The Bangalore, India, arm of Text 100, a well known PR firm, sent me a presentation this Friday, which is about a global bloggers survey! This survey received inputs from 449 technology, news and lifestyle bloggers across 21 countries.
On receiving it, I wondered why I was never part of this list? This puzzled me a lot since the Text 100 India team is always speaking with me at least once a week for something or the other! Perhaps, I am a blogger from India and not so important! :) Never mind! The folks at Text 100 India will always remain my good friends!
The survey results however, are quite predictable and hardly surprising! There's nothing new in it and that's disappointing! For those interested, the results are:
1. Growing influence of bloggers -- Corporations are increasingly recognising the influence of bloggers.
As though this point needed any acknowledgement or a survey! TechCrunch, Engadget, etc., don't need any introduction! There are several other bloggers of repute and their words definitely count!
2. Social media releases -- Corporate news releases are out: Social Media Releases will experience far greater usage!
I wonder if the second point is true! Given the mountain of releases I receive, I don't really know what to make it! To accommodate those, I spun off several other blogs. Bear in mind that PR companies think nothing of this effort! If you talk about charging for hosting releases, they shy away! In fact, I was most amused when a PR firm recently called me up to inquire about my blog's traffic, saying it needed that figure for 'internal usage.' Wonder what that means!!
3. RSS is key -- If your company is not making their information available via RSS feeds, you are missing opportunities.
Again, this one seems a bit like -- too much, too late! RSS has been around for quite a while now! If people don't bother to use them suitably, who is to blame? Whether PR folks use RSS at all is something I won't know.
4. Part-time bloggers: The majority of bloggers are still part-timers -- adjust your strategies accordingly!
Quite accurate and already known! Only the very brave give up full-time jobs to blog, with or without any financial or other support!!
5. Cultural differences -- Despite being global, there are still cultural differences to be respected.
Even the rest of the findings are ordinary. For instance, computers, technology and the Internet are the subjects most blogged by surveyed bloggers. The preferred content is news and reviews of new products, opinionated comments on their blogs, and interviews with key people. Corporate news announcements are of least interest.
What the survey doesn't mention!
What the survey hasn't mentioned or spoken about is how can PR firms help bloggers make some financial gains out of blogging! Nor is there any mention of any such methods that could be adopted by bloggers and PR firms.
The absence of this critical piece of information renders this survey ordinary! If it were a part of the survey, bloggers would have really appreciated the effort. Sadly, it completely misses or overlooks this extremely critical point!
Several bloggers, including yours truly, offer a variety of services, to make some financial gains. Even this aspect is completely missing from the survey!
It would have been good to cover this aspect as it would educate everyone about the kind of services offered by bloggers. In fact, it would inspire more people to take up blogging as a career -- another aspect given a complete miss by the survey!
Need to answer basic questions
There are basic questions that need to be answered, such as:
1. Why should anyone choose blogging as a career?
2. How can he or she make money by blogging?
3. What are the services he or she can offer via the blog?
4. What kinds of services are being made available by bloggers?
5. Should bloggers get advertising? What types? To what extent and duration?
6. What would be the advertising charges? Would it be different from print media or the Web portals?
7. How can PR firms work better with bloggers?
8. How can PR firms develop a win-win situation and help bloggers gain financially?
9. Should bloggers charge a fee for queries received from elsewhere?
10. How good or popular are sponsored posts? Are PR firms doing anything to boost this and help bloggers?
11. There are so many blogs (including mine) on Blogger and Wordpress. Is it still a blog or a web site -- especially when PR firms look for online coverage?
12. Which blogging platform is more preferable?
Am sure there are several bloggers out there with a whole lot of other questions I may have missed!
One other point carried in the survey is a comment from a blogger in Ireland, which says: "Press releases don't work for bloggers, we are not journalists, we don't need to copy and paste nonsense we get sent. Plus, the big issue with coverage on a blog is being first. If you are sending the same release to the press, why would I want to blog about it? I am not unique then and am the same as a paper."
The headline -- Don't bombard bloggers with press releases -- could actually work very well in favour of the PR companies IF the PR folks worked out various strategies and ways of helping bloggers. They seriously need strategies, where currently, none seem to exist!
On the other hand, this survey also tells me -- perhaps, I should close down all of my other blogs -- which I recently started to host all of those press releases that I get bombarded with -- a point mentioned by some other well wishers as well!
What do you think friends? Should I? :)
Friday, June 26, 2009
Semiconductor equipment bogged down!
NEW TRIPOLI, USA: Rises in the book-to-bill ratio by North American and Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers is giving hope that the downturn has bottomed out. BUT HAS IT asks the report: “The Global Market for Equipment and Materials for IC Manufacturing,” recently published by The Information Network.
SEMI reported this week that North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment shipped about $391.9 worth of equipment in May 2009, about 1 percent more than April 2009, but 72 percent less than May 2008.
Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment registered billings in May 2009 of 39.2 billion yen ($409.7 million). The billings figure is 3.2 percent down from April 2009 and 68.7 percent down the May 2008 billings level.
While North American manufacturers posted a 1 percent increase while the Japanese manufacturers posted a 3.2 percent decrease in billings.
Keep in mind that North American billings numbers are “preliminary” and usually drop when the final figures are published a month ago. March billings were reported in April at $455.3 million and revised down to $438.3 million a month later.
April billings were reported in May at $389.9 million and revised a month later at $385.7 million.
To complicate matters, we are now hearing that a significant amount of capacity is entering the market because of the downturn. Qimonda’s bankruptcy can add 120,000 300mm wafer starts per month in used equipment bought by semiconductor manufacturers.
