MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA: Synopsys Inc. announced that Renesas Technology Corp., the world's No.1 supplier of microcontrollers and one of the world's premier semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (Audio Visual) markets, has adopted Synopsys Proteus OPC for 45-nanometer (nm) production.
With the introduction of 45-nm and below technologies, the demand for optical proximity correction (OPC) becomes greater due to design complexity and layer volume, making time to market and cost of ownership critical factors in OPC vendor selection. Proteus OPC is the industry's most cost-effective solution, since its highly scalable engine runs on standard hardware.
"At Renesas, we are faced with the challenge to tape out large volumes of 45-nm designs with severe schedule constraints," said Hitoshi Sugihara, department manager, DFM & Digital EDA Technology Dept., Design and Development Unit at Renesas Technology Corp. "We selected Proteus OPC since it meets our technology, schedule, and costs requirements. This decision will enable us to sustain our leadership in microcontrollers and semiconductor system solutions."
Proteus delivers near-linear scalability so that designers can efficiently utilize hundreds of cores, allowing them to balance turnaround-time with cost. Proteus is the only tool that enables users to effectively manage technology requirements, turnaround time and cost through the inclusion of both frequency- and space-domain simulation engines.
With this capability, users can deploy the more accurate frequency-domain engine for the most critical layers and utilize the faster space-domain engine for the non-critical layers. ProGen, Proteus' highly customizable solution calibrates a single model that is utilized by both the space- and frequency-domain engines.
"As a leading semiconductor system solutions provider focusing on cutting-edge designs, Renesas has a critical need for an OPC solution that reduces turnaround time and cost," said Howard Ko, senior vice president and general manager of the Silicon Engineering Group at Synopsys. "Renesas' adoption of Synopsys Proteus OPC is proof that Synopsys' technology is the best solution to address these advanced design requirements."
Showing posts with label Renesas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Renesas. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
TV IC market declines seasonally to 30.8mn units shipped in Q1’09
AUSTIN, USA: The TV IC market declined seasonally to 30.8 million units shipped into flat panel TVs in Q1’09, according to the latest research in the DisplaySearch Q2’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report.
Shipments were down 4.3 percent Q/Q, but up 11 percent Y/Y. This is in line with the normal seasonal trends, and with the maturing of flat panel TV as developed markets have completed the switch from CRT TVs.
The growth of integrated digital TVs and the analog switch-off in developed regions is profoundly changing the demands of broadcast reception.
While it is clear that analog reception will remain a requirement for some years after switch-off dates, a combination of silicon tuner IC maturity, a more benign reception environment, and cost pressure will bring silicon tuners into the mainstream.
DisplaySearch forecasts that silicon tuners will grow to just under 39 million units shipped into TV sets in 2013, compared to a total of 177 million sets shipped with digital decoding.
By then, Japan, the EU and the US will all have completed analog switch-off, but the fastest growth will be in emerging markets, which are expected to increase from 4 million in 2009 to 70 million in 2013.
“While silicon tuners still have a way to go to exceed the performance of the best ‘can tuner’ modules, they are poised to grow rapidly in television sets” Paul Gray, DisplaySearch Director of European TV Research noted.
Gray added: “Despite the strong growth of digital TVs, it would be unwise to ignore analog transmissions, which will live on for some years in older cable installations, low power transmissions and to support legacy equipment. It will be a brave product manager who makes a digital-only set even in 2013.”
Fig. 1: Shipment Forecast for TVs with Terrestrial Silicon Tuners
Source: DisplaySearch Q2’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report.
Industry consolidation took several steps in the quarter, with Micronas completing the sale of its frame rate conversion, audio and demodulator product lines to Trident.
The remainder of its consumer business (including the TV system-on-chip business) will cease by the end of the year. In addition, NEC and Renesas announced an intention to merge, while AMD’s TV IC business completed its first quarter as part of Broadcom, now one of the top five TV system IC suppliers.
Table 1: Top TV System IC Vendors
Source: DisplaySearch Q2’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report.
Other highlights from DisplaySearch’s Quarterly TV Electronics Report include:
* An analysis of the emergence of silicon tuners into TV sets: This includes technical requirements, the future shape of the tuner business and a forecast of silicon tuners in TV sets. DisplaySearch expects that 38.9 million TV sets sold in 2013 will have silicon tuners.
* Forecast and analysis of 200/240 Hz TVs, including a comparison of the different video processing systems used by major set makers.
* Outlook for MPEG-4 enabled TVs for the latest HD DVB broadcast in Europe, networked TVs and sets with DVB-S2 reception: DisplaySearch forecasts that almost 110 million MPEG-4 ICs will be built into TVs in 2012.
Shipments were down 4.3 percent Q/Q, but up 11 percent Y/Y. This is in line with the normal seasonal trends, and with the maturing of flat panel TV as developed markets have completed the switch from CRT TVs.
The growth of integrated digital TVs and the analog switch-off in developed regions is profoundly changing the demands of broadcast reception.
While it is clear that analog reception will remain a requirement for some years after switch-off dates, a combination of silicon tuner IC maturity, a more benign reception environment, and cost pressure will bring silicon tuners into the mainstream.
DisplaySearch forecasts that silicon tuners will grow to just under 39 million units shipped into TV sets in 2013, compared to a total of 177 million sets shipped with digital decoding.
By then, Japan, the EU and the US will all have completed analog switch-off, but the fastest growth will be in emerging markets, which are expected to increase from 4 million in 2009 to 70 million in 2013.
