South Africa
Cirtech has been awarded its ISO 9001: 2008 accreditation after passing the final audit in March this year. The set of standards dictates specific levels that need to be maintained for quality, environmental friendliness, safety, reliability, efficiency and interchangeability. This news follows the recent awarding to Cirtech of a BBBEE level one contributor certificate.
Neil Kayton, former chief financial officer of Power Technologies (Powertech) has been appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of the company effective from 1 July 2012. Kayton succeeds Norbert Claussen, who recently stepped down from the position after 16 years with the group.
Mantech has bolstered its stockholding by purchasing Avnet Kopp’s locally warehoused stock. This deal came about as a result of Avnet’s centralisation of its warehouse in Europe. The stock in question includes passives, integrated circuits, microprocessors, enclosures, transformers, switches and more. Mantech expects the deal to increase its already wide product offering which now stands at close to half a million product lines. The products will be available through its three South African distribution centres, and could benefit existing users of these components in industry where off-the-shelf stock is required.
The long-standing distribution partnership between TTI and TRX has been made official, with the companies having signed an agreement that gives TRX access to TTI’s entire range of products, including passive components, discretes, connectors, relays and switches.
Overseas
Business
XP Power announced the opening of its new manufacturing facility in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The factory, believed to be the world’s most environmentally advanced power supply manufacturing facility, incorporates the use of sustainable power and energy efficiency; the building’s highly insulated construction includes the use of a solar PV array, eco-friendly glass to prevent solar heat gain, low-energy lighting and ultra-efficient air conditioning. In addition, rainwater is captured for use in the building and for irrigation systems. All the environmental features are managed by a fully integrated building management system.
Xilinx announced its intention to invest $50 million in an expansion of its electronics engineering operations at the company’s EMEA headquarters in Dublin and Cork, Ireland. The company will recruit 45 senior silicon and electronics engineering staff for its regional headquarters in Dublin and for its engineering centre in Cork. In addition, a further 15 staff will be hired across a broad range of disciplines supporting the continued growth of Xilinx in Ireland.
Companies
Aeroflex/Metelics announced a strategic alliance conveying a licence for proprietary information with Picosecond Pulse Labs for the manufacture and design of a family of non-linear-transmission-line based comb generators. Under the terms of the agreement, Aeroflex/Metelics will produce the products in its Sunnyvale, California facility and supply parts both to Picosecond for its internal use, and to serve the test and measurement industry.
NXP Semiconductors announced the appointment of Sean Hunkler as executive vice president and co-general manager of operations. The company also announced that René Penning de Vries has stepped down as member of the NXP management team and as CTO. Hans Rijns, senior vice president of research and development, will take over as interim CTO.
Sierra Wireless has entered into an exclusivity agreement for the acquisition of Sagemcom’s machine-to-machine (M2M) business. Sierra Wireless has submitted a binding offer to acquire substantially all of the assets of the business for 44,9 million Euros in cash consideration plus assumed liabilities.
u-blox announced the acquisition of Cognovo, a company specialising in software defined modem chip development technology. The deal gives u-blox access to 4G chip technology and enables it to address new markets for high-speed LTE modems. u-blox acquired 100% of the shares of Cognovo at a price of $16,5 million.
Ramtron’s board of directors has rejected Cypress Semiconductor’s offer to acquire all outstanding stock of Ramtron at a price of $2,68 per share in cash, stating that, in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, the board “unanimously concluded that the tender offer is inadequate, does not reflect the intrinsic value of the company, and is not in the best interest of Ramtron and its stockholders.”
Cadence Design Systems has acquired Sigrity, a signal and power integrity technology provider. Sigrity provides gigabit signal and power network analysis technologies, including a unique power-aware signal integrity analysis capability for system, printed circuit board (PCB) and IC package designs. The acquisition was made at a purchase price of approximately $80 million.
Micron Technology and Elpida Memory have signed a definitive sponsor agreement for Micron to acquire and support Elpida. Under the agreement, approximately $2,5 billion, less certain reorganisation proceeding expenses, will be used to satisfy the reorganisation claims of Elpida’s secured and unsecured creditors. Micron will acquire 100% of the equity of Elpida for roughly $750 million.
Industry
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $24,4 billion for the month of May 2012, a 1,4% increase over the prior month’s figure of $24,1 billion. Combined global sales for the March-April-May period increased over December-January-February by the highest rate (6,4%) since June 2010. Additionally, May marked the third consecutive month that sales have grown over the previous month – the longest streak of sequential monthly growth since September 2010. However, sales from May 2012 were 3,4% lower than the May 2011 total of $25,2 billion, and 2012 year-to-date sales were lower across all regions than at this time last year.
Following a spectacular recovery in 2010, the power semiconductor discrete and module market grew by a more modest 9% in 2011, according to a new report from IMS Research. (NYSE: IHS). Total power semiconductor revenues grew to just under $18 billion in 2011. The market for power modules grew by 32%, much faster than that for discrete power semiconductors, which grew only 3%. Infineon remained the leading supplier of power discretes and modules, while other manufacturers whose share of the market grew included power module specialists Mitsubishi Electric, Fuji Electric and Semikron.
Technology
Audi is using Sierra Wireless AirPrime embedded wireless modules to help develop and test an LTE-connected infotainment system. Still in the development and testing stage, the system has been showcased at several industry events this year. Sierra Wireless AirPrime modules are available with varying combinations of LTE frequency bands and fallback technologies, and were the first LTE modules available, allowing Audi to work on the leading edge of wireless technology as LTE networks roll out.
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