Add to that equipment from other troubled memory manufacturers such as Powerchip and ProMOS, and a total of 400,000 wafer starts a month are possible. The latest SICAS repot shows that in Q1 2009, 300mm capacity was 433,000 wafers starts per week. So, this excess capacity on the market represents 25 percent of the capacity.
“Our proprietary leading indicators, which determine inflection points in economic activity and which we utilize to show turning points in semiconductor equipment sales have turned positive, indicating that an upturn in equipment sales will begin by October, not now (see below),” noted Dr. Robert N. Castellano, president of The Information Network.
“We have been using these indicators since 2000 and they have proven to be highly quantitative metrics in every forecast we have given, and in nearly every given year we have not had to change our forecast midstream. We do not give forecasts in tenths of percentages only to change them two months later.”
SEMI reported this week that North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment shipped about $391.9 worth of equipment in May 2009, about 1 percent more than April 2009, but 72 percent less than May 2008.
Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment registered billings in May 2009 of 39.2 billion yen ($409.7 million). The billings figure is 3.2 percent down from April 2009 and 68.7 percent down the May 2008 billings level.
While North American manufacturers posted a 1 percent increase while the Japanese manufacturers posted a 3.2 percent decrease in billings.
Keep in mind that North American billings numbers are “preliminary” and usually drop when the final figures are published a month ago. March billings were reported in April at $455.3 million and revised down to $438.3 million a month later.
April billings were reported in May at $389.9 million and revised a month later at $385.7 million.
To complicate matters, we are now hearing that a significant amount of capacity is entering the market because of the downturn. Qimonda’s bankruptcy can add 120,000 300mm wafer starts per month in used equipment bought by semiconductor manufacturers.
Add to that equipment from other troubled memory manufacturers such as Powerchip and ProMOS, and a total of 400,000 wafer starts a month are possible. The latest SICAS repot shows that in Q1 2009, 300mm capacity was 433,000 wafers starts per week. So, this excess capacity on the market represents 25 percent of the capacity.
“Our proprietary leading indicators, which determine inflection points in economic activity and which we utilize to show turning points in semiconductor equipment sales have turned positive, indicating that an upturn in equipment sales will begin by October, not now (see below),” noted Dr. Robert N. Castellano, president of The Information Network.
“We have been using these indicators since 2000 and they have proven to be highly quantitative metrics in every forecast we have given, and in nearly every given year we have not had to change our forecast midstream. We do not give forecasts in tenths of percentages only to change them two months later.”
LSI delivers 40nm read channel to HDD manufacturers
BANGALORE, INDIA: LSI Corp. today announced the TrueStore RC9500, the industry’s first 40nm read channel. Now sampling to hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturers, the RC9500 is designed to support notebook through enterprise HDD form factors and capacity points.
The RC9500’s next-generation low-density parity check (LDPC) iterative decoding technology enables a greater than 10 percent increase in the data storage capacity of HDDs, reduces read channel power consumption and delivers industry-leading performance with data rates exceeding 4.0Gb/s.
"HDD read channel technology is critically important in a disk drive,” said John Rydning, IDC's HDD research director. “Improved read channels made by companies like LSI enable higher capacity disk drives that consume less power. The new LSI read channel, based on 40nm semiconductor process technology and using LDPC iterative decoding technology, will enable HDD OEMs to reach next-generation HDD capacity points."
The RC9500’s next-generation LDPC iterative decoding technology delivers significant improvements in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), increasing the areal density of stored data. As a result, HDD manufacturers can eliminate the need to implement other costly design changes required to reach the next capacity point. The RC9500 also includes features which are designed to reduce firmware complexity, increase drive yields and lower development costs for HDD makers.
The RC9500 offers energy savings enabled by 40nm process technology and innovative design techniques that provide ultra-low current consumption in sleep mode, which is critical to extending battery life in the notebook market segment. In addition, the lower active power consumption can reduce temperatures, improving drive reliability for desktop and digital video recorder applications, and can translate to significant energy cost savings in data center environments.
“The TrueStore RC9500 is built on a revolutionary new architecture and is part of a total recording system design that includes the LSI preamplifier, customer interconnects, heads and media as part of the complete data path solution,” said Phil Brace, senior vice president and general manager, Storage Peripherals Division, LSI. “No other company can offer the breadth of high-performance storage IC products and systems that LSI delivers.”
Designed for hard disk and tape drive applications, the LSI TrueStore family of ICs include highly integrated high-performance storage SoCs, read channels, preamplifiers, serial PHYs and hard disk drive controller IP. By offering a broad portfolio of integrated SoC solutions, LSI enables its customers to address all segments of the HDD market – from mission-critical enterprise applications and high-capacity desktop PCs to low-power laptops and a variety of consumer electronic devices.
The RC9500’s next-generation low-density parity check (LDPC) iterative decoding technology enables a greater than 10 percent increase in the data storage capacity of HDDs, reduces read channel power consumption and delivers industry-leading performance with data rates exceeding 4.0Gb/s.
"HDD read channel technology is critically important in a disk drive,” said John Rydning, IDC's HDD research director. “Improved read channels made by companies like LSI enable higher capacity disk drives that consume less power. The new LSI read channel, based on 40nm semiconductor process technology and using LDPC iterative decoding technology, will enable HDD OEMs to reach next-generation HDD capacity points."
The RC9500’s next-generation LDPC iterative decoding technology delivers significant improvements in signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), increasing the areal density of stored data. As a result, HDD manufacturers can eliminate the need to implement other costly design changes required to reach the next capacity point. The RC9500 also includes features which are designed to reduce firmware complexity, increase drive yields and lower development costs for HDD makers.