“While silicon tuners still have a way to go to exceed the performance of the best ‘can tuner’ modules, they are poised to grow rapidly in television sets” Paul Gray, DisplaySearch Director of European TV Research noted.
Gray added: “Despite the strong growth of digital TVs, it would be unwise to ignore analog transmissions, which will live on for some years in older cable installations, low power transmissions and to support legacy equipment. It will be a brave product manager who makes a digital-only set even in 2013.”
Fig. 1: Shipment Forecast for TVs with Terrestrial Silicon Tuners
Source: DisplaySearch Q2’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report.Industry consolidation took several steps in the quarter, with Micronas completing the sale of its frame rate conversion, audio and demodulator product lines to Trident.
The remainder of its consumer business (including the TV system-on-chip business) will cease by the end of the year. In addition, NEC and Renesas announced an intention to merge, while AMD’s TV IC business completed its first quarter as part of Broadcom, now one of the top five TV system IC suppliers.
Table 1: Top TV System IC Vendors
Source: DisplaySearch Q2’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report.Other highlights from DisplaySearch’s Quarterly TV Electronics Report include:
* An analysis of the emergence of silicon tuners into TV sets: This includes technical requirements, the future shape of the tuner business and a forecast of silicon tuners in TV sets. DisplaySearch expects that 38.9 million TV sets sold in 2013 will have silicon tuners.
* Forecast and analysis of 200/240 Hz TVs, including a comparison of the different video processing systems used by major set makers.
* Outlook for MPEG-4 enabled TVs for the latest HD DVB broadcast in Europe, networked TVs and sets with DVB-S2 reception: DisplaySearch forecasts that almost 110 million MPEG-4 ICs will be built into TVs in 2012.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Renesas intros 72-Mbit QDR II+ SRAM and DDR II+ SRAM family
SAN JOSE, USA: Renesas Technology America, Inc. has announced the 72-Mbit Quad Data Rate II+ (QDR II+) and Double Data Rate II+ (DDRII+) high-speed SRAM product family for use in high-end routers and switches in next-generation communication networks.
These SRAM products achieve the industry's fastest level operating speed and are compliant to the QDR Consortium industry standard. Additionally, this release also includes 72-Mbit QDRII and DDR II SRAM devices. The full range of devices, consisting of multiple speeds and configurations, will be available beginning in August 2009.
These new products offer the following features.
* Achievement of the industry's fastest level operating speeds: 533 MHz for the QDRII+ and DDRII+ SRAM and 333 MHz for the QDRII and DDRII versions
For these products, Renesas greatly increased the operating speeds, while maintaining low-voltage operation, by utilizing the advanced 45 nm fabrication process. The QDRII SRAM products achieve the industry's highest operating speed level of 333 MHz, and the QDRII+ SRAM products also provide the industry's highest operating speed level of 533 MHz.
These devices can support high-speed processing for packet look-up and packet buffer applications in high-end routers and switches that support 10G, 40G, and beyond multi-layer communication systems.
* Broad portfolio of 72-Mbit devices
Renesas will provide products that support three data I/O widths (9, 18, or 36 bits) and two burst lengths (2 or 4 words). In addition, Renesas will also provide products that feature a built-in ODT (on-die termination) function that significantly reduces the signal quality degradation that can occur during high-speed operation. Renesas' extensive lineup of QDRII, DDR II, QDRII+, and DDRII+ SRAM products allows users to select solutions that are optimal for their systems.
With the ever-growing popularity of the Internet, transmission speeds and the amount of traffic being sent to communication equipment continue to increase, with data rate speeds now exceeding 40-Gbits/second.
Checking data destinations and managing data packet traffic in high-end networking equipment is driving the demand for high density memory capable of high speeds. Furthermore, the complexity of data continues to increase with video, voice, and data applications, requiring even larger memory capacities.
“Renesas Technology currently provides a broad range of SRAMs for industrial applications and for cache memory in UNIX servers and workstations, and 18-Mbit Network SRAM and 36-Mbit DDRII and QDRII SRAM for communication equipment,” said Rob Raghavan, sr. marketing manager for the Solutions Business Unit, Renesas Technology America, Inc.
“As network equipment evolve to higher levels of performance and capability, Renesas Technology has leveraged its design expertise and manufacturing technologies to achieve higher speeds and high reliability for the 72-Mbit QDR II+ and DDR II+ SRAM products to meet the demands for higher speed, larger capacity, and greater bit widths required for communication applications.”
These products are available in all combinations of burst lengths and bit widths, and the standard HSTL (High-Speed Transistor Logic) interface is used for ultra high-speed synchronous SRAM.
The package used is a 165-pin plastic FBGA with a 15 mm × 17 mm size that features excellent thermal dissipation characteristics and is suitable for high-density mounting. These products are RoHS Directive compliant, and lead-free versions are also available.
The QDR pin configuration can support seamless migration to densities up to 288 Mbits in the future. In addition, FBGA package products support the IEEE standard test access port and boundary scan architecture (IEEE std. 1149.1-1990) that allow interchange connection checking during module mounting to be conducted at the board level.
In future developments in this area, Renesas has a solid roadmap and commitment to develop even larger and higher performance QDR/DDR SRAM products to support evolving customer needs.
These SRAM products achieve the industry's fastest level operating speed and are compliant to the QDR Consortium industry standard. Additionally, this release also includes 72-Mbit QDRII and DDR II SRAM devices. The full range of devices, consisting of multiple speeds and configurations, will be available beginning in August 2009.
These new products offer the following features.
