semiconductors

The cassette tape player that replaced my first eight-track deck was out of this world. And the CD player that replaced the cassette player was like a dream. But now Fujitsu Semiconductor America has created a car audio design kit that has left the CD player out in the cold.

The CD-less Audio Design Kit is built around the Fujitsu MB9G711 SoC Series and is based on an ARM System-on-a-Chip (SoC) for audio systems that do not require a CD player. The kit has several options, such as support for MP3, Windows Media Audio (WMA), Ogg Audio, and Advanced Audio … Read more

In 2010, semiconductors brought in record revenue of $298.3 billion worldwide, a jump of 31.8 percent compared with the previous year, according to data out yesterday from the Semiconductor Industry Association.

In addition, chip sales in December hit $25.2 billion, a gain of 12.2 percent compared with 2009's final month. Fourth-quarter revenue grew the same percentage from the year-ago quarter to reach $75.5 billion.

"Semiconductor sales are a bright spot in our current economic picture, delivering a record high in the billions," SIA President Brian Toohey said in a statement. "The … Read more

Chip sales have been a lot healthier lately than they were amid the downturn of 2009.

Semiconductor sales around the world hit $26 billion in November, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA). Though that's a slight decline of 0.9 percent from October, it's a hefty increase of 14.4 percent from November 2009 when sales were $22.7 billion.

For the entire year through November, sales jumped 34 percent to reach $271.8 billion, up from $202.8 billion for the same period in 2009.

"Despite continuing macroeconomic uncertainty, the semiconductor industry is slated to … Read more

Intel traditionally builds chips for its own use, but it's now branching out to create one for another manufacturer.

Intel will create chips based on its 22-nanometer technology for Achronix Semiconductor, Achronix announced today. This marks the first time Intel is designing a chip for another manufacturer and may indicate that the chip giant is looking to do some contract manufacturing for outside customers.

Based in San Jose, Calif., Achronix will use Intel's 22-nanometer chips to develop its own Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). FPGAs are integrated circuits that can be programmed after they've been manufactured, allowing … Read more

Samsung Electronics's third-quarter earnings and sales both grew, but the company is anticipating weaker results for the fourth quarter.

For the quarter ended September 30, the Korean electronics firm took in a profit of 4.46 trillion won ($3.97 billion), a gain of 17 percent from the 3.81 trillion won earned in the year-ago quarter. Revenue grew by 12 percent to reach 40.23 trillion won, topping the previous quarterly sales record of 39.25 trillion won from 2009's fourth quarter.

The company attributed its solid results to a strong showing from its semiconductor unit, which … Read more

It is about an hour's drive from my house to Napa and Sonoma. And about four hours back.

That's the disclosures out of the way. So now might I concentrate and tell you about an enterprising and clearly refined tech CEO who is attempting to discover whether all the tech brains and chips at the world's disposal can perfect the art of wine making?

This is an emotive subject. The more time you spend with the wine community, the more you realize that these are wonderfully temperamental artists.

At one of my favorite Napa wineries, Honig, for … Read more

Broadcom announced today that it plans to acquire 4G chip maker Beceem Communications for $316 million in cash as it tries to get a leg up on supplying the next generation of wireless technology to companies making wireless infrastructure products as well as those making cell phones, computers, and other consumer electronics.

Broadcom said that the acquisition would accelerate its "time-to-market in 4G by adding a talented team" of engineers. Broadcom already offers chips that enable several types of network connectivity technology, including 2G/3G cellular, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and Ethernet switching. Adding Beceem's 4G technology will … Read more

Research firm iSuppli today lowered its forecast for semiconductor sales in 2010.

Chip sales around the world are now expected to hit $302 billion this year, a gain of 32 percent from $228 billion in 2009. That's down from iSuppli's prior forecast of 35.1 percent growth for the year, a change it attributed to weaker consumer demand for certain electronic devices and higher industry inventory.

Revenue in the fourth quarter is expected to drop by 0.3 percent from the third quarter, the first sequential drop since the market took a spill in the fourth quarter of … Read more

Following a string of acquisitions the past few years, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison is now setting his sights on buying into the semiconductor market.

In a Q&A at Oracle's financial analyst meeting yesterday, Ellison said he would be interested in acquiring a chipmaker as part of an effort to own more of the intellectual property behind computer chips. The CEO said that he wants to follow the approach of Apple, which has bought semiconductor manufacturers to help it produce the iPhone and iPad, according to Bloomberg News.

"Our focus is to build our (intellectual property) portfolio...… Read more