South Africa
Keystone Electronic Solutions received its BBBEE level 4 verification certificate in November last year.
Overseas
Business
Exfo reported encouraging financial results for the first 2010 fiscal quarter ended 30 November 2009. Sales reached $45,6 million in the quarter, down 1,7% from $46,4 million in the first quarter of 2009 but up 24,8% from $36,5 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. GAAP net earnings were $0,3 million, or $0,01 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net earnings of $5,3 million, or $0,08 per diluted share, in the same period last year and a GAAP net loss of $1,2 million, or $0,02 per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
For its third 2009 quarter, austriamicrosystems reported revenues of 39,5 million Euros, a sequential quarter-on-quarter increase of 40% and a decrease from 54,0 million Euros in the same quarter of 2008. EBIT for the third quarter improved sequentially to -0,2 million Euros (10,0 million Euros in the third quarter of 2008). The third quarter net result was -0,6 million Euros (9,4 million Euros in the same period of 2008). Basic and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter were
-0,05 Euros, compared to 0,86 Euros in the same period the previous year.
Atmel announced financial results for its third quarter of 2009. Revenues were $317,7 million, a 12% increase compared to $284,5 million for the second quarter of 2009, and a 21% decrease compared to $400,0 million for the third quarter of 2008. Net loss, on a GAAP basis, for the third quarter of 2009 totalled $17,5 million or $0,04 per diluted share. This compares to a net loss of $12,4 million or $0,03 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2009 and a net loss of $4,7 million or $0,01 per diluted share for the year-prior quarter.
Announcing results of operations for its first quarter of fiscal 2010, which ended 3 December 2009, Micron reported net income attributable to Micron shareholders of $204 million, or $0,23 per diluted share, on net sales of $1,74 billion. These results compare to a loss of $100 million, or $0,12 per diluted share, on net sales of $1,3 billion for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 and a loss of $718 million, or $0,93 per diluted share, on net sales of $1,4 billion for the first quarter of fiscal 2009.
Despite paying $1,25 billion in settlement charges to AMD, Intel reported fourth-quarter revenue of $10,6 billion. The company reported operating income of $2,5 billion, net income of $2,3 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $0,40. For 2009 Intel posted revenue of $35,1 billion. The company reported full-year operating income of $5,7 billion, net income of $4,4 billion and EPS of $0,77. The company generated more than $11 billion in cash from operations and paid cash dividends of $3,1 billion.
Linear Technology reported financial results for the quarter ended 27 December 2009. Revenue of $256,4 million for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 increased $20,2 million or 9% compared to the previous quarter’s revenue of $236,1 million and increased $7,2 million or 3% over $249,2 million reported in the second quarter of fiscal year 2009. Net income of $75,5 million increased $14,8 million or 24% over the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 and decreased $10,7 million or 12% from the second quarter of fiscal year 2009. Diluted earnings per share of $0,33 increased $0,06 per share over the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 and decreased $0,05 per share from the second quarter of fiscal year 2009.
Foundry chip maker TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) announced its net sales for December 2009: on an unconsolidated basis, net sales were approximately NT$30,47 billion, an increase of 3,8% over November 2009 and an increase of 131,5% over December 2008. Full-year sales for 2009 totalled NT$285,74 billion, a decrease of 11,2% compared to 2008. On a consolidated basis, net sales for December 2009 were approximately NT$ 31,55 billion, an increase of 4,1% over November 2009 and an increase of 118,7% over December 2008. Full-year sales for 2009 totalled NT$295,74 billion, a decrease of 11,2% compared to 2008.
National Instruments reported quarterly revenue for Q3 2009 of $165 million, which represents an 8% sequential increase. Net income for Q3 was $10 million, with fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0,13. In Q3 2009, NI virtual instrumentation and graphical system design products, which constitute the majority of the company’s product portfolio, experienced a 23% year-over-year revenue decline. Instrument control product sales, which represent approximately 7% of NI revenue, were down 28% year-over-year, and up sequentially by more than 20%, after four quarters of sequential decline. Product revenue was $152 million, down 24% from Q3 2008, and software maintenance revenue was $13 million, down 9% year-over-year.
Companies
Yokogawa Europe has teamed up with Hitec Power Protection of the Netherlands to develop a range of high-current power measurement solutions combining Yokogawa’s family of precision power analysers with Hitec’s Zero-flux range of DC current-transformer based sensors.
Microchip has acquired ZeroG Wireless, an innovator in low-power embedded Wi-Fi solutions, for an undisclosed amount. The two companies have previously collaborated on product development in the form of WiFi I/O modules and development boards for Microchip microcontrollers. ZeroG is a privately held fabless semiconductor developer of Wi-Fi-certified transceivers and FCC-certified modules, which further strengthen Microchip’s wireless offerings by enabling embedded designers to easily connect to this ubiquitous networking protocol with any 8-, 16- or 32-bit PIC microcontroller.