* Achievement of the industry's fastest level operating speeds: 533 MHz for the QDRII+ and DDRII+ SRAM and 333 MHz for the QDRII and DDRII versions
For these products, Renesas greatly increased the operating speeds, while maintaining low-voltage operation, by utilizing the advanced 45 nm fabrication process. The QDRII SRAM products achieve the industry's highest operating speed level of 333 MHz, and the QDRII+ SRAM products also provide the industry's highest operating speed level of 533 MHz.
These devices can support high-speed processing for packet look-up and packet buffer applications in high-end routers and switches that support 10G, 40G, and beyond multi-layer communication systems.
* Broad portfolio of 72-Mbit devices
Renesas will provide products that support three data I/O widths (9, 18, or 36 bits) and two burst lengths (2 or 4 words). In addition, Renesas will also provide products that feature a built-in ODT (on-die termination) function that significantly reduces the signal quality degradation that can occur during high-speed operation. Renesas' extensive lineup of QDRII, DDR II, QDRII+, and DDRII+ SRAM products allows users to select solutions that are optimal for their systems.
With the ever-growing popularity of the Internet, transmission speeds and the amount of traffic being sent to communication equipment continue to increase, with data rate speeds now exceeding 40-Gbits/second.
Checking data destinations and managing data packet traffic in high-end networking equipment is driving the demand for high density memory capable of high speeds. Furthermore, the complexity of data continues to increase with video, voice, and data applications, requiring even larger memory capacities.
“Renesas Technology currently provides a broad range of SRAMs for industrial applications and for cache memory in UNIX servers and workstations, and 18-Mbit Network SRAM and 36-Mbit DDRII and QDRII SRAM for communication equipment,” said Rob Raghavan, sr. marketing manager for the Solutions Business Unit, Renesas Technology America, Inc.
“As network equipment evolve to higher levels of performance and capability, Renesas Technology has leveraged its design expertise and manufacturing technologies to achieve higher speeds and high reliability for the 72-Mbit QDR II+ and DDR II+ SRAM products to meet the demands for higher speed, larger capacity, and greater bit widths required for communication applications.”
These products are available in all combinations of burst lengths and bit widths, and the standard HSTL (High-Speed Transistor Logic) interface is used for ultra high-speed synchronous SRAM.
The package used is a 165-pin plastic FBGA with a 15 mm × 17 mm size that features excellent thermal dissipation characteristics and is suitable for high-density mounting. These products are RoHS Directive compliant, and lead-free versions are also available.
The QDR pin configuration can support seamless migration to densities up to 288 Mbits in the future. In addition, FBGA package products support the IEEE standard test access port and boundary scan architecture (IEEE std. 1149.1-1990) that allow interchange connection checking during module mounting to be conducted at the board level.
In future developments in this area, Renesas has a solid roadmap and commitment to develop even larger and higher performance QDR/DDR SRAM products to support evolving customer needs.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Elpida to get funds from government, Taiwan Memory
This is a very important news, courtesy, MarketWatch!
By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch): Elpida Memory Inc. will receive 50 billion yen ($521 million), the government said Tuesday, much of it as part of Japan's new recapitalization program for struggling non-financial companies.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Elpida will get 30 billion yen from the Development Bank of Japan by the end of August in exchange for preferred shares.
The infusion is part of a new program is aimed at supporting companies whose failure the government fears could have a broader economic impact.
"Elpida faces a very tough environment," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai was quoted as saying in several reports from the region. "DRAMs are widely used by major industries in our country, and securing the stable supply of them will benefit people's lives, as well as economic and industrial activities."
Taiwan Memory Co., a chipmaker set up by the island's government, plans to invest an additional 20 billion yen by the end of this fiscal year ending in March 2010, the ministry also said.
Elpida Memory Inc. President Yukio Sakamoto reportedly told a news conference Tuesday that the fund injection under the government's new aid program was the best option available for the chip maker to secure funding and remain competitive.
Last month, Japan's only maker of dynamic random access memory chips posted a group net loss of 178.8 billion yen for the fiscal year which ended in March, deeper than its 23.5 billion yen loss for fiscal 2007.
Pioneer, NEC next?
Other Japanese firms are expected to follow Elpida's move to seek funds.
Pioneer Corp., which anticipates a sixth consecutive year of losses this fiscal year, is now making preparations to apply for a public fund infusion, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported Tuesday.
NEC Electronics Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp. are also expected to consider taking action if their planned merger next April goes through as expected, the report said.
In Tokyo, Elpida shares closed up 1.4 percent, and NEC Electronics gained 4.2 percent. But Pioneer shed 1 percent.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average rose 1.8 percent.
Lisa Twaronite reports for MarketWatch from Tokyo.
By Lisa Twaronite, MarketWatch
TOKYO (MarketWatch): Elpida Memory Inc. will receive 50 billion yen ($521 million), the government said Tuesday, much of it as part of Japan's new recapitalization program for struggling non-financial companies.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Elpida will get 30 billion yen from the Development Bank of Japan by the end of August in exchange for preferred shares.
The infusion is part of a new program is aimed at supporting companies whose failure the government fears could have a broader economic impact.
"Elpida faces a very tough environment," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Toshihiro Nikai was quoted as saying in several reports from the region. "DRAMs are widely used by major industries in our country, and securing the stable supply of them will benefit people's lives, as well as economic and industrial activities."
Taiwan Memory Co., a chipmaker set up by the island's government, plans to invest an additional 20 billion yen by the end of this fiscal year ending in March 2010, the ministry also said.
Elpida Memory Inc. President Yukio Sakamoto reportedly told a news conference Tuesday that the fund injection under the government's new aid program was the best option available for the chip maker to secure funding and remain competitive.
