| Editor's Note |
| After an unprecedented reduction in installed capacity during the dark days of 2009, memory chip manufacturers are gearing up to do what they do best: build more manufacturing lines. In NAND flash, Toshiba fired the first shot with the announcement earlier this week that it would move ahead with construction on a previously delayed fab in Japan. But analysts say Toshiba's Fab 5 is but one of a number of projects that are likely to be put back in motion in 2010, now that NAND pricing has been stable for a year and is expected to remain so into 2011.
It's an old story. With money on the table now, flash and DRAM manufacturers are bound to increase production capacity to maximize profits while they can. But at the same time they will be setting the stage for an inevitable overcapacity situation which while decimate ASPs, especially if demand drops. Such is the cyclical life of a memory chip maker. All of this has happened before, and all of it will happen again.
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| Top Story |
Toshiba fab portends more NAND capacity adds
In the wake of Toshiba's announcement that it will move forward with construction of a previously delayed NAND flash fab in Yokkaichi, Japan, analysts expect other NAND vendors to ratchet up capacity in light of favorable pricing conditions that have persisted for the past year.
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| Semiconductor News |
SMIC asks TI to take over fab management, says report
Foundry Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (Shanghai, China), is planning to end an agreement to manage a 200-mm wafer fab in Chengdu, according to a Reuters report.
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Report has microntrollers grow to $12 billion this year
The microcontrollers market will likely exceed a value of $12 billion for 2010, according to a market research firm.
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Bosch opens billion-dollar wafer fab
As expected, automotive chip maker Robert Bosch GmbH (Reutlingen, Germany) has opened formally a 200-mm wafer fab at the Bosch location in Reutlingen. At a total cost of 600 million euros (about $1.1 billion) the fab, which will make a variety of ICs and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), is the largest single investment in Bosch's history.
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| Business News |
Intel solar spin-off raises $41.4 million
SpectraWatt Inc. (Hopewell Junction, NY), a manufacturer of photovoltaic cells for the solar industry, has received $41.4 million in investor funding in the form of convertible debt.
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Qualcomm raises on licensing, chipset strength
Wireless chip vendor Qualcomm lifted its sales and profit targets for the quarter ending March 28, citing strength in licensing revenue and favorable volume and product mix in its chipset business.
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Femtocells set for explosive growth, says iSuppli
The ecosystem around the cellular basestations that improve indoor wireless coverage will experience explosive growth in 2010 and several years thereafter, according to market research company iSuppli Corp. (El Segundo, Calif.).
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Is Intel inking distributors to push Atom in Japan?
Intel declined to comment on reports that the world's No. 1 chip vendor is seeking to expand its presence in the Japanese market by engaging three chip distributors in the country.
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| Letter to the Editor |
Letter to the Editor: TI defends analog strategy
Texas Instruments Inc. in response to a recent EE Times report on the analog IC market said it has increased investments in manufacturing facilities and boosted production as part of plans to improve lead times for its products.
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| Technology News |
Intel-backed research yields spintronic breakthrough
Room temperature electric field"controlled ferromagnetism in germanium quantum dots was demonstrated in silicon transistors to create a dilute magnetic semiconductor.
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| Design News |
IDT signs up to use Samplify compression
Integrated Device Technology Inc. (San Jose, Calif.), a developer of mixed-signal ICs for communications, has announced a joint development program with Samplify Systems Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.), a maker of data converter designs and ICs.
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Femtocell maker opts for Lime's radio
AirWalk Communications Inc. (Richardson, Texas) has said it has used an configurable broadband radio transceiver from Lime Microsystems Ltd. (Guildford, England) in its EdgePointe femtocell.
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Dylan McGrath is editor of the EE Times Newsletter, which brings you the latest semiconductor and design news.
