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September 1st, 2005
Hittite Microwave Corporation (NASDAQ: HITT) reported that it
has acquired substantially all of the assets of Q-Dot, Inc, a unit of SIMTEK Corporation. The acquisition price of the mixed
signal integrated circuit company was $2.2 million. The acquisition is expected to provide Hittite with technology related
to the design of direct digital synthesis, analog-to-digital converters, digital-to-analog converters, digital drivers and
receivers. These technologies are to be incorporated into Hittite’s line of chips, modules and subsystems.
September 1st, 2005
Ramtron International Corporation (NASDAQ:RMTR), a supplier of high-speed
write non-volatile memory chips, announced that it has acquired Goal Semiconductor, Inc., a fabless semiconductor provider
of mixed signal integrated circuits and design services. Ramtron acquired Goal in a transaction estimated at $7.6 million,
which included $2.0 million in cash and $5.6 million in Ramtron common stock.
The acquisition is expected to enable Ramtron to accelerate its
mixed signal product development plans and to further address design solutions for the power meter market. CEO of Ramtron,
Bill Staunton indicated that with the acquisition, the company now can provide almost the entire content for a power meter,
"For example, with our current Processor Companion line of analog and mixed-signal ICs, we can provide about 30% of the silicon
content required for an electronic power meter. By adding Goal products and analog design expertise, we will be able to provide
as much as 70% to 80% of the required silicon content under the Ramtron name."
Mr. Staunton also emphasized that the acquisition would accelerate
the development of high-margin products, "We expect that this acquisition, which is highly complementary to our current product
strategy, will give us a five-year jump on our roadmap for integrated and application-specific product launches. As a result,
we hope to accelerate the development and delivery of high-margin products targeted at the markets that we serve. We believe
that the performance and functionality potential for our integrated and application-specific standard product offerings will
expand significantly as a result of this acquisition.
The acquisition is expected to provide Ramtron a way into the mixed
signal application specific standard products (ASSP) market. Ramtron in the acquisition obtained Goal’s technology
for digital signal processing applications, as well as standard products which included high-voltage digital-to-analog
converters (DAC), a broad line of microcontrollers, analog-digital converters and IP cores, an integral part of Goal’s
mixed signal design service.
Ramtron with the acquisition now has 107 employees, which is up
from 88. Goal Semiconductor is located in Canada and Ramtron in Colorado.
August 31st, 2005
Marvell Enters Into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Qlogic’s
Storage Semiconductor Business
Marvell(NASDAQ: MRVL), a leading fabless semiconductor company with significant market share
in the disk drive semiconductor market, has entered into a definitive agreement with Qlogic Corporation to purchase its Hard
Disk and Tape Drive Controller semiconductor business.
The acquisition, which is expected to close after regulatory approvals
are obtained, should round out Marvell’s design solutions for disk drives, virtually making the company a one-stop shop
for data storage designers. According to Dr. Sehat Sutardja, Marvell's CEO, "these proven products and technologies will further
expand our world class capabilities as the leader in the storage electronics market."
The purchase price for
Qlogic’s was given at $180 million in cash and common stock, valued at $45 million.
August 30th, 2005
Wi-LAN Reports Financials -
Reports on Chip IP License Business
Wi-LAN Inc. (TSX:WIN) with the release of its financials for
the three and nine months ended July 31, 2005, reported that its intellectual property business is expected to contribute
meaningful results in 2006. The WiMAX system-on-chip (SoC) introduced in April, which was co-developed with Fujitsu Microelectronics
America, according to the company, has opened up opportunities for license, technology and engineering service revenue.
Wi-LAN said that for the recent quarter total revenue was $7.73
million Canadian dollars compared to $6.14 million Canadian dollars for the same quarter last year and $7.58 million Canadian
dollars for the prior quarter, ended April 30, 2005. However no revenue was recorded for its license, technology and engineering
services revenue for the quarter ended July 31, 2005. For the quarter ended July 31, 2005, all revenue was from product revenue.
August 30th, 2005
Dynex Reports Shift in Revenue
Momentum to Positive Side
Dynex Power Inc. has reported that it has turned the corner in revenue.
For its second quarter ended June 30, 2005, the maker of power semiconductor chips, reported revenue of $5.56 million Canadian
dollars, up for $5.34 million Canadian dollars for the same period last year.