Last month, Japan's only maker of dynamic random access memory chips posted a group net loss of 178.8 billion yen for the fiscal year which ended in March, deeper than its 23.5 billion yen loss for fiscal 2007.
Pioneer, NEC next?
Other Japanese firms are expected to follow Elpida's move to seek funds.
Pioneer Corp., which anticipates a sixth consecutive year of losses this fiscal year, is now making preparations to apply for a public fund infusion, Japanese business daily Nikkei reported Tuesday.
NEC Electronics Corp. and Renesas Technology Corp. are also expected to consider taking action if their planned merger next April goes through as expected, the report said.
In Tokyo, Elpida shares closed up 1.4 percent, and NEC Electronics gained 4.2 percent. But Pioneer shed 1 percent.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Average rose 1.8 percent.
Lisa Twaronite reports for MarketWatch from Tokyo.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
TV IC market experiences seasonal decline in Q1’09
AUSTIN, USA: DisplaySearch’s latest research indicates that the TV IC shipments declined seasonally to 30.8 million units for flat panel TVs in Q1’09, according to its Quarterly TV Electronics Report.
Shipments were down by 4.3 percent Q/Q, but up 11 percent Y/Y. This is in line with seasonal trends and with the maturing of the flat panel TV market as developed markets have completed the switch from CRT TVs.
“Concerns over the economic outlook caused set-makers to slash inventory in 2008,” noted Paul Gray, Director of Europe TV Market Research. “Despite this, sales in developed regions have remained resilient, and there is some inventory re-build to support ongoing market levels.”
DisplaySearch’s results also indicate that continued industry consolidation has resulted in an increased share for top-tier IC vendors. At the same time, the real expansion of the flat panel TV market is now in emerging regions and in price-fighter models in mature markets.
Specifically, Micronas completed the sale of its FRC, Audio and Demod product lines to Trident, with the remainder of its consumer business (including the TV SoC business) ceasing by the end of the year. In addition, NEC and Renesas announced an intention to merge, and AMD’s TV IC business completed its first quarter as part of Broadcom.
Table 1: Top TV System IC Vendors
Source: Q1’09 Quarterly TV Electronics Report
Other highlights from the most recent Quarterly TV Electronics Report include
* Mediatek regained some share as seasonal emphasis returned to the North American market and TV set inventories were rebuilt after a cautious end to 2008.
* Growing rapidly, propelled by a shipment surge from LGE and also showing strength in China.
* Samsung also gained share as their in-house customer continues to grow in the TV market. The depreciating Korean won has also made them more competitive against merchant ICs priced in US dollars.
Shipments were down by 4.3 percent Q/Q, but up 11 percent Y/Y. This is in line with seasonal trends and with the maturing of the flat panel TV market as developed markets have completed the switch from CRT TVs.
“Concerns over the economic outlook caused set-makers to slash inventory in 2008,” noted Paul Gray, Director of Europe TV Market Research. “Despite this, sales in developed regions have remained resilient, and there is some inventory re-build to support ongoing market levels.”
DisplaySearch’s results also indicate that continued industry consolidation has resulted in an increased share for top-tier IC vendors. At the same time, the real expansion of the flat panel TV market is now in emerging regions and in price-fighter models in mature markets.
Specifically, Micronas completed the sale of its FRC, Audio and Demod product lines to Trident, with the remainder of its consumer business (including the TV SoC business) ceasing by the end of the year. In addition, NEC and Renesas announced an intention to merge, and AMD’s TV IC business completed its first quarter as part of Broadcom.
Table 1: Top TV System IC Vendors
Source: Q1’09 Quarterly TV Electronics ReportOther highlights from the most recent Quarterly TV Electronics Report include
* Mediatek regained some share as seasonal emphasis returned to the North American market and TV set inventories were rebuilt after a cautious end to 2008.
* Growing rapidly, propelled by a shipment surge from LGE and also showing strength in China.
* Samsung also gained share as their in-house customer continues to grow in the TV market. The depreciating Korean won has also made them more competitive against merchant ICs priced in US dollars.
Monday, April 27, 2009
NEC and Renesas to integrate biz ops, establish world's third largest semicon firm
KAWASAKI & TOKYO, JAPAN: NEC Electronics Corp. Renesas Technology Corp., NEC Corp. Hitachi Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. today agreed to enter into negotiations to integrate business operations at NEC Electronics and Renesas.
1. Background and goals of business integration
NEC Electronics was established in 2002, separating from NEC, and Renesas was established in 2003, integrating semiconductor units at Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric. Both as leading semiconductor companies, NEC Electronics and Renesas provide a wide variety of semiconductor solutions, primarily specializing in microcontroller units (MCUs). In light of fierce global competition in the semiconductor market, NEC Electronics and Renesas have agreed to explore the possibility of business integration in order to further strengthen their business foundations and technological assets while increasing corporate value through enhanced customer satisfaction.
By integrating the world’s two largest MCU suppliers, the new company will provide one of the most competitive MCU product lineups throughout the world.
NEC Electronics and Renesas both focus on the fast-growing field of system-on-chip (SoCs) products. NEC Electronics is a leading producer of SoCs for digital consumer electronics, while Renesas is a well established manufacturer of SoCs for mobile phones and automotive applications. By reinforcing the companies’ respective strengths and development resources the new company will provide globally competitive SoC products.
In terms of the discrete semiconductor business, both companies will define strategies to enhance the competitiveness of analog and discrete products that generate synergies with MCUs.