Origin Energy of Australia has partnered with Micron Technology on a 50:50 joint venture focusing on the development of photovoltaic technology. Specific details of the agreement, such as where the joint venture would be situated or what resources the companies would put into it, have not been revealed.
IDT announced it has acquired Mobius Microsystems, a developer of precision all-silicon oscillator technology . The transaction is an all-cash agreement for the outstanding Mobius shares. The agreement has already received appropriate board approvals.
GlobalFoundries has officially integrated operations with Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and started functioning as one company under the GlobalFoundries brand. The combined company employs approximately 10 000 people around the world and immediately takes its position as one of the top semiconductor foundries in the world, with combined 2009 revenues in excess of $2 billion. GlobalFoundries launches with more than 150 customers across the semiconductor ecosystem, including AMD, Qualcomm, STMicroelectronics and IBM.
Industry
Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose to $22,6 billion in November, a 3,7% increase from October when sales were $21,8 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) has reported. Sales were 8,5% higher than November 2008 when sales were $20,9 billion. Sales for the first 11 months of 2009 were $202,1 billion, a decline of 13,2% from the like period of 2008 when sales were $232,7 billion. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average of global semiconductor sales.
Findings from a new Semicast report show recovery for the automotive semiconductor market in 2010 and steady growth for much of the decade ahead, with sales forecast to rise to over $35 billion in 2017. The automotive semiconductor market is estimated to have fallen by 17% in 2009 to $15,8 billion, the largest ever one year revenue decline. Historically, semiconductor sales into the automotive sector have increased with remarkable consistency, with only a minor fall in 2001, a year in which the total semiconductor market declined by close to 35%. Automotive semiconductor sales peaked in 2007 at $20,0 billion, but fell in both 2008 and 2009 to a level now 20% below the peak. Semicast forecasts growth in the automotive semiconductor market of 16% in 2010, with sales rising to $18,4 billion.
The EDA Consortium (EDAC) announced that electronic design automation (EDA) industry revenue for the third quarter of 2009 was $1167,9 million, a 3,8% sequential increase from Q2. On a Q3/Q3 basis, EDA industry revenue declined 7,2%, compared to $1258,6 million in Q3 2008. The four-quarter moving average declined 13,1%. Companies that were tracked employed 25 942 professionals in Q3 2009, down 7,9% from the 28 176 employed in Q3 2008, and down 1,4% from the 26 298 employed in Q2 2009.
According to figures from Gartner, worldwide PC shipments surpassed 90 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009, a 22,1% increase from the fourth quarter of 2008. It was the strongest quarter over quarter growth rate the worldwide PC market has experienced in the last seven years. It should be noted that these numbers are compared to a very weak quarter a year ago due to the economic downturn at that time.
Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Apple lead the way for product ranges free of the worst hazardous substances with HP following their lead, according to rankings of consumer product manufacturers by the environmental organisation Greenpeace. Meanwhile Samsung, Dell, Lenovo and LG Electronics have picked up penalty points for failing to follow through on promised phase-outs of toxins in their products. Nintendo and Microsoft were at the bottom of the list of 18 companies evaluated.
In 2009, connectivity chips showed the greatest growth within the mobile phone semiconductor market, according to new data from ABIRresearch. The total revenue for handset Bluetooth, GPS and WLAN in 2009 is forecasted to grow 16% compared to 2008, exceeding $1,9 billion, and with a CAGR of 11% between 2009 and 2014. Major semiconductor components such as baseband processors, which account for over 50% of the revenue in this segment, declined 9,6% compared to 2008; declines in mobile phone shipments as well as ASP have both contributed to the drop in revenue this year due to the uncertain economic conditions. Application processors managed a moderate gain, while radio frequency products declined in line with the overall market.
After dramatically cutting bloated inventories in 2009, global semiconductor suppliers are expected to maintain lean stockpiles in the first quarter of 2010 in order to maintain profitability amid uncertain economic conditions, according to iSuppli. Days of inventory (DOI) among semiconductor suppliers are expected to decline to 68,3 at the end of the first quarter, down from 68,5 for the fourth quarter of 2009. With DOI already 2,9% below the historical average in the fourth quarter, first-quarter inventories are expected to be 6,9% less than the norm. While inventory in the first quarter will remain at about equilibrium level with demand, stockpiles will be at very low levels — even bordering on shortages for a few specific devices.
Technology
Cree announced that it has achieved industry-best reported R&D results of 186 lumens per watt for a white power LED. Cree’s tests confirmed that the LED produced 197 lumens of light output at a correlated colour temperature of 4577 K. The tests were conducted under standard LED test conditions at a drive current of 350 mA, at room temperature.
A combined team of scientists from Yale University and the Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology in South Korea have successfully created a transistor consisting of a single molecule. Using a benzene molecule and gold contacts, the team was able to manipulate the energy state of the molecule by varying an applied voltage and thus control the current passing through it, the same principle as a silicon transistor’s operation. Although an exciting new area of research, practical applications could yet be decades away, according to the researchers.
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version