The RC9500 offers energy savings enabled by 40nm process technology and innovative design techniques that provide ultra-low current consumption in sleep mode, which is critical to extending battery life in the notebook market segment. In addition, the lower active power consumption can reduce temperatures, improving drive reliability for desktop and digital video recorder applications, and can translate to significant energy cost savings in data center environments.
“The TrueStore RC9500 is built on a revolutionary new architecture and is part of a total recording system design that includes the LSI preamplifier, customer interconnects, heads and media as part of the complete data path solution,” said Phil Brace, senior vice president and general manager, Storage Peripherals Division, LSI. “No other company can offer the breadth of high-performance storage IC products and systems that LSI delivers.”
Designed for hard disk and tape drive applications, the LSI TrueStore family of ICs include highly integrated high-performance storage SoCs, read channels, preamplifiers, serial PHYs and hard disk drive controller IP. By offering a broad portfolio of integrated SoC solutions, LSI enables its customers to address all segments of the HDD market – from mission-critical enterprise applications and high-capacity desktop PCs to low-power laptops and a variety of consumer electronic devices.
AMD driving adoption of GPU acceleration in enterprise and HPC environments
HAMBURG, GERMANY: At the International Supercomputing Conference (ISC), AMD announced that AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerators are now qualified as part of the HP Accelerator Program to deliver the significant performance benefits of GPU acceleration to a wide array of enterprise and High Performance Computing (HPC) customers using HP ProLiant DL385 G5p and DL160 G6 servers.
The massive parallel processing power and double-precision floating point support on the AMD FireStream™ 9250 compute accelerator make it well suited for the most demanding compute applications.
Designed to meet the unique needs of the enterprise, the AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator is a datacenter-class solution designed to deliver superior performance and data handling.
Increased competitive pressure is driving companies to adopt high-bandwidth, compute-intensive solutions, and the combination of AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerators and HP ProLiant servers can enable HP customers to accelerate application performance.
The HP Accelerator Program tests and benchmarks third-party accelerators in HP ProLiant servers to help increase performance and lower energy consumption.
As the first stream processor to ever break the 1 Teraflop barrier, the AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator utilizes AMD’s advanced graphics architecture to dramatically and efficiently accelerate critical algorithms in scientific, financial and engineering workloads by up to 120X1 and at up to eight gigaflops-per-watt.
Originally launched in June 2008, the AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator builds on the success of AMD FireStream 9170, the first GPU stream processor with double-precision floating point, and offers second-generation double-precision floating point hardware implementation that delivers more than 200 gigaflops.
AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator consumes less than 120 watts, features 1GB of GDDR3 memory to handle the most complex computing applications, and fits into single PCI slot for unmatched density. Its compact size makes it ideal for small 1U servers as well as most desktop systems, workstations and larger servers.
The massive parallel processing power and double-precision floating point support on the AMD FireStream™ 9250 compute accelerator make it well suited for the most demanding compute applications.
Designed to meet the unique needs of the enterprise, the AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator is a datacenter-class solution designed to deliver superior performance and data handling.
Increased competitive pressure is driving companies to adopt high-bandwidth, compute-intensive solutions, and the combination of AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerators and HP ProLiant servers can enable HP customers to accelerate application performance.
The HP Accelerator Program tests and benchmarks third-party accelerators in HP ProLiant servers to help increase performance and lower energy consumption.
As the first stream processor to ever break the 1 Teraflop barrier, the AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator utilizes AMD’s advanced graphics architecture to dramatically and efficiently accelerate critical algorithms in scientific, financial and engineering workloads by up to 120X1 and at up to eight gigaflops-per-watt.
Originally launched in June 2008, the AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator builds on the success of AMD FireStream 9170, the first GPU stream processor with double-precision floating point, and offers second-generation double-precision floating point hardware implementation that delivers more than 200 gigaflops.
AMD FireStream 9250 compute accelerator consumes less than 120 watts, features 1GB of GDDR3 memory to handle the most complex computing applications, and fits into single PCI slot for unmatched density. Its compact size makes it ideal for small 1U servers as well as most desktop systems, workstations and larger servers.
Cypress QDRII SRAM support for Netronome's NFP-32xx network flow processor
SAN JOSE, USA: Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has announced its 65nm 72-Mbit QDRII SRAMs support the new NFP-32xx family of Network Flow Processors from Netronome Systems, a leading developer of highly programmable semiconductor products that provide intelligent and secure flow processing for virtualized servers and network equipment.
The low latency and high memory transaction rate of Cypress’s 65nm devices enable algorithm-based network flow processing using the NFP-32xx. The combination provides an efficient platform to enable the convergence of servers and networking in next generation unified computing architectures.
The NFP-32xx is the first merchant silicon to remove performance barriers in unified computing architectures by integrating high-performance networking, security processing and I/O virtualization with general-purpose computing.
Cypress QDRII SRAMs interface with the existing Intel IXP28XX network processor. The NFP-32xx is the only line of processors backward-compatible with the market-leading IXP28XX, creating a smooth transition for continued support.
Additionally, backward-compatibility with the IXP28XX protects customers’ immense investment in field-proven and network-hardened software. The 65nm SRAMs also allow the NFP-32xx to fully utilize the LA-1 interface for latency critical applications in switches, routers, wireless infrastructure and more.
Cypress’s QDR SRAMs are the industry’s first 65-nm devices to ship in volume. The 72-Mbit SRAMs feature the market’s fastest available clock speed of 550MHz and a total data rate of 80Gbps in a 36-bit I/O width QDRII device, using half the power of 90nm SRAMs.
They are ideal for networking applications, including Internet core and edge routers, fixed and modular Ethernet switches, 3G base stations and secure routers, and also enhance the performance of medical imaging and military signal processing systems. The devices are pin compatible with 90-nm SRAMs, enabling networking customers to increase performance and port density while maintaining the same board layout.
