South Africa
ABB South Africa, part of the global power and automation group, and Powertech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Altron Group, have announced the restructuring of their shareholding in ABB Powertech Transformers, currently jointly owned in equal portions by the two aforementioned operations. To facilitate the inclusion of an empowerment partner, ABB has decided to sell its 50% stake in ABB Powertech Transformers to Powertech which, in turn, has agreed to sell 25,1% on to black economic empowerment investors. The purchase consideration to be paid by Powertech totals R320 million.
Vodacom has secured a deal to purchase, with immediate effect, a 35% stake in XLink Communications, said to be the largest South African provider of GPRS-based electronic funds transfer. XLink provides a managed service link between credit card devices and the respective banks. According to Anton Leal, managing director of XLink, the deal will not only inject extra funds, growth and strength into the company to grow market share, and fast track XLink's footprint into Africa, but will enable them to introduce new Vodacom data-based offerings for the retail sector, including the fuel market, hospitality and medical industries.
Overseas
Business
Kontron has reported strong earnings growth again for the third quarter of the current financial year. Operating earnings (EBIT) were Euro 16,8 million, compared with Euro 8,8 million in the same period of the previous year. Third-quarter net income grew to Euro 12,8 million, lifting 2007 nine-month net earnings to Euro 25,6 million compared with Euro 14,6 million in the prior year period. This represents year-on-year growth of 55% when discounting the effect of the Euro 2,9 million sale of the Mobile Computer division in the US. With third-quarter revenue of Euro 115 million compared with Euro 106,5 million in the prior year period, year-on-year growth in revenue was 19% when adjusted for currency effects and the loss of revenue from the disposal of the Mobile Computer business, and 8% in nominal terms.
In an order worth around Euro 100 million, Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution (PTD) has been awarded its third HVDC order in Europe within half a year. Siemens is delivering the two converter stations for the new high-voltage direct current transmission link (HVDC) between Morvedre near Valencia and Santa Ponsa near Palma de Mallorca, connecting the Balearic island of Majorca with the Spanish mainland. From May 2011, the 250 kilometre long 250 kV HVDC submarine cable with a power capacity of 400 MW will provide the resort island with an environmentally friendly and low-loss power supply from the Spanish mainland.
Epcos has applied to the New York Stock Exchange to delist its American Depositary Shares (ADS). In addition, the company will apply to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for deregistration and termination of the reporting obligations under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Epcos expects that the delisting will take effect on 28 November, and that as of 29 November, the ADS will no longer be traded on the New York Stock Exchange. This decision is reportedly due to continued low trading volumes in the US.
Qualcomm's results for the fiscal year ended 30 September, 2007, show revenues of $8,87 billion, up 18% year-over-year, with net income of $3,30 billion, up 34% year-over-year. Diluted earnings per share were up 35% on last year at $1,95. Despite these strong results, the company's shares dropped 7% as a result of a lower than expected revenue forecast for 2008. Qualcomm forecast 2008 revenue of $9,5 billion to $9,9 billion, below average analyst expectations of $9,97 billion.
ON Semiconductor announced that total revenues in the third quarter of 2007 were $402,9 million, an increase of approximately 6% from the second quarter of 2007. This included approximately $381,1 million in product revenues and approximately $21,8 million in manufacturing services revenues. Net income was $63,8 million, or $0,20 per share on a fully diluted basis. This compares with net income of $63,3 million in the second quarter of 2007, or $0,21 per share on a fully diluted basis.
Companies
RF Micro Devices (RFMD) and Sirenza Microdevices announced that stockholders of both companies have approved the necessary proposals to allow RFMD's acquisition of Sirenza to move forward. Under the terms of the merger agreement, holders of Sirenza common stock will receive, in exchange for each share of Sirenza common stock they own, a combination of cash in the amount of $5,56 and 1,7848 shares of RFMD common stock (with cash substituted for any fractional shares).
Expanding the reach of the next generation of machine connections and control, Jasper Wireless, a licensed global machine-to-machine (M2M) mobile operator, and Telit Wireless Solutions, a leading M2M communications device manufacturer, have announced a partnership agreement. The agreement covers joint marketing efforts targeted to application integrators, service partners and OEM customers seeking simple, profitable methods to expand their businesses globally. In addition, Jasper Wireless has already certified 10 of Telit's cellular communications modules for use on the Jasper Wireless network.
The Japanese high-tech company Toyoda Gosei and Osram have signed an agreement for the mutual use of patents for certain LED and laser technologies. Cooperation relates to indium gallium nitride (InGaN) technologies which form the basis for semiconductor lasers and LEDs in white, blue and green. From Osram's side, this mainly involves basic technologies for the industrial production of LEDs and semiconductor lasers, and patents for white LEDs. Toyoda, which developed the world's first blue LED in 1991, possesses protected know-how relating to blue LEDs.
ON Semiconductor has signed a definitive agreement to acquire voltage regulation and thermal monitoring products for computing applications from Analog Devices. Pursuant to the agreement, ON Semiconductor will acquire certain assets and intellectual property related to the product line and will enter into a one-year manufacturing supply arrangement for a total consideration value of approximately $185 million in cash. This amount also includes consideration for the one-year manufacturing supply arrangement. These products represented approximately $80 million in revenue for ADI through the 12 months ended 3 November, 2007.
