Explosion At Mitsubishi Materials


A big explosion at a semiconductor plant shocked the electronics community last month. This article discusses what happened and the fallout on the semiconductor industry. The explosion occurred at the Mitsubishi Materials Yokkaichi plant in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, at about 2 p.m. on Jan. 9. Five people were killed and 12 others were injured, some seriously. Mitsubishi Materials issued ... » read more

Tales From The Silk Road


Recently I wrote a two-part article on the impact low-cost quad-core and octo-core mobile processors are having on the mobile handset market here in Asia. In it I briefly mentioned that many travelers and expats in this part of the world—this part being Southeast Asia, generally speaking—come here, among myriad other reasons, for the cheap electronics available. What prompted me to inves... » read more

Big Changes Rock Global Smartphone Market


It's not just consumers that are benefiting from the proliferation of low-cost mobile multiple-core processors. Chipmakers are reaping the benefits of the booming smartphone market in Asia and around the globe. In the multicore smartphone applications processor market Qualcomm. leads the way with its Snapdragon processors; it accounted for 43% of the market in the first half of this year, fo... » read more

Chip Manufacturing Data Now Requires Cloud Techniques


The parameters in semiconductor manufacturing are growing so large that an analysis method similar to what’s currently used for big data is now required. The good news is that big data analysis techniques, which process a vast amount of data such as search data and communication logs in the cloud, is entirely applicable to the data of semiconductor process. Photo 1: Opening view of AEC... » read more

Smartphones Drive Component Sales


The impact of smartphones on electronic components and semiconductors is growing. As reported by the Nihon Keizai Newspaper in October, the total value of orders received in Q3 for six major electronic components set a record. Also, in Taiwan, the overseas orders in September increased to 38.4 billion dollars, which is a 2% increase compared with the same month of the previous year, as reported... » read more

Wafer Area Shipments Flat, But What Does That Really Mean?


The total area of shipped silicon wafers dropped 2% in Q3 compared with Q2, but that same 2% reduction has shown up in the same time frame over the past several years. There appears to be no significant impact on the silicon wafer area, which is flat at about 2.3 billion square inches. Figure 1: The change in silicon wafer shipping area. Source: SEMI Despite a rapid recovery after the ... » read more

Big Changes Rock Global Smartphone Market


BANGKOK — One of the many draws for Western travelers here in Thailand and throughout much of Asia, including China, is the availability of cheap consumer electronics. Unfortunately many of these electronic goods — little-known off-brands mimicking better-known counterparts, or white-label devices being passed off as name-brand products to unsuspecting consumers — typically are technologi... » read more

HDMI 2.0 Specification For 4K TV Unveiled


A new standard for transmitting and receiving 4K video is now public. HDMI 2.0 has a maximum data rate of up to 18Gbps, which is about 76% faster than the previous specification. Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, introducing the standard. HDMI version 2.0, which was developed by the HDMI Forum, provides a maximum of 4K HD @ 50/60 Hz, 32 audio channels, an audio sampling frequ... » read more

Bluetooth Smart Becomes Centerpiece Of Internet Of Things


There was a consistent theme at the CEATEC 2013, which was held in Makuhari, Chiba Prefecture—Bluteooth Smart as an essential component of the Internet of Things. Photo 1 CEATEC hall Major parts makers such as Rohm and Murata, Mitsumi, and Alps, which are developing entire modules as well as discrete parts, proposed a number of solutions that will be used over the next two or three ... » read more

Inside Japan: The Applied Materials-Tokyo Electron Merger


The merger of Tokyo Electron and Applied Materials has turned heads around the globe, but behind the scenes in Japan there was a recognition that this deal had to be done now or it would never be possible. Releases from both companies describe it as a merger of equals, and the Japanese press has reported it that way. But international media outside of Japan take the view that Tokyo Electron ... » read more

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