“Cypress is currently supporting Netronome with technical support and simulation models, and we are committed to providing long-term product support,” said Bruce Barbara, marketing director for synchronous memory products at Cypress. “The combination of the NFP-32xx processor and our 65-nm QDRII SRAMs is ideal for latency-critical applications.”
“We are delighted that Cypress’s QDRII SRAMs will provide support for Netronome’s NFP to allow technology interoperability between the two solutions,” said Mike Benson, senior vice president of Platform Engineering at Netronome. “With this collaboration, Netronome and its partners, like Cypress, can provide confidence to shared customers so that they can build quality products with both devices working productively together.”
Compared with their 90nm predecessors, Cypress’s 65nm QDR SRAMs lower input and output capacitance by 60 percent. Cypress’s QDRII and DDRII devices have On-Die Termination (ODT), which improves signal integrity, reduces system cost and saves board space by eliminating external termination resistors.
The 65nm devices use a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) instead of a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), which enables a 35 percent wider data valid window to reduce development time and cost for the customer.
The low latency and high memory transaction rate of Cypress’s 65nm devices enable algorithm-based network flow processing using the NFP-32xx. The combination provides an efficient platform to enable the convergence of servers and networking in next generation unified computing architectures.
The NFP-32xx is the first merchant silicon to remove performance barriers in unified computing architectures by integrating high-performance networking, security processing and I/O virtualization with general-purpose computing.
Cypress QDRII SRAMs interface with the existing Intel IXP28XX network processor. The NFP-32xx is the only line of processors backward-compatible with the market-leading IXP28XX, creating a smooth transition for continued support.
Additionally, backward-compatibility with the IXP28XX protects customers’ immense investment in field-proven and network-hardened software. The 65nm SRAMs also allow the NFP-32xx to fully utilize the LA-1 interface for latency critical applications in switches, routers, wireless infrastructure and more.
Cypress’s QDR SRAMs are the industry’s first 65-nm devices to ship in volume. The 72-Mbit SRAMs feature the market’s fastest available clock speed of 550MHz and a total data rate of 80Gbps in a 36-bit I/O width QDRII device, using half the power of 90nm SRAMs.
They are ideal for networking applications, including Internet core and edge routers, fixed and modular Ethernet switches, 3G base stations and secure routers, and also enhance the performance of medical imaging and military signal processing systems. The devices are pin compatible with 90-nm SRAMs, enabling networking customers to increase performance and port density while maintaining the same board layout.
“Cypress is currently supporting Netronome with technical support and simulation models, and we are committed to providing long-term product support,” said Bruce Barbara, marketing director for synchronous memory products at Cypress. “The combination of the NFP-32xx processor and our 65-nm QDRII SRAMs is ideal for latency-critical applications.”
“We are delighted that Cypress’s QDRII SRAMs will provide support for Netronome’s NFP to allow technology interoperability between the two solutions,” said Mike Benson, senior vice president of Platform Engineering at Netronome. “With this collaboration, Netronome and its partners, like Cypress, can provide confidence to shared customers so that they can build quality products with both devices working productively together.”
Compared with their 90nm predecessors, Cypress’s 65nm QDR SRAMs lower input and output capacitance by 60 percent. Cypress’s QDRII and DDRII devices have On-Die Termination (ODT), which improves signal integrity, reduces system cost and saves board space by eliminating external termination resistors.
The 65nm devices use a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) instead of a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), which enables a 35 percent wider data valid window to reduce development time and cost for the customer.
Exclusive analysis of MEMS Foundry 2009: Yole Développement
LYON, FRANCE: Whether companies are setting the strategy for a foundry, or selecting a foundry partner for their product, now more than ever before, the choices made today will de‐termine their future survival.
With competition increasing from a variety of players, MEMS foundries need to solidify their business model, clarify their positioning and streamline their offering to insure long-term success.
Yole Développement has released a new study dedicated to the MEMS foundry business: MEMS Foundry 2009. Supported by Yole’s MEMS expertise, this report presents key market and technologies trends for MEMS foundries.
The report will help the MEMS companies to un‐derstand characteristics of foundries: they will be able to identify their future production part‐ners easily, understand the key MEMS foundry dynamics today and gain insights into the evo‐lution of the MEMS Foundry business.
MEMS foundries new key partners of MEMS Industry
MEMS foundries are the new key players of the MEMS industry. Major open MEMS foundries are now profitable and most are moving to upgrade to 8-inch production lines.
Top 20 MEMS Foundries - 2008/2007 (Estimations)
Source: Yole Développement
Growth of consumer applications and other high potential market opportunities have attracted new entrants coming from mainstream semiconductor, leveraging their high volume production lines combining CMOS technology and MEMS.
A heated competition will start between es‐tablished MEMS foundries and these new players experienced in volume production. The MEMS Foundry market is still very fragmented.
The largest markets for MEMS foundries are inkjet printheads using mainly “exclusive” foundry services, but open foundries are developing innovative platforms addressing new applications like RF-MEMS or microphones and de‐veloping different approaches of product platform from fixed process to Multi-project Wafer (MPW).
MEMS foundries business: +22 percent in 2008. What’s next?
With over 50 companies identified worldwide, MEMS foundries are the new key partners of the MEMS industry.
“While the foundry business experienced a booming 22% growth to reach $480 million in 2008, MEMS foundries do not expect more than single digit revenue increase for 2009 with low visibility on bookings”, says Jérôme Mouly, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement.
MEMS market share captured by foundries is increasing for most products because the struc‐ture of the MEMS industry is stabilizing with emerging MEMS companies choosing “fabless” or “fablite” business models and sharing the production risks of new products with the MEMS foundries.