Noting an increase in order book rates was Dr Paul Taylor, CEO,
"although these results are still far from acceptable, there has been a number of underlying improvements in our operations
that are contributing to our return to profitability. Our order book has grown by 28% over the first six months of the year
as our customers continue to display their confidence in and appreciation of our products. This customer support will enable
us to grow revenue again next quarter. We have also continued to enjoy strong support from our suppliers through what has
been a difficult period and our workforce has shown its determination to ensure that goods are shipped as soon as possible
and that all unnecessary costs are identified and eliminated."
Also expressing confidence of further growth in revenues and improved
profitability was Bob Lockwood, Chief Financial Officer, "the results are in line with the plan we developed at the start
of this year to enable the Company to return to profitability. We are confident of further strong growth in revenue over the
next six months that should see us operating at or close to break-even in the third quarter with a return to profitability
in the fourth quarter.”
August 29th, 2005
MOSAID Technologies Incorporated (TSX:MSD) has reported revenue
of $14,233,000 for its first quarter of fiscal 2006, ended July 31, 2005, a 54 percent increase over last year’s first
quarter of $9,255,000. George Cwynar, President, offered his comments on the company’s financials, new hiring and acquisition
plans, "We are pleased with our results and operational achievements in the first quarter. Net income was higher than planned,
primarily due to reduced litigation activity in the quarter, resulting in lower legal expenses than expected. Organizationally,
we increased headcount to further bolster the breadth and strength of our patent licensing team. On the development side,
our Systems and Semiconductor IP businesses made significant progress towards release of new products in the second half of
this fiscal year. Finally, we continue to be active in selectively investigating acquisition opportunities that would contribute
to our strategic plans to grow MOSAID."
Richard Boadway, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer,
with the financial report emphasized the company’s quarterly dividend and cash position, "During the quarter, we made
our first, ever, quarterly dividend payment to shareholders, totaling approximately $1.4 million," said "Our cash balance
has continued to grow, to stand at $66.9 million in cash and marketable securities at the end of the quarter. The Company
remains committed to our previously announced intent to buy shares under a normal course issuer bid but we have been precluded
from doing so, to date."
MOSAID also reported that The Intellectual Property Division was
highly profitable, recording revenues of $9,288,000 for the first quarter with a segment profit of $5,936,000. For the second
quarter, Mosaid projects higher revenues of $15.5 to $16.5 million and net earnings of $3.7 to $4.2 million. For all of fiscal
year 2006 the forecast is $58 to $62 million in revenues and $13 to $15 million in earnings. Intellectual Property revenue
is expected to come in at about 70 percent of total revenue. Mosaid also has major operations in the memory segment of the
semiconductor test equipment market.
During the first quarter, MOSAID's has been working on a
DDR/DDR2 SDRAM memory controller solution based on UMC's 90nm and 130nm processes. UMC, one of Taiwan’s largest foundries,
has indicated that its customers have stated a need for such a memory controller. A 0.13 nanometer memory controller chip
is expected to be available in early 2006, followed by a 90 nanometer version in the fall of 2006. The controller design is
a result of an earlier agreement between UMC and MOSAID.
August 29th, 2005
SigmaTel Inc. (NASDAQ:SGTL), as an apparent part of a diversification
strategy, has completed the acquisition of Protocom Corporation, an imaging semiconductor company. Protocom will become SigmaTel’s
West Coast Imaging Center. The acquisition is expected to enable SigmaTel to diversify from its traditional market, the MP3
music player chip market. "Based on customer and industry response to the acquisition, SigmaTel now has the industry's best
low cost solutions based on the STMP3500 family and the best leading edge technology for PMPs, digital video cameras and other
multimedia products," said Ron Edgerton, CEO, SigmaTel Inc.
The acquisition is expected to allow SigmaTel to address other markets
such as digital video cameras, personal media players (PMPs), video conferencing, remote security cameras, digital still cameras
and multimedia mobile phones.
The acquisition price of Protocom was $47 million, which included
$28.2 million of SigmaTel common stock and $18.8 million in cash.
