR flash compatible replacement. The part has six times the write performance of today's NOR flash and is much more robust, lasting for at least one million write cycles, according to Intel. Phase-change materials have both crystalline and noncrystalline states that can represent '0' or '1,' and it is possible to toggle between them by applying a small reset current.
Samsung has announced that it will soon release to market a disc player (the Duo HD) that supports the two competing high-definition DVD formats - HD DVD and Blu-ray.
TV chip vendor MaxLinear has released what the company claims is the world's smallest silicon tuner for mobile TV, the MxL7001. The MxL7001, based on MaxLinear's next-generation TV tuner platform, is a 1,9 x 1,9 mm single-die, digital CMOS IC. Using a standard digital CMOS process, the MxL7001 consumes only 65 mW of power.
A $10 cellphone may not be so far away. The Berkeley Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS), is reportedly working with handset makers in Taiwan to build a cellphone with a $10 price tag targeted at the developing world. The phone may be ready in about two years, according to the reports.
Raytheon Vision Systems (RVS) has demonstrated the feasibility of Ziptronix' three-dimension (3D) interconnect technology, proving that Ziptronix' direct bond interconnect (DBI) technology is compatible with multilayer CMOS IC processes, according to the company. The DBI interconnect technology achieves high-density vertical interconnections without any volume exclusions in the CMOS device.
Xilinx has released its latest Spartan-DSP series claiming it provides high DSP performance at the lowest cost points in the FPGA industry, delivering over 20 GMACS for under $30, while consuming up to 50% less dynamic power than other high-performance reconfigurable devices for DSP functions at this performance point. The products target cost-sensitive, high-performance signal-processing applications such as consumer video.
Sony says it will start selling 11" OLED TVs soon, and would aim to keep the TVs priced at within a few times of existing flat TVs. The new 11-inch OLED TV will be made by ST Liquid Crystal Display - a joint venture between Sony and Toyota Industries, according to the company. OLED technology can produce bright, colourful images and does not require a backlight as do LCDs, allowing for a thinner panel.
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version