The new integrated company will have three major product groups, MCUs, SoCs, and discrete products, and will become the world’s third-largest semiconductor business. The new company will select and focus on the development of projects covering a diverse range of fields and will expand its comprehensive lineup of globally competitive products.
In order to address the ongoing challenges of the current economic downturn, NEC Electronics and Renesas will each execute structural reform plans in order to strengthen their business frameworks. Upon completion of these structural reforms, the two companies will integrate their operations to achieve synergies and boost profitability. This integration will result in the establishment of a powerful new semiconductor company that is capable of consistently achieving high earnings and maintaining the ability to withstand changing market conditions.
2. Corporate structure following integration
The preconditions for holding future negotiations are to integrate business operations on April 1, 2010, and to maintain public listing for the new company.
To ensure fairness and equitability, the ownership ratio of the integrated company will be decided and announced before the conclusion of the integration contract through negotiations between NEC Electronics and Renesas, based on scheduled due diligence. The new company will announce the company name, the location of its headquarters, the corporate representative, the board members, capitalization, total assets, and financial forecasts following the integration.
3. Schedule moving forward
NEC Electronics and Renesas plan to sign an agreement at the end of July, 2009 to integrate their business operations. The dates and details of the extraordinary general meetings of shareholders for NEC Electronics and Renesas to consider approval of the integration are to be announced following the signing of the agreement.
Implementation of the planned business integration is conditional upon authorization of the integration by the relevant government agencies.
1. Background and goals of business integration
NEC Electronics was established in 2002, separating from NEC, and Renesas was established in 2003, integrating semiconductor units at Hitachi and Mitsubishi Electric. Both as leading semiconductor companies, NEC Electronics and Renesas provide a wide variety of semiconductor solutions, primarily specializing in microcontroller units (MCUs). In light of fierce global competition in the semiconductor market, NEC Electronics and Renesas have agreed to explore the possibility of business integration in order to further strengthen their business foundations and technological assets while increasing corporate value through enhanced customer satisfaction.
By integrating the world’s two largest MCU suppliers, the new company will provide one of the most competitive MCU product lineups throughout the world.
NEC Electronics and Renesas both focus on the fast-growing field of system-on-chip (SoCs) products. NEC Electronics is a leading producer of SoCs for digital consumer electronics, while Renesas is a well established manufacturer of SoCs for mobile phones and automotive applications. By reinforcing the companies’ respective strengths and development resources the new company will provide globally competitive SoC products.
In terms of the discrete semiconductor business, both companies will define strategies to enhance the competitiveness of analog and discrete products that generate synergies with MCUs.
The new integrated company will have three major product groups, MCUs, SoCs, and discrete products, and will become the world’s third-largest semiconductor business. The new company will select and focus on the development of projects covering a diverse range of fields and will expand its comprehensive lineup of globally competitive products.
In order to address the ongoing challenges of the current economic downturn, NEC Electronics and Renesas will each execute structural reform plans in order to strengthen their business frameworks. Upon completion of these structural reforms, the two companies will integrate their operations to achieve synergies and boost profitability. This integration will result in the establishment of a powerful new semiconductor company that is capable of consistently achieving high earnings and maintaining the ability to withstand changing market conditions.
2. Corporate structure following integration
The preconditions for holding future negotiations are to integrate business operations on April 1, 2010, and to maintain public listing for the new company.
To ensure fairness and equitability, the ownership ratio of the integrated company will be decided and announced before the conclusion of the integration contract through negotiations between NEC Electronics and Renesas, based on scheduled due diligence. The new company will announce the company name, the location of its headquarters, the corporate representative, the board members, capitalization, total assets, and financial forecasts following the integration.
3. Schedule moving forward
NEC Electronics and Renesas plan to sign an agreement at the end of July, 2009 to integrate their business operations. The dates and details of the extraordinary general meetings of shareholders for NEC Electronics and Renesas to consider approval of the integration are to be announced following the signing of the agreement.
Implementation of the planned business integration is conditional upon authorization of the integration by the relevant government agencies.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Top 20 global semicon companies -- DRAM, Flash suppliers drop out
IC Insights recently published the May update to The McClean Report, featuring the Top 20 global semiconductor companies. Not surprisingly, there have been some significant movers and shakers. The most telling -- quite a few of the major DRAM and Flash suppliers have dropped out of the Top 20 list!
First the movers! Fabless supplier Qualcomm jumped up four spots, ranking as the 10th largest semiconductor supplier in Q1-08. Next, Broadcom, the third largest fabless supplier, also moved up four positions, up to the 20th position. Panasonic (earlier, Matsushita), moved up to the 19th position, while NEC of Japan moved up to the 13th position.
TSMC, the leading foundry, moved up one position, registering the highest -- 44 percent -- year-over-year Q1-08 growth rate, besides being ranked 5th. Nvidia, the second largest fabless supplier, was another company registering a high YoY growth rate of 37 percent, and moved into the 18th position. Some others like Infineon, Sony and Renesas also climbed a place higher each, respectively. The top four retained their positions -- Intel, Samsung, TI and Toshiba.
And now, the shakers! The volatile DRAM and Flash markets have ensured the exit of several well known names such as Qimonda, Elpida, Spansion, Powerchip, Nanya, etc., from the list of the top 20 global semiconductor companies, at least for now.
Among the others in the list, the biggest drops were registered by NXP, which dropped to 14th from 11th last year, and AMD, which dropped two places, from 10th to 12th. Two memory suppliers -- Hynix and Micron -- also slipped two places, to 9th and 15th places, respectively. STMicroelectronics also slipped from 5th to 6th. IBM too slipped out of the top 20 list.