August 26th, 2005
OmniVision Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OVTI) with the announcement
of $96.0 million of revenue for the three months ended July 31, 2005, projected revenue for its next quarter, its second quarter,
to rise to somewhere between $110 million and $120 million. According to Shaw Hong, OmniVision's CEO , "The fundamental strength
of our technology and our product portfolio is reflected in the fact that, as we anticipated in our year-end conference call
in June, we expect revenues to grow strongly in the second quarter. We currently expect revenues of between $110 million and
$120 million and earnings of between $0.28 and $0.33 per diluted share." He also commented on the company’s cash position
and stock purchase program, "The fundamental financial strength of our business is demonstrated by the fact that we ended
the quarter with cash and short-term investments totaling $312.0 million even after spending $17.2 million to repurchase 1,250,000
shares in the first phase of our planned $100 million share buy-back program."
OmniVision controls a sizable portion of the CMOS image chip market.
These semiconductors are widely used in the cellular camera phone and digital camera markets.
August 24th, 2005
Silicon Laboratories Acquires
Mixed Signal Design House for $16 Million
Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ:SLAB) has acquired Silicon MAGIKE,
Inc., a mixed signal IC company focused on the development of high voltage designs. Nav Sooch, chairman and interim CEO of
Silicon Laboratories said the acquisition was consistent with the company’s diversification strategy, "This technology
acquisition brings us a very experienced mixed-signal design team and significant development progress on high-voltage products,
which are traditionally high margin, highly differentiated and address a large, fragmented market," said of Silicon Laboratories.
This acquisition is consistent with our customer and market diversification strategy and further expands our world-class design
team."
Silicon Laboratories acquired the company in an all-cash transaction
for about $16 million, however the cost could go higher if Silicon MAGIKE meets certain performance goals over an eighteen-month
period ending June 30, 2007.
August 23rd, 2005
AMI Semiconductor, Inc. a subsidiary of AMIS Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMIS)
has amended its credit agreement to increase its term loan by $110 million. The company plans to use the $110 million for
its acquisition of the semiconductor division of Flextronics International USA, Inc. The funds will however not be available
until after the close of the acquisition, expected sometime in the third quarter.
August 22nd, 2005
Marvell Technology Group Ltd. (NASDAQ:MRVL), a fabless semiconductor
company in the disk drive storage technology and consumer markets, reported revenue of $390.5 million for its second quarter
ended July 30, 2005. That number is up 31.4 percent from the company’s same quarter last year, recorded as $297.2 million.
Sequentially, revenue was also up 7 percent from $364.8 million for the company’s last quarter, its first quarter of
its fiscal 2006 year.
The company also reported on its revenue for its latest six month
period, which was $755.2 million compared to $566.7 million for the same period last year.
Dr. Sehat Sutardja, Marvell's CEO at Marvell indicated that
the company was seeing strong growth in the Enterprise and Consumer markets, "Q2 was another very successful quarter for Marvell.Our
consistently strong financial performance is a result of the hard work and dedication of our employees, the strong positioning
of our world class technologies and the support of our customers and partners. We currently enjoy strong growth and momentum
from both the Enterprise and Consumer markets and are focused on the continued solid execution of our business strategies."
With
the announcement the company reported that the current quarter was its 31st quarter of sequential revenue growth. With that
consistent revenue growth, the company also reported its highest level of cash, cash equivalents and short term investments,
$847.1 million.
Among the company’s achievements announced for the quarter
included a new 90 nanometer based Wireless LAN single chip solution, called the 88W8686. That solution, considered one of
the smallest, has a footprint less than 50 square millimeters.
Along with the financial report Marvell also introduced a family
of chips for the VoIP market. These include chips for VoIP gateways and Voice over WLAN (VoWLAN)handsets and low cost enterprise
phones. According to Kishore Manghnani General Manager, Broadband Home Business Unit Communications and Consumer Business
Group at Marvell, "The Marvell mission is to enable innovative products at consumer price points. Not only is this family
of VoWLAN products so highly integrated that it will create a new class of applications for consumer, home use -- it allows
the Company to take advantage of the explosion in broadband voice services that is about to occur."
August 22nd, 2005
Freescale Semiconductor has acquired Ottawa based Seaway Networks,
a company who offers a network content processor chip called the SW5000 Network Content Processor. That chip has been
used in StreamShield Networks ‘ Content Security Gateways to protect against a wide variety of web based
security threats in real time. Forty of Seaway’s employees will join Freescale, most of which are based at its
Ottawa design center.
