South Africa
Altium has appointed EDA Technologies as the sole reseller for its printed circuit board (PCB) design software, Altium Designer, in South Africa. EDA Technologies, which has been supplying and supporting PCB CAD products since 1997, has enjoyed a long relationship with Altium and is a global certified training centre.
Overseas
Business
Based on fourth quarter financial results that came in at the high end of its guidance range, NXP Semiconductors recorded strong year-on-year revenue growth for its full fiscal 2014. The company’s total revenue was $5,65 billion, an annual increase of 17% and more than double the overall growth of the semiconductor industry. Net income for 2014 was more than 50% higher than the previous year at $539 million or $2,17 per share.
Microcontroller IP developer, ARM Holdings, recorded an 11% rise in annual revenue and a 17% increase in earnings per share (EPS), growing to £795,2 million and 24,1 pence respectively. The company signed 163 new licences during financial year 2014 and, during the fourth quarter alone, royalty revenue was generated from the shipment of 3,5 billion ARM processor-based chips, up 20% year-on-year.
Net sales for Freescale Semiconductor’s fourth quarter of 2014 were $1,10 billion, down 9% sequentially due to seasonality and lower sales into both the industrial market and distribution. For the year, net sales for the company increased 11% to $4,63 billion, with product group revenue increasing by 16%. Net earnings for the year were $251 million ($0,83 per diluted share), compared to a net loss of $208 million ($0,81 per diluted share) in 2013.
National Instruments achieved stellar financial results for its 2014 financial year, with record revenue of $1,24 billion (up 6% year-over-year), record new product revenue, record fully diluted EPS of $0,99 (up 54% year-over-year) and net income of $126 million.
Revenue for Atmel’s fourth quarter of 2014 was $346 million, an 8% decrease compared to the third quarter of 2014, and 2% lower than the fourth quarter of 2013. For the full year, revenue of $1,41 billion increased 2% compared to 2013. Net loss totalled $6,5 million or $0,02 per diluted share for the fourth quarter of 2014, principally as a result of the impairment of manufacturing assets and a $14,8 million charge incurred for restructuring activities associated with workforce reductions. For the full year 2014, net income was $32,2 million or $0,08 per diluted share, compared to net loss of $22,1 million or $0,05 per diluted share for 2013.
Infineon Technologies reported results for the first quarter of its 2015 fiscal year ended 31 December 2014. Revenue decreased by 4% quarter-on-quarter to €1,128 billion due to seasonality; on a year-on-year basis it increased by 15%. Net income for the first quarter of the current fiscal year totalled €136 million, compared with €181 million in the preceding quarter. First-quarter EPS (basic and diluted) amounted to €0,12, compared with €0,16 one quarter earlier.
Companies
ARM is giving developers a new reason to adopt its mbed platform for internet-of-things (IoT) applications by signalling a stronger focus on security. For an undisclosed sum, it has acquired Offspark – a Dutch security software company specialising in IoT communications security – whose PolarSSL transport layer security (TLS) technology is already deployed in a wide variety of devices including sensor modules, communication modules and smartphones. PolarSSL will be rebranded as ARM mbed TLS.
Silicon Labs announced the acquisition of Bluegiga Technologies, a developer of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity solutions and software. Bluegiga’s investors received approximately $61 million in cash compensation, and the company is expected to contribute approximately $25 million to $28 million to Silicon Labs’ revenue in 2015, and to be accretive to 2015 non-GAAP earnings.
Kulicke and Soffa Industries has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a 100% equity stake of Assembléon, in an all-cash transaction valued at $98 million. Assembléon develops assembly equipment, processes and services for the automotive, industrial and advanced packaging markets.
Cobham Wireless, formerly the wireless test business of Aeroflex, and National Instruments, announced a worldwide partnership to service applications in cellular and connectivity with solutions based on PXI technology. Under the terms of the agreement, NI acquires the existing Cobham PXI modular instruments hardware product line and becomes Cobham's primary provider of PXI technology. The acquired PXI modular instruments will be manufactured by NI and supplied exclusively to Cobham for sale through the Cobham Wireless business unit’s direct sales channels and brand.
Industry
The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) announced that the global semiconductor industry posted record sales totalling $335,8 billion in 2014, an increase of 9,9% from the 2013 total of $305,6 billion. Logic was the largest semiconductor category by sales, reaching $91,6 billion in 2014, a 6,6% increase compared to 2013. Memory ($79,2 billion) and micro-ICs ($62,1 billion) – a category that includes microprocessors – rounded out the top three segments in terms of sales revenue. Annual sales increased in all four regional markets for the first time since 2010.
Technology
Chinese design house Allwinner has introduced a processor that may prove highly disruptive to the mainstream tablet computer market. Its new A64 is a 64-bit processor built on ARM’s Cortex-A53 architecture, and its main talking point is that it is being priced as low as $5, which theoretically opens the door for mobile devices to be made with decent performance and costing as little as $50. While not a household name like Intel and Qualcomm, Allwinner dominates the non-iPad media tablet market, and was estimated by market research firm Strategy Analytics to have outsold both of those companies put together in 2012.
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