Southern Africa
Arivia.kom launched its PAIApac home-grown solution that it says will help South African companies comply with the requirements of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) 2000. This Act outlines the constitutional right of access to information of individuals and ensures that persons can obtain access to records that they might require for the exercise or protection of their rights, as swiftly, inexpensively and effortlessly as possible. A manual, which must be produced by all companies describing their company information and access, is required to be at the government printer by February 2003, says the company.
Electrocomp has obtained representation of two new agencies: Portage Electric Products, a developer and manufacturer of thermal controls; and Kunze Folien, specialists in heat management products.
ProScan Systems, a supplier of bar coding, mobile computing and wireless networking equipment recently opened a branch in Musgrave, Durban to service its expanding user base in this region. The company is a Value Added Distributor for Intermec and Datamax within southern Africa.
Pinetown Electronics (Elonics) has moved premises to: 7 Mountain Ridge Road, New Germany, KZN. Tel: 031 702 6242, 031 702 6227. (See 'Superb growth forces Elonics' move to larger premises).
Overseas
Business
Infineon Technologies announced results for its first quarter in fiscal year 2003. The company had revenues of Euro 1,52 bn, an increase of 10% sequentially and 47% year-on-year. It said the revenue increase was mainly driven by higher demand for memory products and semiconductors used in mobile phones and the continued strong performance of the automotive and industrial segment. Net loss amounted to Euro 40m compared to a net loss of Euro 506m in the previous quarter, which included a non-cash charge of Euro 275m to establish a deferred tax-valuation allowance. Commented Infineon's president and CEO Ulrich Schumacher: "Our focus on technology and cost leadership resulted in further market share gains. We improved our revenue performance sequentially and year-on-year and achieved profitability in our memory products group by improved pricing, product mix and by significantly reducing the fully loaded costs of our memory chips."
Motorola reported sales of $7,5 bn in the fourth quarter of 2002, up 3% from $7,3 bn in the like period a year ago and 14,7% from $6,4 bn in the previous quarter. The company reported a profit of $174m, compared to loss in the year-ago quarter of $1,2 bn. In the previous quarter, it reported earnings of $111m. In Motorola's Semiconductor Products Segment (SPS) sales were $1,3 bn for the quarter, up 15% over the like period a year ago and 8% from $1,2 bn in the previous quarter. The segment reported operating earnings of $18m, compared with an operating loss of $798m in the year-ago quarter. Motorola reported full-year 2002 sales of $26,7 bn, compared to sales of $29,9 bn in 2001. On a GAAP basis, 2002 full-year net loss was $2,5 bn, compared to a net loss of $3,9 bn for 2001.
Microchip Technology reported net sales for the third fiscal quarter 2002 of $171m, an increase of approximately 1% from sales of $169,7m in the immediately preceding quarter, and an increase of approximately 21% from sales of $141,9m in the like quarter a year ago. Net income for the quarter was $37m, up approximately 5% from pro-forma net income of $35,2m (prior to the effects of net impairment charges of $24,9m), and up approximately 56% from net income of $23,6m in the like quarter a year ago. During Q3 2002, the company generated net positive cash flow of approximately $57m. Total cash and cash equivalents as of 31 December, 2002 were $198m.
RF Micro Devices reported revenue for its fiscal 2003 third quarter was $145,8m, an increase of 45,0% versus revenue of $100,6m for the corresponding quarter of fiscal 2002, and a sequential increase of 21,8% versus revenues of $119,7m for the previous quarter. The company's financial results for the quarter reflect market share gains in its core market of power amplifiers for cellular handsets and continued strength in the WLAN market. Gross profit for the quarter increased 39,9%, versus $38,9m for the prior year period, and increased 18,3% sequentially to $54,4m.
Atmel reported sales of $304,6m in the fourth quarter of 2002, up 2% from $298,7m in the previous quarter and 7% from $284,6m in the fourth quarter of 2001. Net loss totalled $16,2m. Included in this quarter's net loss is approximately $2,8m in restructuring charges and a gain on early retirement of debt of $14,7m. Revenues for the full year 2002 totalled $1,19 bn, versus $1,47 bn in 2001. Net loss for the full year totalled $641,8m, versus net loss of $418,3m. Included in the 2002 net loss is $383,8m in restructuring charges.
Companies
Dow Corning has acquired the Raychem Power Materials Business Unit of Tyco Electronics for an undisclosed price. Under the terms, Dow Corning will obtain the unit's fabricated thermal interface materials, electromagnetic-interference (EMI), and RF-interference shielding products. Dow also obtained certain connector sealing products that have been sold under the trademarks Geltek, Heatpath, and Dbseal.