August 19th, 2005
Magnum Semiconductor Obtains
Funding – Quarterly Revenue Reported
Magnum Semiconductor, a fabless semiconductor company originated
from the operations of Cirrus Logic, has reported that it has obtained funding from Investcorp Technology Venture and August
Capital. The funds are planned for expansion of R&D operations and for working capital. Elaborating on the use of funds
was Dr. Jack Guedj, acting CEO at Magnum, "With our core expertise in digital media processing ICs, software and system platforms,
Magnum Semiconductor will use the investment proceeds to expand its leadership position in DVD recorders and other growing
digital media platforms,"
With the investment announcement, Raj Singh, partner at Investcorp,
commented on the company’s target market as well as revealed Magnum’s latest quarterly revenues, "Magnum Semiconductor
presented a unique investment opportunity in the fast growing DVD recorder market with a solid tier-1 customer base and ramping
revenue streams exceeding $9 million in the June 2005 quarter."
Magnum, with over 150 employees, is based in Fremont, California
and has offices in Korea, Taiwan and China.
August 18th, 2005
China’s Power Management Fabless Chip Companies
Merge
Power Analog Microelectronics (PAM), a provider of both digital
audio amplifiers and power management integrated circuits has acquired another China based power management chip company,
MicroSilicon. With the merger, the merged company plan to address several consumer markets. These include the personal multimedia
player, portable digital TV and multimedia handset markets. With the acquisition of MicroSilicon, PAM obtained access to both
power management and signal processing technology used for camera, PC, PDAs and wireless applications.
MicroSilicon, a design house focused on CMOS produces within the
0.35 to 0.6 micron range, was founded in 2004 and is based in Shanghai. PAM was also established in 2004.
August 17th, 2005
Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Silver Lake Partners have
signed an agreement with announced with Agilent Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: A) to acquire the company’s Semiconductor
Products Group (SPG). The purchase prices is expected to be $2.66 billion, just a little over the unit’s $2 billion
in revenue in 2004.
Dick Chang, who is presently president of SPG and is to also oversee
the new unit, which presently has 6,600 employees, indicated that the separation from Agilent would be a positive move for
the chip division, "This transaction provides an exciting platform for SPG to grow and thrive as a stand-alone enterprise.
The New SPG will build on the strength of its existing business platform and take advantage of strategic growth opportunities
around the world. We will be better positioned to focus on developing new products, increasing market share, and securing
our role among the technology leaders in the semiconductor industry." Dr. Chang added that the buyout would be perceived as
positive by both customers and employees, "This is good news for our customers and employees, as this transaction is a strong
endorsement of our business model and financial strength. We are looking forward to a constructive partnership with KKR and
Silver Lake, two of the world's most accomplished private equity firms."
The acquisition is expected to be completed soon, by the end
Agilent's fiscal year, October 31, 2005.
August 17th, 2005
Agilent Technologies with the announcement of its third fiscal quarter
ended July 31, 2005 reported evidence of a rebound in semiconductor related markets. One of those signs was a bottoming of
wireless test. For its third quarter, Agilent reported that its semiconductor revenue was $450 million, down from the $458
million it recorded for the same quarter last year, but up sequentially from the second quarter of 2005, which came in at
$414 million.
Orders were up on a year-over-year and sequential basis. For the
third quarter of fiscal 2005, orders for semiconductors came in at $499 million, compared to $399 million for the year ago
quarter and $464 million for its second quarter of 2005.
Agilent attributed the rise in semiconductor orders to personal
systems, noting strength in wireless components and navigation products. Personal system orders increased 37 percent year-over-year.
Network orders were up 2 percent and the company’s book-to-bill ratio reached 1.11 compared to 0.87 a year ago and 1.12
for its second quarter of 2005.
August 16th, 2005
Transmeta Corporation (NASDAQ:TMTA), which low-power microprocessor
and power management technology, has reported second quarter revenue of $24.7 million for its quarter ended June 30, 2005.
This compares to $6.0 million for the second quarter of 2004. The company, which recently changed its business model to an
Intellectual Property (IP) model, for the second quarter broke down its revenue. It includes $10 million in license
revenue, $7.6 million in service revenue and $7.1 million in product revenue. For the second quarter of 2004, the company
did not have any IP license revenue, but had $0.3 million in service revenue and $5.7 million in product revenue.
The company indicated that the increase in product revenue was a
reflection of end-of-life product sales. The company also reported deferred revenue of $15.5 million in the recent second
quarter, which was an increase of $1 million compared to the first quarter of 2005.