• “MEMS Foundries 2009” focuses on the segmentation of this part of the MEMS val‐ue chain, highlighting MEMS foundry markets and trends.
• “MEMS Foundries 2009” is the only report highlighting how foundries will gain mar‐ket share in the MEMS market, and the key criteria to understand why MEMS com‐panies are more interested in Foundries today.
• Acquiring “MEMS Foundries 2009”, will allow you to quickly identify major MEMS foundries and the most dedicated foundry partner for your activity.
MEMS Foundries 2009 report spotlights an original business model of the MEMS industry, highlighting major players and ranking 2008 sales with a comparison to 2007.
MEMS foundries 2009 report gives information on how typical foundry rev‐enues are generated, from development services to wafer processing, the latest trends and information on MEMS foundry activities.
With competition increasing from a variety of players, MEMS foundries need to solidify their business model, clarify their positioning and streamline their offering to insure long-term success.
Yole Développement has released a new study dedicated to the MEMS foundry business: MEMS Foundry 2009. Supported by Yole’s MEMS expertise, this report presents key market and technologies trends for MEMS foundries.
The report will help the MEMS companies to un‐derstand characteristics of foundries: they will be able to identify their future production part‐ners easily, understand the key MEMS foundry dynamics today and gain insights into the evo‐lution of the MEMS Foundry business.
MEMS foundries new key partners of MEMS Industry
MEMS foundries are the new key players of the MEMS industry. Major open MEMS foundries are now profitable and most are moving to upgrade to 8-inch production lines.
Top 20 MEMS Foundries - 2008/2007 (Estimations)
Source: Yole DéveloppementGrowth of consumer applications and other high potential market opportunities have attracted new entrants coming from mainstream semiconductor, leveraging their high volume production lines combining CMOS technology and MEMS.
A heated competition will start between es‐tablished MEMS foundries and these new players experienced in volume production. The MEMS Foundry market is still very fragmented.
The largest markets for MEMS foundries are inkjet printheads using mainly “exclusive” foundry services, but open foundries are developing innovative platforms addressing new applications like RF-MEMS or microphones and de‐veloping different approaches of product platform from fixed process to Multi-project Wafer (MPW).
MEMS foundries business: +22 percent in 2008. What’s next?
With over 50 companies identified worldwide, MEMS foundries are the new key partners of the MEMS industry.
“While the foundry business experienced a booming 22% growth to reach $480 million in 2008, MEMS foundries do not expect more than single digit revenue increase for 2009 with low visibility on bookings”, says Jérôme Mouly, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement.
MEMS market share captured by foundries is increasing for most products because the struc‐ture of the MEMS industry is stabilizing with emerging MEMS companies choosing “fabless” or “fablite” business models and sharing the production risks of new products with the MEMS foundries.
• “MEMS Foundries 2009” focuses on the segmentation of this part of the MEMS val‐ue chain, highlighting MEMS foundry markets and trends.
• “MEMS Foundries 2009” is the only report highlighting how foundries will gain mar‐ket share in the MEMS market, and the key criteria to understand why MEMS com‐panies are more interested in Foundries today.
• Acquiring “MEMS Foundries 2009”, will allow you to quickly identify major MEMS foundries and the most dedicated foundry partner for your activity.
MEMS Foundries 2009 report spotlights an original business model of the MEMS industry, highlighting major players and ranking 2008 sales with a comparison to 2007.
MEMS foundries 2009 report gives information on how typical foundry rev‐enues are generated, from development services to wafer processing, the latest trends and information on MEMS foundry activities.
Photoresists likely to show strong growth despite downturn
BOSTON, USA: According to a report released earlier this year by Linx Consulting, the leading international electronic materials consulting firm, 193nm photoresist represents the largest growth opportunity in the advanced patterning market. The report forecasts the market for 193nm photoresist will grow at a CAGR of 27 percent over the next five years.
The report, entitled Advanced Patterning, 2008-2013, examines the global markets for advanced photoresists and photoresist ancillaries, including both spin-on materials as well as vacuum-deposited materials.
The report also quantifies overall supplier shares as well as shares of specific photoresists and ancillary products. Photoresist supplier shares for all products in 2008 are illustrated here.
JSR, TOK and Shin Etsu currently control 78 percent of the 193nm photoresist market. These participants are predicted to continue to enhance their strong position in this segment.
To keep suppliers up-to-date on the most recent developments in this market, Linx Consulting has launched a new service entitled Patterning Materials Forecasting and Market Share Service. It offers forecasts on the market growth of each segment along with market shares in an independent view of the market.
The Patterning Materials Forecasting and Market Share Service is a semi-annual service that provides a market forecast of Novolak and chemically-amplified resists for all common wavelengths and immersion lithography.
Additionally, the service includes forecasts on patterning ancillaries such as ARCs, TARCs, top coats, immersion materials, and multi-level patterning materials. All forecasts include a segmentation of regions and major device types.
The report, entitled Advanced Patterning, 2008-2013, examines the global markets for advanced photoresists and photoresist ancillaries, including both spin-on materials as well as vacuum-deposited materials.
The report also quantifies overall supplier shares as well as shares of specific photoresists and ancillary products. Photoresist supplier shares for all products in 2008 are illustrated here.
JSR, TOK and Shin Etsu currently control 78 percent of the 193nm photoresist market. These participants are predicted to continue to enhance their strong position in this segment.
To keep suppliers up-to-date on the most recent developments in this market, Linx Consulting has launched a new service entitled Patterning Materials Forecasting and Market Share Service. It offers forecasts on the market growth of each segment along with market shares in an independent view of the market.
