Indeed, the announcement of a new JV fab between Intel and Micron was ranked first, while in contrast the closure of TI’s KFAB was a close second!

However, AMD was not ignored and had three stories that appeared in the list. A story earlier in the year regarding SanDisk proved long-lasting and was constantly linked to from a whole host of sources.

Not surprisingly, a photovoltaic story creeped its way into the list; however the news of Applied Materials gaining business from a PV start-up certainly surprised us!

1. Intel and Micron JV locates third 300mm fab in Singapore
2. Texas Instruments to close KFAB & stop internal logic process development
3. Semiconductor rankings shake-up to continue in 2007, says IC Insights
4. AMD cuts MPU production at Chartered; 65nm ramp bigger in bulk-CMOS
5. AMD and Toshiba climb semiconductor rankings, IC Insights reports 
6. TSMC to fab low-cost bulk silicon microprocessor for AMD
7. Gartner ranks top semiconductor equipment companies; changes occurred in 2006
8. Intel & STMicroelectronics announce flash memory spin-off
9. SanDisk’s Harari warns of major structural changes ahead for memory market
10. Applied Materials grabs turnkey solar order from start-up Signet