Transmeta also released numbers for the six months ended June 30,
2005 and June 30, 2004. For the latest six months revenue was $31.56 million compared to $11.2 million for the same period
in 2004. Of the $31.6 million, $10.0 million was from licenses, $8.08 million from service revenue and $13.47 million was
from product revenue. For the six months ended June 30, 2004, there wasn’t any license revenue, service revenue was
$0.52 million and product revenue was $10.68 million.
August 15th, 2005
Lumera Corporation, (NASDAQ:LMRA), a company focused on the development
of polymer nanomaterial development for wireless and life science applications reported revenue of $348,000 for its latest
quarter ended June 30, 2005. Revenue for the quarter was $60,000 higher than that for the same period last year.
Lumera's polymer materials technology has been developed for biotechnology
disposables, electro-optic devices, and the smart wireless antennas and systems markets. The company’s disposable biochips,
for DNA and protein analysis, are being evaluated by the Institute of Systems Biology, a company that Lumera has a collaboration
agreement with.
Lumera, as part of its quarterly summary indicated that Raytheon
Company has placed an evaluation order for its modulators. Additionally, Lumera has supplied samples of its electro-optic
polymer material to government agencies and potential semiconductor and telecommunications partners. The material has the
potential to enable semiconductor chips to reach speeds greater than 20 GHz.
Lumera also reported in its quarterly report that it is developing
smart antenna applications based on polymers. The company currently markets the AccuPath antenna for WiMax and WiFi applications.
August 11th, 2005
Alliance Semiconductor Reports
49 Percent Gain in Analog and Mixed Signal Revenue
Alliance Semiconductor (NASDAQ:ALSC), despite an overall drop in revenue,
continues to make headway into the analog and mixed signal markets. For its latest quarter, its first quarter ended June 25,
2005, the company reported a 49 percent sequential gain in analog and mixed signal sales. The company reported that for its
first quarter, analog and mixed signal revenue represented 64 percent of total sales, compared to 59 percent of total sales
for the prior quarter, and 39 percent of total sales for the first quarter of its fiscal 2005 year. For the first quarter
of fiscal 2006, Alliance had total sales of $5.911 million, versus $7.136 million for the same quarter last year. Given the
percentages, this works out to analog and mixed signal sales of $3.783 million for the latest quarter, compared to $2.783
million for the year ago quarter, a gain of about 36 percent – indicating that its last quarter analog and mixed signal
sales were $2.539 million. Alliance reported that the growth in analog and mixed signal revenue for its first quarter was
attributed to high growth in the LCD display market.
Alliance also noted that in its first quarter it introduced 15 new
analog and mixed signal products. Those products include electromagnetic inference reduction, clocks, and system monitors
(CPU supervisors), which accounted for ten of the fifteen new products. The company also sampled zero delay buffers and fan
out buffers and introduced a EMI compliant Pulse Width Modulator (PWM) controller. The PWM controller is based on Alliance’s
Spread Spectrum Modulation technology.
With the announcement, N.D. Reddy, Alliance’s CEO, noting large
customers, expressed confidence in the company’s Analog and Mixed Signal business, "We are confident in the long-term
prospects of the Company and believe the Analog and Mixed Signal business unit will be a strong growth driver moving forward,
particularly in the high growth LCD market where we have been designed into the products of the largest players such as Samsung
and LG. Our System Solutions business is still in its early stage of growth, however we continue to sample new connectivity
and controller products to several key OEM customers. As newly introduced products move through their life cycle from customer
evaluation to full production, we expect revenue growth from this business unit in the coming quarters. Overall, we remain
focused on increasing market penetration with our current product portfolio and introducing next-generation solutions."
Alliance Semiconductor, at one time, generated the majority of its
product revenue from DRAM memory chips. The importance of those chips to the company’s total revenue has significantly
diminished since their high point several years ago.
August 10th, 2005
SIA Reports Global Semiconductor Sales Reached $109 Billion for the First Half of 2005
The Semiconductor Industry Association reported that worldwide semiconductor sales were up for
the first half of 2005, reaching $109.0 billion compared to $102.4 billion for the first half of 2004 – a 6.5 percent
gain. For the second quarter of 2005, the SIA stated that semiconductor sales were $53.9 billion, a drop of 2.1 percent from
the second quarter of 2004, which were reported at $55.1 billion. For the most recent month, June 2005, chip sales were estimated
at $18.0 billion, which was a slight decline from the $18.1 billion recorded for May of 2005.
The SIA indicated that its Global Sales Report
is tabulated by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization. That organization represents about 66 companies
involved in the semiconductor market.