The Patterning Materials Forecasting and Market Share Service is a semi-annual service that provides a market forecast of Novolak and chemically-amplified resists for all common wavelengths and immersion lithography.
Additionally, the service includes forecasts on patterning ancillaries such as ARCs, TARCs, top coats, immersion materials, and multi-level patterning materials. All forecasts include a segmentation of regions and major device types.
Netbook PCs: A platform battleground!
USA: Netbooks are a new emerging category of Personal Computers. It has also become a new emerging battleground. There are two battles shaping up. The first is among the chip vendors –- x86 vs. ARM. The second battle is the operating system – Microsoft vs. Linux.
In its latest report, “Netbook PCs: A New Platform Battleground”, Semico Research examines the usage models, market dynamics and key players for this emerging market. What are “smartbooks?” What are the market and technology trends? What has been the impact of netbooks on the MPU market? Learn more about the competition among both chip vendors and operating systems for netbooks, such as Windows and Android.
There have been several efforts over the years for a low-cost and compact mobile PC. The introduction of the Intel Atom microprocessor in 2008 spurred the growth of netbooks, reaching 12.5 million units in 2008.
The success of Atom-based netbooks has spurred interest in competing designs. Via Technologies has been shipping its 80x86 compatible Nano. Several companies have ARM-based designs that hit the market or are expected to launch in 2009. The processor vendors for these netbooks include Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Freescale, and Qualcomm.
The netbook PC market is opening up new opportunities for chip vendors other than Intel.
In its latest report, “Netbook PCs: A New Platform Battleground”, Semico Research examines the usage models, market dynamics and key players for this emerging market. What are “smartbooks?” What are the market and technology trends? What has been the impact of netbooks on the MPU market? Learn more about the competition among both chip vendors and operating systems for netbooks, such as Windows and Android.
There have been several efforts over the years for a low-cost and compact mobile PC. The introduction of the Intel Atom microprocessor in 2008 spurred the growth of netbooks, reaching 12.5 million units in 2008.
The success of Atom-based netbooks has spurred interest in competing designs. Via Technologies has been shipping its 80x86 compatible Nano. Several companies have ARM-based designs that hit the market or are expected to launch in 2009. The processor vendors for these netbooks include Nvidia, Texas Instruments, Freescale, and Qualcomm.
The netbook PC market is opening up new opportunities for chip vendors other than Intel.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
ST reports further advances in corporate responsibility during 2008
SINGAPORE: STMicroelectronics has announced the publication of the company’s 2008 Corporate Responsibility Report.
The report, which covers all of ST’s activities and sites in 2008, contains detailed indicators of the Company’s performance across the full range of Social, Environmental, Health & Safety, and Corporate Governance issues and reaffirms ST’s long-established commitment to serving its stakeholders with integrity, transparency and excellence.
Year 2008 was a milestone year for STMicroelectronics. In 2008, several important initiatives that have reshaped the company into a leaner, faster, more innovative and powerful competitor in the world's semiconductor arena were implemented in a deteriorating world economy. At the same time, the Company was able to record continued progress in all areas of Corporate Responsibility, thanks to the continued success of its Sustainable Excellence program.
ST’s Sustainable Excellence program was designed to embed Corporate Responsibility into every level of the Company’s activities. The term reflects ST’s firm belief in its ability to balance stakeholders’ expectations to make the Company ‘sustainable’ – successful now and in the future – in the short and long term and enable it to contribute to sustainable development at a global level.
“Year after year, we continue to find that pursuing the highest standards of Corporate Responsibility brings both short-term and long-term benefits,” said Georges Auguste, Executive Vice President, Director of Quality, Education and Sustainable Development, STMicroelectronics. “In the short term, our people are inspired to produce more innovative products and to do so with ever-increasing quality, while in the longer term we are better able to further the professional development of our employees, attract the best new talent, and strengthen the relationships with the communities in which we operate.”
STMicroelectronics was one of the first global industrial companies to recognise the importance of environmental responsibility and has won many awards for its pioneering work in this field. The Company played a pivotal role in demonstrating that ‘Green is Black’ i.e. that environmental responsibility delivers real financial benefits.
Since the company published its first ‘Environmental Decalogue’ in 1994, it has continually widened the scope of its definition of corporate responsibility and increasingly formalised both the deployment of its principles within the company and the reporting of the results to stakeholders to ensure that it remains at the forefront of Corporate Responsibility.
In fact, the 2008 report confirms that ST maintained its continuous improvement in all of the Company’s traditional areas of Corporate Responsibility excellence such as environment, employee well-being, community involvement, and product responsibility while also demonstrating strong performance in aspects that are becoming increasingly important to stakeholders. These include Health & Safety, diffusion of Corporate Responsibility in the supply chain, implementation of human rights, and responsible restructuring.
Among the achievements highlighted in the report are:
* A reduction in energy consumption per unit by 5 percent compared to 2007. This consumption now represents around 49 percent of its 1994 level, meaning that the energy saved each year is equivalent to the consumption of a town of 400,000 people;
* Outstanding progress in the reduction of CO2 emissions, which are now represent only 68 percent of what they were in 2005 in absolute value, despite a 4 percent increase in production volume over the same period;
* Further improvements in an already excellent safety performance, with a 21 percent decrease of the number of incidents compared to 2007. The cumulative 61 percent improvement since 2002 places ST at the top level in the industry;
* Full deployment of the Company’s health plan that offers to each and every ST employee, everywhere in the world, the same complete medical cover. More than 17,000 employees had at least one medical examination in 2008, bringing the total to more than 41,000 in the last two years.
