The poor performing first half of 2007, fuelled by memory over-capacity and competitive pricing pressure in most markets, has meant that iSuppli Corp. has now cut its full year revenue forecast for the industry by almost half. The market research firm is now projecting only 3.5 percent revenue growth in 2007, down from its June adjusted forecast of 6 percent. 

The August 2007 Book-to-Bill Report from SEMI for North American-based equipment manufacturers highlights both a two-month slump in the book-to-bill ratios and a downward trend overall. The August book-to-bill ratio of 0.83 is preliminary; however SEMI adjusted the July figure down slightly, now matching the August figure. 

ILS Technology has said that a leading foundry in Taiwan has deployed its ‘secureWISE’ remote collaboration technology that ensures real-time, secure links and collaborative communication with equipment suppliers, chipmakers and technology partners. 

Infineon’s decision to reduce equity interest in Qimonda took another step with the announcement that Infineon is to reduce the amount of American Depository Shares it holds in the company.  Infineon is to sell off 25 million ADSs, with a greenshoe option of 3.75 million more being offered for sale in the future. 

VLSI Research has revealed the best equipment suppliers as rated by customers in Taiwan on cue for SEMICON Taiwan taking place this week.  In this extended list of 20 companies, ion implanter specialist Varian Semiconductor was ranked first with an overall ranking of 8.71 up from fourth position with a ranking of 7.97 in 2006. 

MediaTek is to acquire the assets related to the Analog Devices baseband chipset product lines, as well as certain cellular handset baseband support operations, for approximately $350 million in cash.