Southern Africa
For its interim results Altron announced significant growth of 18% in revenue and 35% in operating income for the six months to 31 August 2004. Altron said the revenue increase from R5 bn to R6 bn was based on organic growth as well as a strong contribution from its recently-acquired NamITech. The increase in operating income from R329m to R443m resulted from organic growth and the inclusion of NamITech's results which improved operating margins from 6,5% to 7,4%.
The RF Group, sole local Nokia distributor, says it founded eXactmobile in an effort to establish a dedicated customer care and servicing facility for Nokia products as well as to provide employment opportunities in South Africa. The high tech repair centre is a sealed, static-free environment with clean-air areas and has the capacity to repair thousands of phones per day. eXactmobile has been accredited by Wits Technikon to place final year Electrical Engineering students within the cellular repair facility, which enables them to complete the required practical module of their diplomas. Commented Wayne Muir, general manager of the eXactmobile repair facility: "This initiative is on-going. In the first year we employed 20 students and will increase the numbers each year. This programme not only allows the students to complete the necessary practical component of their diploma, but also introduces them to the exciting cellular industry and equips them for the 'real' world."
IT systems and communications distributor, Comztek, has been appointed as an official distributor for the Siemens HiPath range of IP-enabled PBX systems. This partnership supplements Siemens' existing channel with a new distribution channel, which leverages the greater opportunities that result from the convergence of voice and data networks. Specialist voice distributor, Centratel, which manages the Siemens voice channel in South Africa, will continue to grow the Siemens HiPath brand in the Voice and Convergence market. Comztek will focus on growing Siemens' market penetration through its (Comztek's) existing channel.
Protea Electronics' Communications and Measurement division recently hosted a breakfast seminar focused on the latest technology in universal mobile telecom systems (UMTS). Guest speakers were Fernando Schmitt, product manager, mobile radio testers, and Martin Scholla, area manager T&M for the Middle East and Africa, both from Rohde&Schwarz. In the photograph, from left: Martin Scholla; Wayne Randall, sales engineer at Protea Electronics; Colin Forbes, engineering manager at Protea Electronics; Gary Johnston, CEO Protea Technology Group; Fernando Schmitt.
Parsec has officially opened its new premises at Manhattan Office Park, Highveld Techno Park in Centurion. Managing director Petrus Pelser's 5 year old son Stephan, cut the ribbon at the formal opening ceremony.
Overseas
Business
Intel announced third-quarter revenue of $8,5 bn, up 5% sequentially and up 8% year-over-year. Intel said it delivered growth in both of its major businesses in the third quarter driven by record server and mobile microprocessor shipments and market segment share gains in flash memory. Intel said that growth was not as high as it originally anticipated due to inventory adjustments at some major customers and lower than expected overall demand for PCs.
Samsung Electronics reported it made a net profit of 2,69 trillion won for Q3, compared with 1,84 trillion won a year earlier and 3,13 trillion won in Q2. Sales rose 27% to 14,34 trillion won.
Power Integrations announced $32,9m net revenues for the third quarter of 2004, a decrease of 5% from the $34,5m for the like period a year ago, and a decrease of 8% from the $35,9m reported in the previous quarter. Net income for Q3 was $5,7m, compared to $4,8m, in the year-ago quarter and $5,0m in the prior quarter.
Philips Electronics has warned it expects flat sales of semiconductors for Q4 of this year and that fierce competition would continue to erode margins at its consumer products division. For the semiconductors division, Philips predicted sales would be flat as orders slowed in the current quarter, compared to the previous three months when sales rose 2%. Philips reported 'solid' Q3 results with net profits of Euro 1,2 bn compared with Euro 124m in the same period last year.
Companies
Silicon Storage Technology (SST) has entered the wireless market by acquiring
G-Plus, a supplier of radio-frequency chips for wireless multimedia and broadband networking, for $26m.
Intrinsic Semiconductor has acquired Advanced Micro Device Solutions (AMDS), a Swedish developer of RF, power and sensor components based on silicon carbide (SiC) technology. AMDS will become a wholly-owned European subsidiary of Intrinsic, a developer of SiC technology and gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial services.
Agilent Technologies has entered the flat-panel display test market, by acquiring IBM's thin-film transistor (TFT) array test and charge test assets. The acquisition is being integrated into Agilent's Hachioji Semiconductor Test Division in Japan.