The top 20 global semiconductor firms comprises of eight US companies (including three fabless suppliers), six Japanese, three European, two South Korean, and one Taiwanese foundry (TSMC). Also, looking at the realities of the foundry market, TSMC's lead is now unassailable. If TSMC was an IDM, it would be No. 2, challenging Intel and passing Samsung, said one analyst, recently, a thought shared by many.
IC Insights has reported that since the Euro and the Yen are strong against the dollar, this effect will impact global semiconductor market figures when reported in US dollars this year.
There are some other things to watch out for. Following a miserable 2007, the global DRAM module market is likely to rebound gradually in 2008 due to the projected recovery in the overall memory industry, according to an iSuppli report. That remains to be seen.
Some new DRAM camps -- such as Elpida-Qimonda, and Micron-Nanya -- have been formed. It will be interesting to see how these perform, as will be the performance of ST-backed Numonyx.
Further, the oversupply of NAND Flash worsened in Q1-08, impacted by the effect of the US sub-prime mortgage loan and a slow season, according to DRAMeXchange. The NAND Flash ASP fell about 35 percent compared to Q4-07. Although the overall bit shipment grew about 30 percent compared to Q4-07, the total Q1-08 sales of branded NAND Flash makers fell 15.8 percent QoQ to US$3.24bn. Will the NAND Flash market recover and by when?
First the movers! Fabless supplier Qualcomm jumped up four spots, ranking as the 10th largest semiconductor supplier in Q1-08. Next, Broadcom, the third largest fabless supplier, also moved up four positions, up to the 20th position. Panasonic (earlier, Matsushita), moved up to the 19th position, while NEC of Japan moved up to the 13th position.TSMC, the leading foundry, moved up one position, registering the highest -- 44 percent -- year-over-year Q1-08 growth rate, besides being ranked 5th. Nvidia, the second largest fabless supplier, was another company registering a high YoY growth rate of 37 percent, and moved into the 18th position. Some others like Infineon, Sony and Renesas also climbed a place higher each, respectively. The top four retained their positions -- Intel, Samsung, TI and Toshiba.
And now, the shakers! The volatile DRAM and Flash markets have ensured the exit of several well known names such as Qimonda, Elpida, Spansion, Powerchip, Nanya, etc., from the list of the top 20 global semiconductor companies, at least for now.
Among the others in the list, the biggest drops were registered by NXP, which dropped to 14th from 11th last year, and AMD, which dropped two places, from 10th to 12th. Two memory suppliers -- Hynix and Micron -- also slipped two places, to 9th and 15th places, respectively. STMicroelectronics also slipped from 5th to 6th. IBM too slipped out of the top 20 list.
The top 20 global semiconductor firms comprises of eight US companies (including three fabless suppliers), six Japanese, three European, two South Korean, and one Taiwanese foundry (TSMC). Also, looking at the realities of the foundry market, TSMC's lead is now unassailable. If TSMC was an IDM, it would be No. 2, challenging Intel and passing Samsung, said one analyst, recently, a thought shared by many.
IC Insights has reported that since the Euro and the Yen are strong against the dollar, this effect will impact global semiconductor market figures when reported in US dollars this year.
There are some other things to watch out for. Following a miserable 2007, the global DRAM module market is likely to rebound gradually in 2008 due to the projected recovery in the overall memory industry, according to an iSuppli report. That remains to be seen.
Some new DRAM camps -- such as Elpida-Qimonda, and Micron-Nanya -- have been formed. It will be interesting to see how these perform, as will be the performance of ST-backed Numonyx.
Further, the oversupply of NAND Flash worsened in Q1-08, impacted by the effect of the US sub-prime mortgage loan and a slow season, according to DRAMeXchange. The NAND Flash ASP fell about 35 percent compared to Q4-07. Although the overall bit shipment grew about 30 percent compared to Q4-07, the total Q1-08 sales of branded NAND Flash makers fell 15.8 percent QoQ to US$3.24bn. Will the NAND Flash market recover and by when?
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
NAND Q108 sales falls 15.8 percent
There's a nice report today by DRAMeXchange on the state of the NAND Flash market. It is reproduced here.
Impacted by effect of the US sub-prime mortgage loan and a slow season, oversupply of NAND Flash worsened in 1Q08. NAND Flash ASP fell about 35 percent compared to 4Q07. Although the overall bit shipment grew about 30 percent compared to 4Q07, the total 1Q08 sales of branded NAND Flash makers fell 15.8 percent QoQ to US$3.24bn.
Ranked by the overall 1Q08 sales, Samsung continues to lead. The top five NAND Flash branded makers shared 96.8 percent of the whole market share in 1Q08.
Although the NAND Flash market share by sales for Samsung in 1Q08 fell to roughly 39.6 percent compared to 4Q07, Samsung continues to be the leader in branded market.
Despite the increase proportion of 51nm node production, affected by the deep decline in NAND Flash price, 1Q08 sales fell 18.7 percent QoQ to US$1.28bn.
NAND Flash market share by sales for Toshiba rose to 26.4 percent compared to 4Q07 and continued to be in the second place among the branded NAND Flash makers.
Due to Toshiba's successful increase in 56nm node production, it was able to resist the effect of the NAND Flash price decline. However, 1Q08 sales were flat compared to 4Q07 at US$855m.
The 1Q08 market share by sales for Hynix fell to 17.5 percent, though it continued to stay at the number three spot among branded NAND Flash makers. As Hynix lowered its NAND Flash production, 1Q08 bit shipment increased only 9 percent QoQ. However, due to the fall of NAND Flash ASP at 39 percent QoQ, 1Q08 sales for Hynix fell to US$569m, or a decline of 29.1 percent QoQ.