Moving away from the production of advanced semiconductors, which involves heavy investment, Sony is ending its joint research involvement with Toshiba and IBM in the development of manufacturing technology for the production of microchips with circuitry of 32 nanometres or less. Sony will however continue to cooperate on the design of these cutting-edge chips.
Industry
In 2006 the worldwide power management market reached $18,7 billion, or 8% of the total semiconductor market, according to Databeans. While overall revenue share is still dominated by the transistor products and the regulators, there are several product classes that are gaining momentum and have real potential for significant growth over the next five years, including DC-DC converters, hot swap controllers, battery specific devices, and backlight drivers. By far, the market for DC-DC converters garners the most interest, with 13% estimated share of overall power management revenue. Databeans estimates that worldwide revenue for DC-DC converters will reach $5,7 billion by 2012, up from $2,5 billion today.
For the second consecutive month, worldwide sales of semiconductors rose sharply in September, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. Global microchip sales in September were $22,6 billion, an increase of 5,9% from September 2006 when sales were $21,3 billion, and up 5,0% on August 2007 sales of $21,5 billion. Third-quarter sales of $67,8 billion increased 5,9% from the like period of 2006 when sales were $64,0 billion, compared to sales of $59,9 billion in the second quarter of 2007. For the first nine months of 2007 sales were $188,8 billion, 3,5% ahead of the $182,5 billion for the first nine months of 2006.
Mass production of laptops for the One Laptop Per Child Programme has begun at Quanta Computer's Chinese factory. Schoolchildren in developing countries should begin receiving the sub-$200 computers this month. Nicholas Negroponte, the programme's founder, said in September that he expected Quanta to build 250 000 of the computers this year, increasing production to 1 million per month next year. However, there has reportedly been reluctance from potential buyers, and it is not clear at the moment how many orders have been received.
The DA Consortium has announced that the electronic design automation (EDA) industry revenue for Q2 of 2007 grew 11,4% to $1408,8 million, versus $1264,8 million in Q2 2006. The four-quarter average growth rate, which compares the most recent four quarters to the same four quarters in the prior year, was 14,6%. Companies that were tracked employed 26 164 professionals in Q2 2007, up 7,4% from the 24 362 employed in Q2 2006.
IC Insights is reporting a big shakeup in the top 10 semiconductor supplier rankings for 2007’s third quarter. In one of the biggest changes, Toshiba moved past Texas Instruments and STMicroelectronics to become the third largest semiconductor supplier in the world, while AMD moved into the top 10 ranking for the first time in its history
According to figures from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation, global chip sales recorded their highest month-on-month increase so far this year in September. Sales were $22,6 billion, up 5% from the $21,5 billion recorded in August, and 5,9% higher than September 2006 figures of $21,3 billion. Sales in the third quarter increased by 5,9% to $67,8 billion, compared to $64 billion last year. Sales for the first nine months of 2007 were $188,8 billion, 3,5% higher than last year, and slightly ahead of forecasts.
Technology
Cree has announced that its XLamp LEDs will provide the effects lighting for the new Beijing National Aquatics Centre. The Aquatics Centre, commonly known as the Water Cube, will be the home for nearly all of the 2008 Summer Olympics aquatic events. The Water Cube integrates the geometry of water bubbles into a rectangular, plastic structure. Cree LEDs will illuminate the bubble designs from inside the structure's translucent walls, allowing the entire building to glow with extraordinary colour-changing LED light.
A US company called Eye-Fi has released a memory card that allows ordinary digital cameras to connect to computers and the Internet wirelessly. The secure-digital (SD) card, which has a built-in Wi-Fi module, can either upload stored images to a computer or to a photo-sharing site such as Shutterfly or Flickr. The initial 2 GB product offering is retailing for $99,99.
Yet another type of electronic paper display has been developed, this time by Qualcomm. What makes this display different is that it can deliver high-quality video images, using MEMS technology to turn pixels on and off at high rates. Initially only available in monochrome and featured in a new Audiovox Bluetooth headset, full colour versions are expected to follow. One of the technology's main benefits is that they are bi-stable, meaning that once they have been switched to a state, they will hold that state without requiring a continuous electrical current.
A new type of memory technology, known as programmable-metallisation-cell (PMC) memory, or nano-ionic memory, is promising to deliver data densities far in excess of what is possible with existing technologies, and at a fraction of the energy cost. It is expected that a terabyte of data could be squeezed into a standard thumb drive or digital camera memory card, with energy consumption reduced by 99%. What is more, according to a research group at the University of Arizona, the memory could also prove easy to make, possibly enabling the first products to hit the market in as little as 18 months.
Tartan Racing's 'Boss' of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, turned in the top performance in the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge and won the $2 million cash prize as the competition's first-place winner. Stanford Racing's 'Junior' of Stanford, California, won the $1 million second place prize, while Victor Tango's 'Odin' of Blacksburg, Virginia, received $500 000 for finishing third. Vehicles that competed in the Urban Challenge were required to operate entirely autonomously, without human intervention, as they obeyed California traffic laws and performed manoeuvres such as merging into moving traffic, navigating traffic circles and avoiding obstacles.
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