South Africa
STMicroelectronics and EBV Elektronik signed a distribution agreement for South Africa, under the terms of which, EBV is authorised to distribute ST’s MCU/SPEAr and RFID product groups in SA.
Overseas
Business
Mentor Graphics announced results for the fiscal fourth quarter and full year ending 31 January 2011. For the full year, the company reported revenues of $914,8 million, up 14% from fiscal year 2010, and GAAP earnings per share of $0,25 compared to a GAAP loss per share of $0,23 the prior year. For the fiscal fourth quarter, the company reported revenues of $307,3 million, up 30% from the fourth quarter of the prior year, and GAAP earnings per share of $0,43, up 10% from the prior fourth quarter.
Ramtron reported total revenue of $16,1 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with $14,4 million for the same quarter last year. Net income for the fourth quarter of 2010 was $471 000, or $0,02 per share, compared with net income of $755 000, or $0,03 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2009. For full-year 2010, the company enjoyed total revenue of $70,2 million, compared with $47,5 million for full-year 2009. Full-year 2010 net income was $1,6 million, or $0,06 per share, compared with net loss of $5,8 million, or $0,22 per share, for 2009.
Analog Devices announced financial results for the first quarter of fiscal 2011, which ended 29 January. Revenue was $729 million, a decrease of 5% from the immediately prior quarter and an increase of 21% from the same period one year ago. Diluted earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations were $0,70, compared to $0,73 in the immediately prior quarter, and $0,39 in the same period one year ago. The board of directors declared a cash dividend of $0,22 per outstanding share of common stock.
Companies
Samtec secured an agreement to license Amphenol RF’s HD-BNC, a new line of high-density BNC products targeted specifically at improving connector performance in critical broadcast applications. The interface is based on the familiar quarter-turn BNC coupling design, but with patented advancements permitting a four-fold reduction in footprint, while maintaining the true 75 Ohm performance and robust mechanical properties users expect from a BNC interface.
Mentor Graphics is mulling an unsolicited proposal from billionaire investor Carl Icahn and certain of his affiliated entities to buy the company for $17 per share in cash, or a total of roughly $1,9 billion. Mentor’s stock price rose more than 11% in the hours immediately following announcement of the bid. This latest development comes after Icahn sent a letter to Mentor’s board of directors last year, stating that the company was undervalued and prompting the company to adopt a ‘poison pill’ intended to block a potential hostile takeover. This poison pill offers Mentor shareholders a 50% discount on additional shares in the event that one shareholder acquires more than 15% of the company without the board’s approval. Nearly 15% of Mentor’s shares are currently held by companies controlled by Icahn.
NXP Semiconductors and ARM have expanded their relationship with a long-term subscription licensing agreement around the ARM Cortex-M series processors for microcontrollers. Under the agreement, NXP will also be working with ARM in developing and expanding its future microcontroller roadmap in areas including performance and energy efficiency. NXP has shipped over one billion ARM processor-based solutions to date, and has a portfolio of more than 250 microcontrollers based on ARM processors.
International Rectifier has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held CHiL Semiconductor Corporation for $75 million in cash, subject to working capital adjustments. CHiL uses patented digital techniques in combination with mixed-signal technology to deliver multiphase power solutions that save energy. The company’s open architecture approach to digital control, where customers can tailor power systems for cost and performance goals, enables board space and bill-of-materials reduction. The transaction is expected to close in the first calendar quarter of 2011. The acquisition, which initially adds approximately $3 million of additional operating expenses per quarter, is expected to be accretive to IR’s earnings per share in the company’s 2012 fiscal year.
The Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) – the parent of Globalfoundries – has become a wholly owned business of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company. Mubadala stated that the announcement will have no impact on the management, day-to-day operations or business plans of Globalfoundries, which has in recent years emerged as one of the top three semiconductor manufacturers in the world.
Industry
Samsung Electronics managed to grow its already commanding share of the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) market in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to new IHS iSuppli research. With preliminary results in, DRAM revenue for the South Korean electronics giant in the fourth quarter of 2010 amounted to $3,6 billion, equivalent to 41,7% share of an $8,7 billion market. And though revenue in Samsung’s case dropped during that quarter – as it did for all DRAM companies, without exception – Samsung’s share actually rose 1 percentage point compared to the third quarter, when total market revenue hit $10,7 billion.
Technology
Maxim has entered the fast-growing digital power market with its patented InTune brand digital power technology, which is based on ‘state-space’ or ‘model-predictive’ control rather than proportional-integral-derivative (PID) control used by competing solutions. InTune technology performs an automatic compensation routine that is based on measured parameters, which enables the construction of an internal mathematical model of the power supply including the external components.
© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved
printer friendly version