South Africa
RF Design has entered into an agreement with Quake Global, a US manufacturer of communicators for multiple satellite and terrestrial networks. Under the terms of the agreement, RF Design will distribute and support Quake’s complete line of communicators in Africa, including the Q4000 – a highly configurable, palm-sized dual mode module that delivers reliable one- or two-way data communications – and the Q-Pro – a small, environmentally-sealed dual mode module with numerous customisation options.
Overseas
Business
RF Micro Devices reported financial results for its fiscal 2011 third quarter, ended 1 January 2011. Revenue increased approximately 11% year-over-year and decreased approximately 2% sequentially to $278,8 million. On a GAAP basis, gross margin equalled 37,0%, quarterly operating income totalled $43,3 million, and quarterly net income was $36,7 million, or $0,13 per diluted share.
National Instruments announced Q4 revenue of $250 million, a new quarterly revenue record and a 24% increase compared to Q4 2009. Net income for Q4 2010 was $38 million, with GAAP fully diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0,48. Full-year 2010 revenue was $873 million, up 29% year-over-year. Annual GAAP net income was $109,1 million, with fully diluted EPS of $1,38. On the strength on these results, the company plans to increase its R&D headcount by 19% and its field sales force by 24% this year.
Microsemi reported unaudited results for its first quarter of fiscal year 2011. Net sales achieved a record $184,4 million, up 63,4% from the first quarter of 2010 and up 21,9% from the fourth quarter of 2010. GAAP net loss for the quarter was $3,9 million or a loss of $0,05 per diluted share compared to net income of $8,0 million or $0,10 per diluted share for the first quarter of 2010 and net income of $6,6 million or $0,08 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Lattice Semiconductor announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended 1 January 2011. For the fourth quarter, revenue was $73,1 million, a decrease of 5% from the $77,1 million reported in the prior quarter, and an increase of 33% from the $55,1 million reported in the same quarter a year ago. For the fiscal year 2010, revenue was $297,8 million, an increase of 53% from $194,4 million in 2009. Revenue from FPGA products was $97,1 million, an increase of 50% from the $64,6 million reported in fiscal year 2009. Revenue from PLD products was $200,7 million, an increase of 55% from the $129,9 million reported in fiscal year 2009. Net income for fiscal year 2010 was $57,1 million ($0,48 per share), compared to a net loss of $7,0 million ($0,06 per share) reported in 2009.
Consolidated net sales for Microchip’s third quarter of fiscal 2011 (ended 31 December 2010) were $367,8 million, down 3,8% sequentially from $382,3 million in the immediately preceding quarter, and up 47,1% from $250,1 million in the prior year’s third quarter. GAAP net income was $101,9 million, or 52 cents per diluted share, down 2,7% from $104,7 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, in the immediately preceding quarter, and up 46,9% from $69,4 million, or 37 cents per diluted share, in the prior year’s third quarter.
Announcing its figures for the fourth quarter and full-year 2010, Freescale Semiconductor reported net sales for the quarter of $1,18 billion, compared to $1,15 billion in the third quarter of 2010 and $951 million in the fourth quarter last year. Net sales for calendar year 2010 were $4,46 billion, compared to $3,51 billion in 2009. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $280 million for the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to $253 million in the third quarter of 2010 and $168 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. EBITDA for calendar year 2010 was $957 million compared to $304 million in 2009.
Companies
Taoglas announced a wireless design partnership agreement with Microchip. Surface-mount technology antennas such as Taoglas’ PA.25 cellular (2G/3G/3.5G) and SGP.25D GPS patch are just two of the antennas chosen. Microchip also selected Taoglas’ automotive-approved ‘Titan’ AA.105 active external GPS IP67 antenna, for customers looking for an external antenna solution.
ON Semiconductor has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the CMOS image sensor business unit from Cypress Semiconductor in an all cash transaction for approximately $31,4 million. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2011, subject to customary closing conditions. Cypress’s broad portfolio of high-performance custom and standard CMOS image sensors are used in multimegapixel digital photography and cinematography, machine vision, linear and two dimensional (2D) bar code imaging, medical X-ray imaging, biometrics and aerospace applications.
Industry
Shipments of cellular modules for machine-to-machine (M2M) communications will reach over 100 million in 2015, according to a new report from IMS Research. Dropping module prices, reduced connectivity rates from carriers and increased availability of cellular networks worldwide are all key drivers behind this growth. However, the report also finds that the level of uptake of cellular M2M will vary widely among different vertical markets. A particularly strong growth sector is automotive, where IMS Research forecasts a 31% CAGR during the forecast period. Markets including security and factory automation are likely to rely on wired connectivity as well as alternative wireless options for a good portion of their M2M communications. At the same time, healthcare, a market with great potential for cellular modules, must overcome a series of privacy and liability concerns before it can reach a larger market size.
With the iPhone 4 paving the way, global demand for micro electromechanical system (MEMS) devices in cellphones will rise robustly during the coming years, helping the total MEMS market to expand in healthy measure at least through 2014, according to new IHS iSuppli research. Following two years of decline, the MEMS market enjoyed a strong 2010, with revenue rising by 18,3% compared to 2009. While growth will decelerate in 2011 after the boom of 2010, revenue still will increase at nearly a double-digit rate, climbing 9,5%. This growth will vastly exceed the 5,1% expansion of the overall semiconductor industry. And with the MEMS market set to enjoy double-digit growth from 2012 through 2014, market revenue will rise to $10,81 billion in 2014, up from $5,97 billion in 2009. Cellphones will generate the strongest demand growth during the coming years, with MEMS revenue to the segment rising to $3,73 billion in 2014, nearly triple from $1,30 billion in 2009.
Technology
A new invention by researchers from the Tel Aviv University and the Georgia State University in Atlanta is set to overcome one of the limitations of lasers, ie, the fact that their physical length cannot be less than one half of the wavelength of their light. The Spaser – surface plasmon amplification by stimulated emission of radiation – could not only lead to radical innovations in medicine and science, such as a sensor and microscope 10 times more powerful than anything used today, but could also pave the way for computers and electronics that operate at speeds 100 times greater than today’s devices, using light instead of electrons to communicate and compute. More efficient solar energy collectors in renewable energy are another proposed application. The physical limitations of current materials are overcome in the Spaser because it uses plasmons, and not photons. With the development of surface plasma waves – electromagnetic waves combined with an electron fluid wave in a metal – future nano-devices will operate photonic circuitry on the surface of a metal. But a source of those waves will be needed. That is where the Spaser comes in.
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