“At ST, we have a long-term vision, through our unwavering commitment to Sustainable Excellence. We deploy, at all levels of the organization, hundreds of programs for sustainable development, quality improvement, cost reduction, innovation, market share, health and safety, and many more but we know that, at the end of the day, the heart of our performance lies in our people, in their engagement and in the sharing of our company values: Integrity, People and Excellence,” said Carlo Bozotti, President and CEO.
“Today, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades, we believe that the financial and economic world needs stronger governance; we believe that a longer-term vision is an absolute must to support robust economic growth. Sustainable capitalism cannot be based on short-term strategies and unrealistic expectations.”
The full report can be downloaded here.
The report, which covers all of ST’s activities and sites in 2008, contains detailed indicators of the Company’s performance across the full range of Social, Environmental, Health & Safety, and Corporate Governance issues and reaffirms ST’s long-established commitment to serving its stakeholders with integrity, transparency and excellence.
Year 2008 was a milestone year for STMicroelectronics. In 2008, several important initiatives that have reshaped the company into a leaner, faster, more innovative and powerful competitor in the world's semiconductor arena were implemented in a deteriorating world economy. At the same time, the Company was able to record continued progress in all areas of Corporate Responsibility, thanks to the continued success of its Sustainable Excellence program.
ST’s Sustainable Excellence program was designed to embed Corporate Responsibility into every level of the Company’s activities. The term reflects ST’s firm belief in its ability to balance stakeholders’ expectations to make the Company ‘sustainable’ – successful now and in the future – in the short and long term and enable it to contribute to sustainable development at a global level.
“Year after year, we continue to find that pursuing the highest standards of Corporate Responsibility brings both short-term and long-term benefits,” said Georges Auguste, Executive Vice President, Director of Quality, Education and Sustainable Development, STMicroelectronics. “In the short term, our people are inspired to produce more innovative products and to do so with ever-increasing quality, while in the longer term we are better able to further the professional development of our employees, attract the best new talent, and strengthen the relationships with the communities in which we operate.”
STMicroelectronics was one of the first global industrial companies to recognise the importance of environmental responsibility and has won many awards for its pioneering work in this field. The Company played a pivotal role in demonstrating that ‘Green is Black’ i.e. that environmental responsibility delivers real financial benefits.
Since the company published its first ‘Environmental Decalogue’ in 1994, it has continually widened the scope of its definition of corporate responsibility and increasingly formalised both the deployment of its principles within the company and the reporting of the results to stakeholders to ensure that it remains at the forefront of Corporate Responsibility.
In fact, the 2008 report confirms that ST maintained its continuous improvement in all of the Company’s traditional areas of Corporate Responsibility excellence such as environment, employee well-being, community involvement, and product responsibility while also demonstrating strong performance in aspects that are becoming increasingly important to stakeholders. These include Health & Safety, diffusion of Corporate Responsibility in the supply chain, implementation of human rights, and responsible restructuring.
Among the achievements highlighted in the report are:
* A reduction in energy consumption per unit by 5 percent compared to 2007. This consumption now represents around 49 percent of its 1994 level, meaning that the energy saved each year is equivalent to the consumption of a town of 400,000 people;
* Outstanding progress in the reduction of CO2 emissions, which are now represent only 68 percent of what they were in 2005 in absolute value, despite a 4 percent increase in production volume over the same period;
* Further improvements in an already excellent safety performance, with a 21 percent decrease of the number of incidents compared to 2007. The cumulative 61 percent improvement since 2002 places ST at the top level in the industry;
* Full deployment of the Company’s health plan that offers to each and every ST employee, everywhere in the world, the same complete medical cover. More than 17,000 employees had at least one medical examination in 2008, bringing the total to more than 41,000 in the last two years.
“At ST, we have a long-term vision, through our unwavering commitment to Sustainable Excellence. We deploy, at all levels of the organization, hundreds of programs for sustainable development, quality improvement, cost reduction, innovation, market share, health and safety, and many more but we know that, at the end of the day, the heart of our performance lies in our people, in their engagement and in the sharing of our company values: Integrity, People and Excellence,” said Carlo Bozotti, President and CEO.
“Today, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in decades, we believe that the financial and economic world needs stronger governance; we believe that a longer-term vision is an absolute must to support robust economic growth. Sustainable capitalism cannot be based on short-term strategies and unrealistic expectations.”
The full report can be downloaded here.
Verific's tools deliver RTL language support for Xilinx ISE Design Suite
ALAMEDA, USA: Verific Design Automation announced that its register transfer level (RTL) front ends have been licensed by Xilinx (www.xilinx.com) for the latest version of ISE® Design Suite, equipping Xilinx customers with robust RTL language support for the new Virtex 6 and Spartan 6 FPGAs.
Xilinx has integrated Verific’s de facto standard Verilog and VHDL parsers, analyzers and elaborators to provide a common, proven and reliable RTL front end for its synthesis, simulation and design entry products.
ISE Design Suite 11, the latest release of the industry-leading environment for FPGA design, delivers a new generation of complete, domain-specific development environments for logic design, DSP design, embedded design and complete system level design.
“Verific has been an exceptional technology partner with a team whose expertise we value,” notes Dan Gibbons, Xilinx’s senior director for Interactive Design Tools. “Verific has delivered high-quality RTL front-end software to help us differentiate ISE Design Suite’s superior capabilities and benefits and allow us to focus on our core competencies.”
Verific’s software serves as the front end to electronic design automation (EDA) and FPGA tools such as Xilinx’s ISE Design Suite to analyze, verify, synthesize and modify designs for the past 10 years. Its products are written in platform-independent C++ that compiles on Solaris, HP-UX, Linux and Windows platforms. Each is licensed as source code and comes with support and maintenance.
