Overseas
Business
EXFO reported sales growth for a sixth consecutive quarter, including five straight reporting periods of record sales. Sales increased 50,2% to $72,0 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011 ended 28 February, from $48,0 million in the second quarter of 2010 and 9,7% from $65,7 million in the first quarter of 2011. Organic sales growth, excluding the NetHawk acquisition and divested life sciences and industrial division, improved 40,0% year-over-year and 13,2% sequentially.
u-blox posted consolidated revenue of CHF112,8 million in 2010, a growth of 53,4% compared to the previous year. The company’s net profit increased sharply by 288,3% from CHF3,3 million to CHF12,9 million, representing a 11,5% net profit margin for 2010. Growth took place across Asia Pacific, EMEA and the Americas, as well as in all target market sectors.
Taiwanese foundry TSMC announced its net sales for March 2011. On a consolidated basis, net sales for March 2011 were approximately NT$37,32 billion, an increase of 14,1% over February 2011 and an increase of 16,9% over March 2010. Revenues for January through March 2011 totalled NT$105,38 billion, an increase of 14,3% compared to the same period in 2010.
Sierra Wireless announced that, in the fourth quarter of 2010, it shipped its 50 millionth embedded wireless module. The milestone delivery rounded off an excellent year for the company’s module business, with a number of new product introductions and a series of major customer wins, as well as several technology awards. In 2010, Sierra Wireless became the world’s number one wireless module vendor, with a 33% market share in the first half of the year, according to iSuppli.
Companies
Texas Instruments has signed a definitive agreement under which it will acquire National Semiconductor for $25 per share in an all-cash transaction totalling about $6,5 billion. The acquisition combines two industry leaders in analog semiconductors, each with unique strengths in delivering products to improve performance and efficiency and convert real-world signals in electronic systems. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. Upon close of the transaction, National becomes part of TI’s analog segment, and sales of analog semiconductors will represent almost 50% of TI’s revenue.
Mosaid Technologies has initiated patent infringement litigation against Nvidia, Freescale Semiconductor and Interphase. In its complaint, Mosaid alleges that the three companies have infringed certain patents related primarily to power management techniques and microprocessor architecture. The accused devices include graphics processors, application processors, microcontrollers and system-on-chip devices. This follows a wireless patent lawsuit filed by Mosaid last month against nearly 20 companies, insisting that all companies offering products that implement the Wi-Fi standard require a licence to its wireless patents.
Microsemi has submitted a proposal to acquire AML Communications, a provider of microwave amplifiers and subsystems for defence electronics applications. The offer of $2,50 per share in cash ($28 million in total) sees Microsemi one-up a previous offer by Anaren for $2,15 per share.
Industry
The EDA Consortium announced that the electronic design automation (EDA) industry’s revenue increased 19,4% for Q4 2010 to $1507,7 million, compared to $1262,7 million in Q4 2009. Sequential EDA revenue for Q4 2010 increased 15,4% compared to Q3 2010, while the four-quarters moving average increased by 11,3%. Companies that were tracked employed 26 767 professionals in Q4 2010, an increase of 1,1% compared to the 26 474 people employed in Q3 2010, and up 3% compared to Q4 2009.
The Semiconductor Industry Association announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors were $25,2 billion for the month of February 2011, a slight decline of 1,1% from the prior month when sales were $25,5 billion, but in line with historical seasonal trends for the industry. Sales increased by 13,6% from $22,2 billion in February 2010.
Ironically, supply disruptions related to the Japan earthquake and tsunami will contribute to higher than previously expected global semiconductor revenue in 2011, as shortages bolster pricing for key memory devices, new IHS iSuppli research indicates. The market watcher’s semiconductor forecast for 2011, issued on 30 March, calls for annual semiconductor revenue growth of 7,0%, up from the 5,8% expansion predicted in the previous outlook from early February. Global semiconductor revenue in 2011 now is expected to amount to $325,2 billion, compared the previous forecast of $320,1 billion.
Technology
NXP Semiconductors announced the world’s smallest logic plastic packages measuring just 0,9 x 1,0 x 0,35 mm with 0,3 mm pitch. The ultra-compact packaging design is ideal for leading-edge portable handheld devices such as smartphones, tablets and SD cards where chip and board space comes at a premium. The SOT1115 package decreases package size by 10% for the 6-pin version compared to the previous smallest package, SOT891, of which NXP has produced over one billion units.
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