South Africa
Schützinger has appointed Actum Electronics as its exclusive representative in South Africa. The former’s product range includes standard and special products for measuring apparatus and fittings, covering practically every form of application in the field of electrical laboratory and testing equipment.
Overseas
Business
Fairchild Semiconductor announced results for the second quarter ended 1 July 2012. The company reported second quarter sales of $361,5 million, up 3% from the prior quarter but 17% percent lower than the second quarter of 2011. Second quarter revenue includes approximately a $4 million insurance recovery related to the Thailand flooding. Net income was $11,9 million or $0,09 per diluted share, compared to $1,6 million or $0,01 per diluted share in the prior quarter and $44,9 million or $0,34 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2011.
Ramtron reported total revenue of $14,2 million for the second quarter of 2012, compared to $16,8 million for the second quarter of 2011. Net income for the second quarter of 2012 was $69 000, or $0,00 per share, compared with a net loss of $683 000, or $0,02 per share, for the second quarter of 2011.
Cree announced revenue of $306,8 million for its fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, ended 24 June, with GAAP net income of $10,0 million, or $0,09 per diluted share. For fiscal year 2012, the company reported revenue of $1,16 billion, which represents an 18% increase compared to revenue of $988 million for fiscal 2011. GAAP net income for the annum was $44 million, or $0,39 per diluted share, a decrease of 70% compared to $147 million, or $1,33 per diluted share for fiscal 2011.
Net sales for TE Connectivity’s third fiscal quarter were $3,50 billion, compared to the previous year’s figure of $3,58 billion. GAAP earnings per share (EPS) were $0,60 for the quarter. Also in the third quarter, the company completed the divestiture of its Touch Solutions and TE Professional Services businesses. Total proceeds were $409 million, of which $394 million were received in the third quarter.
Net revenue for Molex’s full fiscal year ended 30 June 2012 was $3,5 billion, a 2,7% decrease from the prior fiscal year. Net income for the year was $281,4 million or $1,59 per share, compared with net income of $298,8 million or $1,70 per share in the prior fiscal year.
Cypress Semiconductor achieved second-quarter revenues of $201,3 million and net income of $5 million (diluted EPS of $0,03). This compares with first-quarter 2012 revenues of $185,1 million and net loss of $19, 5 million (diluted EPS of -$0,13) and second-quarter 2011 revenues of $255 million and net income of $40,8 million (diluted EPS of $0,21).
Microsemi reported unaudited results for its third quarter ended 1 July 2012. Net sales were a record $259,2 million, up 20% over the prior year and up 4% sequentially. GAAP net income was $8,1 million and diluted earnings per share were $0,09. The company expects an even better fourth quarter, with between $262,0 million to $268,0 million in sales and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share of between $0,57 and $0,60.
For the second quarter ended 30 June 2012, Power Integrations reported net revenues of $76,4 million, up 6% from the prior quarter and down 5% compared with the second quarter of 2011. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $7,2 million or $0,25 per share, driven by a one-time net charge of $15,7 million associated with a tax settlement. The second-quarter net loss compares to net income of $0,25 per diluted share in the prior quarter and $0,35 per diluted share in the second quarter of 2011.
Companies
Ramtron and China-based Module Technology, a supplier of UHF RFID products, have entered into a technology partnership which will seek enhancements to Module Technology’s standard RFID reader hardware to support the faster and higher memory array of the Ramtron MaxArias wireless memory. The partnership should be of interest to smart metering, industrial manufacturing, high-value asset tracking and other data-intensive logging applications that can benefit from low-power, fast-write wireless memory solutions.
Staying with Ramtron, the manufacturer has also engaged in a manufacturing and licence partnering agreement with ROHM of Japan. Under the long-term agreement, ROHM will manufacture F-RAM-based semiconductor products for Ramtron on its established F-RAM manufacturing line.
RF Micro Devices received ‘Product of the Year’ awards from Cable Spotlight for three of its broadband cable television (CATV) products, namely the RFAM2790 integrated EDGE QAM amplifier, the RFCM2680 GaAs/GaN power doubler and the RFPP2870 push-pull amplifier.
Earlier this year, Juki reached the milestone of shipping in excess of 25 000 machines worldwide since 1987. CEO Bob Black commented: “All of us at Juki want to thank our customers for reaching this milestone. The rapid growth Juki has experienced is clear evidence of our users’ recognition of our quality and reliability. We will continue to deliver the best machines in the industry, and look forward to further milestones ahead.”
MaxLinear has filed counterclaims against Silicon Laboratories in the Southern District of California. The patent counterclaims assert that a broad range of Silicon Laboratories’ products spanning TV tuners and receivers, satellite and FM and multiband receivers, and wireless MCUs infringe one or more of three MaxLinear patents. The counterclaims seek damages and an injunction to stop the sale of the infringing Silicon Laboratories products.
Industry
Wireless applications will prove to be the saving grace of the global semiconductor market in 2012 in light of the category’s strong double-digit revenue growth, compared to much lower expansions or even losses in most other major market segments. Semiconductor revenue in the wireless communications category for 2012 is projected to reach $72,6 billion, up 10,4% from $65,8 billion in 2011, according to an IHS iSuppli report.
Although thermoelectric phenomena have been used for heating and cooling applications quite extensively, electricity generation has only seen very limited market share in niche applications, and only in recent years has interest increased regarding new applications of energy generation through thermoelectric harvesting. According to IDTechEx, this growth in interest will continue and will be characterised by an overall market for thermoelectric energy harvesters that will reach $750 million by 2022.
While the name Hans Camenzind will mean nothing to most readers, the Swiss-born man, who passed away recently at the age of 78, has left his legacy in the form of the 555 timer IC, which he invented in 1972. Having emigrated to the US in 1960 and worked for companies such as Tyco Semiconductor, Signetics and Transitron, Camenzind also invented the first class D amplifier and introduced the concept of the phase-locked loop to IC design.
Increasing demand for actionable, real-time data in a range of applications is driving strong demand for wearable technology. 14 million wearable devices were shipped in 2011; by 2016, wearable technology will represent a minimum revenue opportunity of $6 billion, according to a new report from IMS Research.
The International Photovoltaic Equipment Association (IPVEA) has decided to expand its remit to help its members explore opportunities in energy storage. Already a sizeable market, much larger opportunities are influencing the development of new energy storage technologies to meet complex and diverse storage demands, including renewable and decentralised energy production and electric vehicle/transportation infrastructure. According to Pike Research, in 2015 the total market value for smart energy and smart energy storage combined will be $420 billion, a 90% percent increase in a four-year period.
Technology
Tests performed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) show that a new method for splitting photon beams could overcome a fundamental physical hurdle in transmitting electronic data. These results could lead to commercial systems that can help safeguard the transfer of sensitive information. Nearly transparent, this lithium niobate crystal (barely visible just above the white square section at bottom right of the right-hand photo below) is capable of splitting a beam of photons into two beams of two different colours, an innovation that may help send quantum information through fibre-optic cables, one of which is attached to the crystal at its top left corner and extends straight upward to the top of the photo frame.
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