The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Toshiba is still looking for a buyer for its prized NAND flash memory business. The leading contenders for the business are a consortium with Western Digital. Meanwhile, Toshiba’s memory unit is expanding its Fab 6 facility at its Yokkaichi Operations, based in Japan. And now, it has selected a site for its next fab in Japan, this time in Kitakami City, Iwate. Construction is expe... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Packaging and test IoT chip startup zGlue recently announced its technology, dubbed the zGlue Integrated Platform (ZiP). In ZiP, chip customers select and configure their designs based on chiplets. Chiplets are proven silicon IP from existing vendors. Then, the technology automatically generates potential implementations of a design. As part of the effort, zGlue has selected Advanced Semicondu... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Fab tools Lam Research held an analyst event this week. The company indicated that the industry is in the midst of a memory boom, including both DRAM and 3D NAND. According to Amit Daryanani, an analyst with RBC, here was one of the big takeaways at the event: “The memory spend portion of WFE is more sustainable than previously assumed due to end-market drivers such as big data, automation, ... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers The NAND market is in flux. Not long ago, troubled Toshiba put its memory unit on the block. Finally, the company has selected a group to buy its memory business. The consortium includes the Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, the Development Bank of Japan and Bain Capital. Rival SK Hynix is also part of the group. Others attempted to bid on the business, including Western Digita... » read more

The LiDAR Gold Rush


Big money is pouring into the LiDAR market, as carmakers gear up for autonomous and assisted driving. LiDAR, along with advanced computer vision and radar sensors, is an essential component for vehicles to maneuver without hitting obstacles or other cars. LiDAR is an acronym for light imaging, detection, and ranging, and until now it has been almost synonymous with next-generation automotive... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Market research Earlier this year, the IC and equipment markets were projected to be flat. More recently, though, analysts have raised their forecast, including Pacific Crest Securities. “We are raising our 2017 capex outlook meaningfully, with the upside coming predominantly from Samsung,” said Weston Twigg, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities, in a report. "We're raising our 2017 se... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Fab equipment and test VLSI Research has released its top 10 semiconductor equipment supplier ranking in terms of sales in 2016. Applied Materials topped the list again, achieving a growth of 18%. ASML was second, followed by Lam Research, TEL and KLA-Tencor. Fig. 1: Ranking based on 2016 sales. Source: VLSI Research. Unic Capital Management, a Chinese-based private equity fund, announ... » read more

LiDAR Completes Sensing Triumvirate


Fully autonomous vehicles of the future will depend on a combination of different sensing technologies – advanced vision systems, radar, and light imaging, detection, and ranging (LiDAR). Of the three, LiDAR is now the costliest part of that equation, and there are worldwide efforts to bring down those costs. Mechanical LiDAR units are currently available, priced in the hundreds of dollars... » read more

The Week In Review: IoT


Finance NXP Semiconductors reported its Secure Connected Devices group posted revenue of $569 million in the fourth quarter, a gain of 10% from a year earlier. NXP CEO Richard Clemmer said in a statement, “All major product lines contributed to a seasonally solid quarter.” The chip company reported Q4 revenue of $2.44 billion and 2016 revenue of nearly $9.5 billion. Consortia Bosch, C... » read more

The Week In Review: Manufacturing


Chipmakers Faced with a huge write-down at its nuclear operations, Toshiba is looking to spin off its semiconductor division, which makes NAND. As expected, Toshiba seeks investors in the new company, according to Nikkei. Western Digital (WD) is one potential investor. Foxconn is another possible investor, according to CNBC. Peregrine Semiconductor has rolled out its latest RF SOI process.... » read more

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