Xilinx has integrated Verific’s de facto standard Verilog and VHDL parsers, analyzers and elaborators to provide a common, proven and reliable RTL front end for its synthesis, simulation and design entry products.
ISE Design Suite 11, the latest release of the industry-leading environment for FPGA design, delivers a new generation of complete, domain-specific development environments for logic design, DSP design, embedded design and complete system level design.
“Verific has been an exceptional technology partner with a team whose expertise we value,” notes Dan Gibbons, Xilinx’s senior director for Interactive Design Tools. “Verific has delivered high-quality RTL front-end software to help us differentiate ISE Design Suite’s superior capabilities and benefits and allow us to focus on our core competencies.”
Verific’s software serves as the front end to electronic design automation (EDA) and FPGA tools such as Xilinx’s ISE Design Suite to analyze, verify, synthesize and modify designs for the past 10 years. Its products are written in platform-independent C++ that compiles on Solaris, HP-UX, Linux and Windows platforms. Each is licensed as source code and comes with support and maintenance.
Zocalo ships first EDA Software dedicated to assertion-library productivity with Zazz
AUSTIN, TEXAS: Zocalo Tech Inc., an EDA company focusing on Assertion Based Verification (ABV) productivity software, is shipping Zazz.
Zazz, first introduced at DVCon in February 2009, is the first EDA software product to make using assertion libraries quick, easy and accurate by automating tedious error prone tasks with its easy to use intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI). With Zazz, the checkers from the most widely used assertion libraries can be attached to a design and documented in minutes.
Most experts agree that assertion checkers added by designers have significant impact on detecting problems early in the functional verification process. The designer is the most familiar with the intent and limitations of the design and is in the best position to define where they are needed during simulation.
Additionally, with checkers in place, formal verification can begin at the earliest stage and at the “sweet spot” for formal verification. Designer-provided assertion checkers result in increased communication between the designers and verification engineers. For example, when a designer-provided checker fails, both the designer and the verification engineer have a common point of reference.
“Nearly all designers can add assertion checkers manually. This rarely happens because the time required for creating, debugging, attaching and documenting them is difficult to justify when considering the typical chip design schedule.
"The availability of assertion libraries reduces that time, but not nearly enough for wide scale use by designers. With Zazz, attaching and documenting the library checkers that cover most of the designer’s requirements, takes less than a minute each. This level of productivity and the low cost of Zazz make designer provided assertions highly effective,” remarked Howard Martin, Zocalo President.
Zazz, first introduced at DVCon in February 2009, is the first EDA software product to make using assertion libraries quick, easy and accurate by automating tedious error prone tasks with its easy to use intuitive Graphical User Interface (GUI). With Zazz, the checkers from the most widely used assertion libraries can be attached to a design and documented in minutes.
Most experts agree that assertion checkers added by designers have significant impact on detecting problems early in the functional verification process. The designer is the most familiar with the intent and limitations of the design and is in the best position to define where they are needed during simulation.
Additionally, with checkers in place, formal verification can begin at the earliest stage and at the “sweet spot” for formal verification. Designer-provided assertion checkers result in increased communication between the designers and verification engineers. For example, when a designer-provided checker fails, both the designer and the verification engineer have a common point of reference.
“Nearly all designers can add assertion checkers manually. This rarely happens because the time required for creating, debugging, attaching and documenting them is difficult to justify when considering the typical chip design schedule.
"The availability of assertion libraries reduces that time, but not nearly enough for wide scale use by designers. With Zazz, attaching and documenting the library checkers that cover most of the designer’s requirements, takes less than a minute each. This level of productivity and the low cost of Zazz make designer provided assertions highly effective,” remarked Howard Martin, Zocalo President.
Intel, Nokia join forces on Linux and X86: Strategy Analytics
BOSTON, USA: Responding to the technology collaboration between Nokia and Intel, the Strategy Analytics Handset Component Technologies service report, “Intel and Nokia Join Forces on Linux” reveals that this will have minimal impact on smartphone software platform players and silicon vendors in the short-to-medium term; but long-term implications could hit several companies if this partnership turns out to be successful.
The report analyzes the potential implications to handset silicon vendors and software platform vendors based on the limited initial announcement.
Stuart Robinson, Director of the company’s Handset Component Technologies service, commented: “While this partnership is a big boost to open source and Linux, it also threatens to fragment mobile Linux further. Strategy Analytics believes that Nokia’'s choice of its own Maemo platform over Google Android was purely a matter of “control.” Strategy Analytics sees a challenge for Nokia to develop a new ecosystem for its revamped Linux platform.”
Sravan Kundojjala, Analyst on the Handset Component Technologies service, adds: “Intel'’s collaboration with the handset market leader Nokia threatens several companies including ARM, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung, Renesas, Marvell and ST-Ericsson. However, in the short-to-medium term, we don'’t expect Intel and Nokia to come up with smartphones based on Intel architecture.”
The report analyzes the potential implications to handset silicon vendors and software platform vendors based on the limited initial announcement.
Stuart Robinson, Director of the company’s Handset Component Technologies service, commented: “While this partnership is a big boost to open source and Linux, it also threatens to fragment mobile Linux further. Strategy Analytics believes that Nokia’'s choice of its own Maemo platform over Google Android was purely a matter of “control.” Strategy Analytics sees a challenge for Nokia to develop a new ecosystem for its revamped Linux platform.”
Sravan Kundojjala, Analyst on the Handset Component Technologies service, adds: “Intel'’s collaboration with the handset market leader Nokia threatens several companies including ARM, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung, Renesas, Marvell and ST-Ericsson. However, in the short-to-medium term, we don'’t expect Intel and Nokia to come up with smartphones based on Intel architecture.”
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