11 February 2010

Guest blog by Jim Handy, Objective Analysis
Late Tuesday Micron announced that the company had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Numonyx in an all-stock transaction. Micron will issue 140 million shares of the company's common stock, worth approximately $1.27 billion, to Numonyx shareholders Intel, STMicroelectronics, and Francisco Partners. The NOR flash market has been a difficult one for nearly all
participants. Leaders Numonyx and Spansion have suffered losses for
several years, with Spansion recently turning a profit through a
strategy largely focused upon markets for low-density parts used by
markets outside of cell handsets, the largest consumer of NOR flash.
Micron itself participated in NOR starting in the late 1990s, but
abandoned this effort in 2006.
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05 February 2010

Are you uncertain about the 2010 IC industry recovery? It may help to consider these actual data points and current expectations that offer support for an increasingly positive outlook for the IC industry this year. The 10 points listed should provide the reader with some encouragement with regard to the IC industry and its suppliers in 2010. Is it clear skies and smooth sailing for the rest of the year? Not, quite. Some potential “pot holes” on the road to 2010 success include: a possible spike in oil prices to greater than US$100 barrel; a major terrorist attack that weakens consumer confidence and the economy along with it; and/or, another major shock to the financial system like a major collapse of a country’s economy.
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14 January 2010

Guest blog by Tod Higinbotham, Executive Vice President, Process Solutions, ATMI
The recent economic downturn has taught us that semiconductor technology research and development must change if the industry is to prosper. Circuit design, advanced materials, and innovative process and process flows compel our industry to rethink outdated R&D techniques as we search for a better way to realize the potential of today’s most advanced integrated circuit technology.
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06 January 2010

In 4Q08, General Electric’s chief executive Jeff Immelt coined the term “reset economy.” He used this phrase in an attempt to describe what he expected to be a very different world after the global economic crisis came to an end as compared to before the meltdown. His belief was that businesses, governments, and consumers would operate very differently in the post-crisis economy and that GE needed to adjust to this new environment.
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26 November 2009

On the surface (pun intended) there would seem to be of little interest or need to know more about the recent acquisition by Applied Materials of a small cap semiconductor equipment supplier, Semitool. The Montana-based wet processing specialist has been around for a long-time and perhaps because of where it is based, compared with many equipment suppliers clustered in Silicon Valley, it gets little attention in comparison. However, solar cell producers may well find that they get a knock on the cleanroom door soon from Applied, to discuss porous silicon processes and a wet processing tool called the ‘Raider.’
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