CDMA digital wireless technology pioneer, Qualcomm, has acquired Trigenix, a UK-based mobile user interface company, for approximately $36m in cash. The acquisition provides Qualcomm with Trigenix's user interface (UI) development technologies, products and tools.
Synopsys has acquired Integrated Systems Engineering (ISE), a Swiss developer of design-for-manufacturing (DFM) software, for $95m.
Memscap, a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) foundry and component supplier, is to acquire Optogone for Euro 3,8m. Optogone is a spin-off from the French 'Ecole Nationale Superieure des Telecommunications-Bretagne' (ENST) in alliance with France Telecom and specialises in liquid crystal optical components for dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) networks.
Spectrum Control, a designer and manufacturer of electronic control products and systems, has acquired substantially all of the assets and assumed certain liabilities of the RF and microwave components business unit of Remec for $8m.
Transtech DSP has entered into an agreement to become a wholly-owned part of the Vmetro group, a company quoted on the Norwegian stock exchange.
Wireless Telecom Group (WTT) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Willtek Communications. The acquisition will bring together WTT, a US test and measurement company operating under the Boonton Electronics, Noise/Com and Microlab/FXR brands, with Willtek, a European (headquartered in Germany) market leader in test solutions for emerging wireless services and cellular networks.
Keithley Instruments has joined the LXI Consortium. LXI (LAN extensions for instrumentation) is a next-generation, LAN-based modular platform standard for automated test systems.
Aeroflex/Inmet has signed a distribution agreement with Richardson Electronics. Under the terms, Richardson will operate as exclusive worldwide distributor of a selected and extensive range of Aeroflex/Inmet products including fixed attenuators, terminations, DC blocks, bias tees and adapters.
Industry
WiMAX enthusiasts sometimes claim that the technology will 'kill' Wi-Fi, but nothing could be further from the truth, according to ABI Research's latest findings. Phil Solis, senior analyst for wireless connectivity, notes that WiMAX IC vendors only expect to have chipsets ready in mid-2006, and so it will be several years before WiMAX gains any real traction in the 802.16e market. 802.16e is the mobile version of WiMAX that will allow for portability and mobility. "We are not looking at WiMAX even starting to compete against Wi-Fi until 2007, when it will turn up in a few laptops. By then, Wi-Fi penetration in laptops will be almost universal," said Solis. The research suggests that WiMAX may coexist with Wi-Fi, providing backhaul to Wi-Fi access points, and as a supplement to costly cable and DSL deployment in areas where they are not present. Underdeveloped countries and large rural regions stand to profit from WiMAX's lower infrastructure cost.
iSuppli predicts revenue from worldwide sales of WiMax basestation and customer-premise equipment will achieve annual growth rates ranging from only 14 to 25% from 2004 through 2007. The market will not enter its rapid-growth phase until 2008 and 2009, when sales will rise by 47 and 66% respectively. By 2009, the market will swell to $2,6 bn in size, rising at a CAGR of 31,3% from $503m in 2003.
The Wi-Fi Alliance announced that it will not certify data rate enhancement features based on the IEEE 802.11n amendment to the 802.11 wireless LAN standard, until the standard is ratified. No IEEE 802.11n products currently exist, and none are expected to exist until the standard is completed, it said.
Recent press coverage quoted a technology analyst as doubting the future of ZigBee, the new low-power, low data rate wireless networking technology, because of what was termed 'fragmentation', announced ABI Research. What they meant, according to ABI, was that the final ZigBee standard has not yet been completely drafted, and until it is, no products can claim to be 'ZigBee-compliant'. But this has not stopped some vendors from seeking a first market foothold with products based on an estimate of what the standard will finally be. The group has examined the new technology carefully and has a much more positive assessment. Analyst Chris Lopez said most of the companies offering 'pre-standard' products are also helping create the standard. Since they are involved in writing it, they know what is going to be in it, and are sticking very closely to what they know will be the protocol's final shape. The ZigBee Alliance has cautioned developers to describe their current products as 'ZigBee-ready', rather than 'ZigBee-compliant'.
