The Week In Review: Manufacturing

Cypress Semiconductor has made a bid to buy U.S. memory maker Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. (ISSI). In fact, Cypress may have started a bidding war against a Chinese consortium to buy ISSI. In March, a Chinese consortium of investors led by Summitview Capital entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire ISSI. The proposed transaction values ISSI’s equity at approximately $639.5 million. This week, Cypress proposed a counter offer for ISSI. Cypress also recently acquired Spansion.

Applied Materials reported its results for the second quarter ended April 26, 2015. Net sales were $2.44 billion, up 4% sequentially. It also reported a net income of $362 million or $0.29 per diluted share. For the third quarter of fiscal 2015, Applied expects net sales to be in the range of up 2% to up 6% from the previous quarter, the midpoint of which would be up 12% year over year

At an event, Young Sohn, president and chief strategy officer of Samsung Electronics, called on the industry to use the Internet of Things (IoT) to address the challenges the world faces today. He also emphasized the importance of open platforms and industry collaboration to accelerate development of new IoT applications and services.

Samsung also announced the ARTIK platform to allow a faster and simpler development of the IoT.

Lam Research’s previously announced Kiyo F Series conductor etch system is enabling the transition of 3D NAND and advanced DRAM into volume production.

The sixth edition of the International Technology Roadmap for Photovoltaic (ITRPV) was released on April 29 in Shanghai, China by SEMI. The new edition focuses on reducing manufacturing costs along the crystalline silicon value chain as a key competitive advantage.

Teradyne will acquire Universal Robots, a Danish pioneer of collaborative robots, for $285 million net of cash acquired plus $65 million if certain performance targets are met extending through 2018.

AAC Technologies Holdings announced the completion of its acquisition of WiSpry, a supplier of MEMS-based RF devices.

Semiconductor Research Corp. (SRC) announced that Ken Hansen has been appointed SRC’s new president and chief executive, effective June 1. Hansen’s experience includes serving as vice president and chief technology officer at Freescale. He replaces retiring SRC President and CEO Larry Sumney, who guided the organization for more than 30 years since its inception in 1982.