With the ramp up of 50nm node, Micron and Intel continued to see steady growth in a bit shipment in 1Q08. However, impacted by the large decline in NAND Flash price, their 1Q08 sales fell compared to 4Q07. Micron and Intel 1Q08 sales were US$248m and US$181m, respectively, with a market share of 7.7 percent and 5.6 percent, each.
As STMicroelectronics primarily produces NAND Flash for cell phone applications, revenue for 1Q08 was not as severely impacted by the price decline. Revenue for STMicro in 1Q08 fell slightly to US$85m, or a slight decline of 6.6 percent compared to 4Q07. The 1Q08 market share by sales was 2.6 percent.
Since Renesas continued to reduce its AG-AND Flash production in 1Q08, Renesas/PSC camp sales fell roughly 60 percent compared to 4Q07 with a market share of 0.6 percent.
Impacted by effect of the US sub-prime mortgage loan and a slow season, oversupply of NAND Flash worsened in 1Q08. NAND Flash ASP fell about 35 percent compared to 4Q07. Although the overall bit shipment grew about 30 percent compared to 4Q07, the total 1Q08 sales of branded NAND Flash makers fell 15.8 percent QoQ to US$3.24bn.
Ranked by the overall 1Q08 sales, Samsung continues to lead. The top five NAND Flash branded makers shared 96.8 percent of the whole market share in 1Q08.Although the NAND Flash market share by sales for Samsung in 1Q08 fell to roughly 39.6 percent compared to 4Q07, Samsung continues to be the leader in branded market.
Despite the increase proportion of 51nm node production, affected by the deep decline in NAND Flash price, 1Q08 sales fell 18.7 percent QoQ to US$1.28bn.
NAND Flash market share by sales for Toshiba rose to 26.4 percent compared to 4Q07 and continued to be in the second place among the branded NAND Flash makers.
Due to Toshiba's successful increase in 56nm node production, it was able to resist the effect of the NAND Flash price decline. However, 1Q08 sales were flat compared to 4Q07 at US$855m.
The 1Q08 market share by sales for Hynix fell to 17.5 percent, though it continued to stay at the number three spot among branded NAND Flash makers. As Hynix lowered its NAND Flash production, 1Q08 bit shipment increased only 9 percent QoQ. However, due to the fall of NAND Flash ASP at 39 percent QoQ, 1Q08 sales for Hynix fell to US$569m, or a decline of 29.1 percent QoQ.
With the ramp up of 50nm node, Micron and Intel continued to see steady growth in a bit shipment in 1Q08. However, impacted by the large decline in NAND Flash price, their 1Q08 sales fell compared to 4Q07. Micron and Intel 1Q08 sales were US$248m and US$181m, respectively, with a market share of 7.7 percent and 5.6 percent, each.
As STMicroelectronics primarily produces NAND Flash for cell phone applications, revenue for 1Q08 was not as severely impacted by the price decline. Revenue for STMicro in 1Q08 fell slightly to US$85m, or a slight decline of 6.6 percent compared to 4Q07. The 1Q08 market share by sales was 2.6 percent.
Since Renesas continued to reduce its AG-AND Flash production in 1Q08, Renesas/PSC camp sales fell roughly 60 percent compared to 4Q07 with a market share of 0.6 percent.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Top 10 semicon firms of 2007 by revenue
According to Gartner, the top 10 semiconductor firms for 2007 by revenue are: Intel, Samsung Electronics, Toshiba, Texas Instruments, STMicroelectronics, Infineon Technologies (including Qimonda), Hynix Semiconductor, Renesas Technology, NXP Semiconductors, and NEC Electronics.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $270.3 billion in 2007, a 2.9 percent increase from 2006, according to preliminary results from Gartner Inc.
Vendor performances were mixed with two vendors in the top 10 that experienced double-digit growth and two vendors that showed declines in revenue.
"Semiconductor vendors need to watch the performance of their end customers even closer as a major part of the industry becomes increasingly tied to consumer spending patterns," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "Loss of market share in an end-user application, such as a mobile phone, by a customer (a mobile phone manufacturer) can have a dramatic effect on a vendor's business."
Intel grew revenue more than twice as fast as the semiconductor market average, and it is likely to edge up its market share to 12.2 percent in 2007 from 11.6 percent in 2006.
Intel’s growth came primarily from strong shipments of mobile PCs. Armed with a strong product lineup for enthusiast desktops and servers, Intel regained lost share in those markets from AMD.
While the global market for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) is expected to decline in 2007 due to a severe drop in prices caused by oversupply, Samsung Electronics is likely to increase its revenue by slightly higher than the overall global semiconductor market growth rate (DRAM is one the firm's main products).
Samsung's growth is driven by steady revenue growth in NAND flash memory and strong revenue growth in nonmemory areas such as application processors, media integrated circuits (IC), complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, smart card ICs and LCD driver ICs.
Toshiba’s revenue increased 27.8 percent in 2007 to $12,504 million, gaining three places in the rankings and moving into third place. The rapid gains mainly came from NAND flash memory.
Toshiba also increased production of CMOS image sensors for mobile phones and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)/application-specific standard products (ASSPs) revenue for digital consumer electronics, including LCD TVs, next-generation DVDs (HD DVDs) and video game consoles.
Worldwide semiconductor revenue totaled $270.3 billion in 2007, a 2.9 percent increase from 2006, according to preliminary results from Gartner Inc.
