Online information source for semiconductor professionals

I am taking the lead from new Editor-in-Chief at Solid State Technology magazine Pete Singer, who reported the news from their own ConFab event being held this week in Sin City via a newsletter. ConFab is a closed event to the rest of the media but I have posted a link to Pete’s story below. Read more >>

What does it mean when a company gets rid of its Chief Talent Officer?

1. The person wasn’t talented enough to bring in the talent!
2. The company can’t get the talent anymore so the job role isn’t required!
3. Or, there is so much talent at the company that it’s bursting at the seams, so job done and move on! Read more >>

All those expecting Hector Ruiz to finally reveal the plans for his ‘Asset Smart’ strategy during AMD’s annual investor conference will have been disappointed.
Read more >>

Though it's bound to get a lot of coverage, the news that Intel, Samsung and TSMC all want to see a 450mm pilot line in operation by 2012 shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone. Read more >>

Going back to December when AMD held an analyst conference in New York, Hector Ruiz and his current executive team wanted to convey the theme of the glass being half full rather than half empty. The problem was that no analysts came away from that meeting feeling that things were looking good. Read more >>

This time last year, Texas Instruments announced its top suppliers, just like they did today. The problem was that the wording was identical two years in a row, though the companies honored in the list were different. Read more >>

SEMI has taken the right step in introducing a new product awards mechanism for this year’s SEMICON West show, which replaces the past rendition that focused on just innovations from start-ups. The new system means that ‘ANY’ equipment/product/materials etc. company, old and new, can enter the competition. Read more >>

Three bits of news released this week raised more questions than gave answers, enough to remind me that curiosity killed the cat. Read more >>

It was only a couple of years ago that Micron Technology took the difficult steps towards becoming a ‘diversified’ IC manufacturer, gradually reducing its dependence on the PC DRAM commodity market. A key part of that strategy was CMOS image sensors and, due to key acquisitions and manufacturing expertise, Micron became the largest image sensor manufacturer. Read more >>

The three major memory markets, DRAM, NAND and NOR, have suffered terribly in 2007. Rather than poor end-demand or lack of killer apps for consumers to consume, the problem is self-inflicted as demand has been incredibly strong but supply has been even stronger. Read more >>