Charge-coupled devices (CCDs) have benefited from the explosive growth of the digital still camera market, which nearly doubled in size from 2002 to 2003, reports InStat/MDR. Meanwhile, the market for complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors has grown primarily due to the rapid growth of camera phones, which have only been on the market since 2000, and in that time have grown to be the single most popular type of digital camera. Compared to CCDs, CMOS sensors offer a lower price, less power consumption, and the ability to integrate other functions on chip.
As it is introduced over the next few years, HSDPA - high speed download packet access - will produce a major shift in the landscape of cellular handset memory, forcing major NOR Flash memory vendors to adapt or risk loss of market share, says ABI Research. With UMTS starting to gain traction, attentions are turning to HSPDA. While UMTS, with its promise of 300 Kbps in the downlink, was touted as enabling video streaming, video conferencing and broadband Internet access, the analyst group reckons it is HSDPA, with its 3,6 Mbps downlink speeds, that will finally deliver the smooth promised 3G user experience. However, handsets will require more memory, not only for the increased content, but also to store and run the software for HSDPA, it says. With this, demand for NAND FLASH memory will increase at the expense of traditional NOR FLASH.
In the near future, the market for IP set-top boxes (IP-STBs) will grow at least four times faster than that for cable or satellite-based boxes. According to ABI Research, while the CAGR of worldwide cable and satellite STB shipments is forecast at a modest 13-14% over the next five years, IP-STBs will see growth more on the order of 60% in the same period.
SanDisk has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission alleging that NAND flash memory chips manufactured by STMicroelectronics infringe a SanDisk US patent. SanDisk has requested that ST's NAND flash memory chips be barred from sale in the United States.
Power Integrations, a supplier of high-voltage analog ICs used in power conversion, has filed a patent infringement suit against Fairchild Semiconductor in the US District Court of Delaware. The company is seeking damages as well as an injunction prohibiting Fairchild's sale of the infringing integrated circuits.
Freescale Semiconductor, the former chip unit of Motorola, has announced it would eliminate 1000 positions worldwide and record a $65m restructuring charge in its fourth quarter as it streamlines operations. The move is part of a plan to become totally independent from Motorola by year's end, according to reports.
The cellphone success story continues to push demand for their lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer batteries to new highs. This has prompted the IEEE to begin development of new standard (IEEE P1725, 'Standard for Rechargeable Batteries for Cellular Telephones') to improve their reliability.
Technology
Texas Instruments has announced it is developing a single-chip digital television receiver and processor called 'Hollywood' for deployment within mobile telephones. TI said the traditional three-chip solution for such receivers (previously found in settop-boxes), which includes a tuner, an OFDM demodulator and a channel decoder processor, will be integrated into a single chip for digital TV phones. The combination of Hollywood plus TI's OMAP processor would allow handset manufacturers to create TV cellphones in time for the first mobile digital TV infrastructure mass deployments in 2007, said the company.
Atheros has announced that it will start sampling the first single-chip wireless-LAN device to support the IEEE 802.11a/b/g Wi-Fi standards. Atheros' AR5006X chip integrates 2,45 GHz and 5 GHz transceivers, as well as baseband and media-access control (MAC) functions, on one die.
Physicists in Germany and the US have made a single-electron transistor (SET) that operates using a nanometre-scale vibrating arm. The new transistor toggles on and off through the movement of a single electron. Unlike earlier SETs, this device, created by University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering professor Robert Blick and physicist Dominik Scheible of Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich, is easily manufactured in silicon and operates at room - rather than super-low - temperature, allowing its integration into existing, silicon-based circuits.
The MultiMediaCard Association (MMCA) has announced the MMCplus and MMCmobile product names and logos for memory cards built to the previously announced high-speed MultiMediaCard (MMC) standards that feature high data transfer rates. MMCplus cards in the standard-size MultiMediaCard form factor (32 x 24 x 1,4 mm) feature 2,7-3,6 V operation, 26 MHz clock frequency, and support x1, x4 and x8 bus widths. MMCmobile cards come in the reduced-size MMC form factor (18 x 24 x 1,4 mm) and operate at both 1,65-1,95 V and 2,7-3,6 V ranges.
Toshiba is reportedly planning to begin mass production of its previously-announced 0,85" 2 GB hard-drive (HDD) before the end of 2004. The company is expected to first adopt the HDD in its portable music player, called 'gigabeat'. External measurements are 3,3 x 32 x 24 mm, and weight is under 10 g.
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