IBM and Cadence Design Systems have announced an agreement to optimise and market electronic design solutions from Cadence using IBM's advanced Linux-based technology. Under the joint agreement, Cadence EDA tools are to be adapted to run on IBM servers and workstations running the Red Hat Linux operating system.
FPGA manufacturer Xilinx has teamed up with power semiconductor manufacturer International Rectifier to prepare a development board that includes Xilinx' Spartan FPGAs and an IR chipset for motion actuation and control. The 'Accelerator motion control design platform' comes with hardware for a 1,5 kW servo amp, pre-loaded code into a Xilinx XC18V02 EEPROM targeted for the Spartan IIE-300, and ServoDesigner, Windows-based configuration software.
Industry
IDC expects that Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) revenue will total $87,75 bn in 2002, a 7,9% decline from 2001. It said the industry began showing year-over-year revenue growth in the third quarter of 2002, and believes that this momentum will carry over into 2003. For 2003, IDC forecasts that EMS industry revenue will be $95,25 bn, an 8,5% increase from 2002. However, for 2003 its predictions show that it expects the nature of outsourcing deals to change and the competitive landscape of the industry to alter slightly. Such changes are inevitable as contract manufacturing matures as an industry while adjusting to the ever-changing IT environment, it said.
Semico Research has reported that semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) will play a vital role in driving a recovery in the chip industry. It is forecasting the SIP market will grow by more than 25% in 2003 with revenues of more than $1bn. The primary users of SIP will continue to be SOC, ASSPs and FPGA devices. The research group notes that companies that create, acquire and reuse SIP have a noticeable advantage over those that do not.
iSuppli/Stanford Resources reports that the global market for LCD panels in 2003 is valued at $34,3 bn, of which $19,9 bn comes from active-matrix displays earmarked for notebook computers and desktop monitors. The group has forecast that the total LCD driver market in 2003 will be $3,4 bn, with $1,6 bn going to monitors and notebooks - the rest are in everything from games and phones to automobiles.
New technology that will extend the viability of modems has been approved by the ITU. Given that dial-up access continues to be the primary means of access to online services, plus the fact that many millions of people have no access to broadband connections, Modem over IP (MoIP) technology will ensure that as networks move to a 'pure IP' infrastructure they will still be able to efficiently handle calls generated by modems. Since Modems are much more sensitive than voice to IP network impairments such as delay, jitter and packet loss, the new standards will enable network providers to maximise network efficiency and reliability while giving modem users the ability to carry on using their modems to the full extent of their capabilities on both circuit-switched as well as packet networks, according to the ITU.
The outlook for the Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT) set top box (STB) market is not as rosy as once thought, according to In-Stat/MDR. With ITV Digital (formerly OnDigital) in the UK, and Quiero TV in Spain going out of business, other Pay-TV operators postponing the introduction of their DTT services, plus the weakening economy slowing deployment schedules, a market that was once expected to generate $2,4 bn in revenue in 2005 will top a mere $1,4 bn in 2006, reveals In-Stat. The value of semiconductors in DTT STBs will just barely top $500m during 2006, the group predicts.
The European Commission has outlined proposed changes to the 1989 Directive on electromagnetic compatibility that it plans to implement before the end of the year. It said the process involves widespread consultation with interested parties and is part of the Simpler Legislation for the Internal Market (SLIM) programme to improve the functioning of the single market. The Commission hopes to simplify some of the regulatory procedures for manufacturers, as well as increasing documentation on products for easier traceability by inspection authorities.
United States Commerce Secretary Don Evans has announced a new regulation streamlining US export controls on general purpose microprocessors. Under the new rule, a licence will only be required to export general-purpose microprocessors to 'terrorist countries' or for military end-uses or end-users in countries posing national security concerns. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) published the regulation consistent with a decision made by the Wassenaar Arrangement, a multilateral export control regime of which the US is a member.
Cambridge Semiconductor, a spin-off company from Cambridge University, says it has raised around £3,75 million in venture funding which it hopes will help it become a leading force in the power electronics market. The fabless semiconductor company is developing a new generation of power ICs said to have switching speeds far in excess of products currently available.
Agilent Technologies has announced design verification application support to help electronic and wireless communication companies get products to market faster. It is integrating electronic design automation (EDA) software with test instrumentation to offer new 'connected solutions' applications. The program combines Agilent's Advanced Design System (ADS) software with test instrumentation in order to verify designs earlier in the design process. The combination provides new modelling, verification and debugging capabilities that are not possible with EDA software or test instruments alone, according to the company.