Vendor performances were mixed with two vendors in the top 10 that experienced double-digit growth and two vendors that showed declines in revenue.
"Semiconductor vendors need to watch the performance of their end customers even closer as a major part of the industry becomes increasingly tied to consumer spending patterns," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "Loss of market share in an end-user application, such as a mobile phone, by a customer (a mobile phone manufacturer) can have a dramatic effect on a vendor's business."
Intel grew revenue more than twice as fast as the semiconductor market average, and it is likely to edge up its market share to 12.2 percent in 2007 from 11.6 percent in 2006.
Intel’s growth came primarily from strong shipments of mobile PCs. Armed with a strong product lineup for enthusiast desktops and servers, Intel regained lost share in those markets from AMD.
While the global market for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) is expected to decline in 2007 due to a severe drop in prices caused by oversupply, Samsung Electronics is likely to increase its revenue by slightly higher than the overall global semiconductor market growth rate (DRAM is one the firm's main products).
Samsung's growth is driven by steady revenue growth in NAND flash memory and strong revenue growth in nonmemory areas such as application processors, media integrated circuits (IC), complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, smart card ICs and LCD driver ICs.
Toshiba’s revenue increased 27.8 percent in 2007 to $12,504 million, gaining three places in the rankings and moving into third place. The rapid gains mainly came from NAND flash memory.
Toshiba also increased production of CMOS image sensors for mobile phones and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)/application-specific standard products (ASSPs) revenue for digital consumer electronics, including LCD TVs, next-generation DVDs (HD DVDs) and video game consoles.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Major shakeups in top 10 semiconductor supplier rankings
According to the latest report from IC Insights, there have been major shakeups in the global top 10 rankings among suppliers of semiconductors.
Here's what IC Insights has to say regarding some of the changes that took place in 3Q07:
* Toshiba rode the coat-tails of a 46 percent 3Q07/2Q07 NAND flash memory market surge to post an amazing 40 percent 3Q07/2Q07 semiconductor sales increase. This increase helped propel Toshiba to a third place ranking, its highest since being ranked as the second largest semiconductor supplier in 2000.
* AMD continues to display a nice recovery this year with its 3Q07 sales increasing 18 percent over 2Q07, which follows a 12 percent sequential increase in 2Q07/1Q07. As part of its continuing MPU marketshare battle with Intel, AMD is expected to announce a major manufacturing/foundry deal in the second half of 2007.
* The largest pure-play foundry in the world, TSMC, jumped one spot in 3Q07 as compared to the full-year 2006 ranking as the company recorded a strong 3Q07/2Q07 sales increase of 21 percent. It should be noted that after operating at only 83 percent capacity utilization in 1Q07, TSMC surpassed its “company-defined” 100 percent capacity utilization level in 3Q07!
* If pure-play foundry TSMC were excluded from the ranking, NXP would have been in the tenth position.
* In spite of 3Q07 DRAM pricing weakness, Hynix took advantage of its strong NAND flash marketshare to move from seventh to sixth place in the ranking.
* Freescale continues to feel the pain of its biggest customer, Motorola, as the company went from being ranked as the ninth largest semiconductor supplier in the world in 2006 to sixteenth in 3Q07. Unfortunately for Freescale, Motorola has gone from holding a 22 percent share of cellular phone unit shipments in 3Q06 (53.7 million) to securing only a 13 percent share in 3Q07 (37.2 million).
* TI, ST, and Renesas were the only top 10 companies to register less than double-digit 3Q07/2Q07 sequential sales growth rates. Each one of these companies is a top-10 supplier to the currently slow-growing analog IC market.
* The top 10 listing consists of three U.S., three Japanese, two Korean, one European, and one Taiwanese company.
Through the end of 2007, IC Insights expects to see pricing stability return to the DRAM memory market, surging IC demand for PCs and high-end cellular phones, and a continuation of the seasonal rebound in overall semiconductor demand that began in August.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Shifts in top 20 global semicon rankings
If the recent preliminary results released by IC Insights is anything to go by, there have been some movements among the top 20 semiconductor companies of the world during H1-2007. This is best illustrated by the table below.
While the top three -- Intel, Samsung and TI, retain their positions, ST and Toshiba have exchanged the next two positions, as have Hynix and TSMC, while Renesas remains at no. 8!
Freescale has taken a big drop from no. 9 to no. 16, while Sony, NXP and NEC gained one place each. Infineon has climbed back up to no. 12, from no. 16, while Qualcomm occupies the no. 13 position, up from no. 17. AMD dropped two positions, from no. 13 to no. 15.
Will the semicon industry see a tight year ahead? As per reports, IC Insights said that there should be a "noticeable seasonal rebound" in overall IC demand beginning in September 2007, which may cause "significant changes" in the top 20 semiconductor ranking in the second half of 2007. Wait and watch this space!
While the top three -- Intel, Samsung and TI, retain their positions, ST and Toshiba have exchanged the next two positions, as have Hynix and TSMC, while Renesas remains at no. 8!
Freescale has taken a big drop from no. 9 to no. 16, while Sony, NXP and NEC gained one place each. Infineon has climbed back up to no. 12, from no. 16, while Qualcomm occupies the no. 13 position, up from no. 17. AMD dropped two positions, from no. 13 to no. 15.
Will the semicon industry see a tight year ahead? As per reports, IC Insights said that there should be a "noticeable seasonal rebound" in overall IC demand beginning in September 2007, which may cause "significant changes" in the top 20 semiconductor ranking in the second half of 2007. Wait and watch this space!
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