According to IBM, its European engineers helped the company once again lead the world in the number of patents awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office for the tenth year. Seventeen engineers from IBM's Technology Group (TG) in La Gaude and Essonnes in France have contributed almost 1000 patents to the 3288 patents awarded to IBM Microelectronics for 2002.
US think-tank Probe Research asserts that the Utopian promise of 4G communications - and potentially even 3G - which is of end-to-end IP networks, is still several years away from wide commercial deployment. In its 'Wireless Internet Data Infrastructure' report Probe explains that it believes that the challenges from technical, business case and economic standpoints are sufficiently daunting, forcing the evolution to occur slowly and in stages. It outlines three waves of infrastructure deployment (for advanced 2,5G and 3G networks): the first, currently under way, involves the addition of data routing infrastructure plus appropriate radio access network modifications; the second wave will come in the form of capacity upgrades, which will lag slightly behind the installation of W-CDMA and 1XEV 3G radio access network deployment; the third stage will be the ultimate replacement of the circuit-switched voice infrastructure with end-to-end IP. It believes neither the second nor third wave is expected to occur within a five-year period.
As their 3G plans are delayed, some of the leading wireless carriers worldwide, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon, have made announcements of deploying WLAN services. This is according to research from ABI. WLAN is easier to install and costs far less than setting up a 3G network. In addition, 3G's data rate of 144 Kbps, a portable data rate of 384 Kbps, and an in-building fixed rate of 2 Mbps are slow, compared to that of WLAN. As WLAN moves toward 54 Mbps, it is apparent that 3G cannot compete with the data rate of WLAN. Though 3G will be deployed worldwide due to its voice capacity benefits, telecom carriers are seeing WLAN hotspots as the immediate revenue generator for data services.
The UK is changing regulations to allow wider access to broadband networks in public areas. 'Wireless hotspots' will be allowed in areas such as hotels, airports, cafes and schools. The amended regulations will allow telecoms operators to offer commercial broadband services through public networks without requiring a Wireless Telegraphy Act licence. Wireless Local Area Networks will also be allowed to operate within part of the 5 GHz radio spectrum.
MEMGen has launched a micro-device design contest called the 'The 3-D MEMS Design Challenge'. MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) combines tiny moving mechanical parts and electronic circuits in 3-dimensional space. MEMGen claims its EFAB manufacturing technology is a straightforward and intuitive design process, which thus opens micro-device designing up to anyone with the need and a bit of imagination. Micro-devices can be designed and fabricated in a matter of a few weeks using the company's automated system. Cash prizes of $10 000, $5000 and $2500 are offered and the top winner will also get a copy of SolidWorks' Office 2003 3-D CAD package.
Technology
Intel provided the first details of its reconfigurable radio architecture at the recent Software-Defined Radio Forum held in San Jose. The company described an array of processors that will implement a range of physical layer and media-access control combinations. Rather than relying on programmable logic, Intel said that the company's architecture will use a heterogeneous array of processors; some will be general-purpose DSPs, and others will be tuned to process particular algorithms. The complexity of the individual processors will be between an FPGA and a modest CPU, it said.
Taiwan's Via Technologies has launched a low-power, 1 GHz microprocessor built around its 'Nehemiah' MPU core and 'CoolStream' advanced-branch prediction architecture. With new embedded security features it features the PadLock Data Encryption Engine for data security applications in low-cost PC computing.
Lattice Semiconductor has announced two programmable logic families based on its ispMACH 4000 CPLD architecture - including what the company claims are the first mixed-signal PLDs. The PowerPAC family combines programmable analog capability of the ispPAC series with 4000-series digital control logic, while the the ispMACH 4000Z 'zero power' CPLDs, that targets battery-powered consumer applications, is an extension of the 4000 product line that significantly lowers power consumption without a commensurate loss of performance, according to the company.
System designers will find it easier to implement high-performance parallel and serial RapidIO interconnects in a wide range of future embedded systems such as CMC and CompactPCI.2x, thanks to new mechanical specifications and efforts of the RapidIO Trade Association. The group announced that specification work has been completed on the RapidIO Mezzanine Card (RMC) form factor, an extension to add parallel and serial RapidIO to the industry standard CMC (IEEE 1386) and PMC (IEEE 1386.1) form factors for I/O mezzanine cards.
Intel and Microsoft are working on a portable media player (PMP) hardware reference design for the new Microsoft Media2Go software platform. The PMPs use an Intel XScale technology-based processor and will be small enough to fit in a coat pocket and will allow people to take video, still pictures and music with them anywhere they go.
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