August 10th, 2005
Maxim Reports Annual Revenues, Up 16.2 Percent Year Over
Year
Maxim Integrated Products, Inc., (NASDAQ:MXIM), one of the major suppliers
of mixed signal and analog integrated circuits to the electronic industry, reported that for its fiscal year ended June 25,
2005, revenues reached $1.672 billion, up 16.2 percent from $1.439 billion over last year’s revenues. For its latest
fourth quarter however, also ended June 25, 2005, revenues declined on a year-over-year basis to $400.4 million from $421.0
million in its year ago fourth quarter.
Bookings for the most recent fourth quarter increased 7 percent
to $398 million, compared to $373 million in the prior quarter, the third quarter. Maxim indicated that bookings were not
up company wide. For the company’s Maxim unit itself, the company reported that bookings were up 11 percent, but at
its Dallas Semiconductor unit, which offers microcontrollers and automatic identification chips, bookings were down 7 percent.
August 8th, 2005
Analog Devices Estimates Lower Revenue from Wireless Handsets – Suggests Gradual Recovery Next Quarter
Analog Devices (NYSE: ADI) has reported preliminary estimates for
its fiscal third quarter ended July 30, 2005. The company estimates that sales for that quarter will be in the range
of $580 million to $585 million, down in the order of 3 percent to 4 percent from the prior quarter. The estimate is also
down from previous guidance given May 12, 2005, which anticipated growth in the order of 0 percent to 3 percent.
Analog Devices indicated that the revised downward estimate is a result
of a projected $23 million decline in sales of GSM/GPRS base band chips from Asian wireless handset customers. The company
also reported that wireless handsets contributed about 10 percent of total revenue in the third quarter.
Mr. Jerald Fishman, President and CEO at Analog Devices explained
further and suggested a recovery in wireless handset sales, "Although the communications market was generally weak, the revised
outlook is primarily related to lower sales of GSM/GPRS chipsets to Asian customers who continue to struggle against increased
global competition. As these customers begin to supply more feature-rich phones this fall, we believe that our wireless handset
revenue will begin to recover. “
In regard to Analog Devices other product markets he added, "Most
other application areas performed largely according to our third quarter plan. The industrial end markets grew sequentially
with strength in broad-based industrial products offset by declines in automatic test equipment (ATE) and automotive. Revenue
from computer and consumer customers also grew in the third quarter compared to the immediately prior quarter. In line with
normal seasonal patterns, our analog product revenue was approximately flat in the third quarter compared to the immediately
prior quarter, after growing over 6% sequentially in the second quarter compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2005."
Mr. Fishman noted that order rates had increased in the third quarter,
specifically in July, "Order rates increased in the third quarter, above second quarter levels, and were very strong in July.
As a result, we began the fourth quarter with higher backlog than at the start of the third quarter. We continue to believe
that overall, we are in a gradual recovery that began six months ago."
August 8th, 2005
Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (NYSE:SMI)(SEHK:981),
a;sp known as SMIC, reported its financial results for the three months ended June 30, 2005. The company reported sales of
$279.5 million, up 12.3 percent from the first quarter of 2005.
Along with the improved revenue, SMIC reported that it increased
its capacity to 139,025 eight inch wafer equivalents per month and had a wafer fabrication utilization rate of 87 percent
for the second quarter.
Dr. Richard Chang, CEO at SMIC indicated in a lengthy summary that
the semiconductor down cycle had bottomed, and consequently increased projections for capital equipment expenditures,
"The second quarter of 2005 marked what we believe to be the trough of this current semiconductor cycle. During this period,
our financial performance was consistent with our expectations. Despite the general weakness in the semiconductor industry
as a whole at the beginning of the year and in particular the foundry sector, we continued to increase our revenues during
the second quarter of 2005. Based on the demand forecasts provided by our customers, we believe that the second half of 2005
will be a period of financial growth and improvement and have increased our projected capital expenditure budget to $1.1 billion
for 2005. With the semiconductor industry gearing up for a rebound in the second half of the year, we have secured an additional
$600 million in financing that will be more than sufficient to cover our funding requirements for 2005.”
He also commented on SMIC’s new customers from China and the
new semiconductor process milestones the company had reached, “ During the quarter we added 20 new customers, over half
of which came from Mainland China. We are pleased to see continuous progress from our customers in China. On the technology
front, our first customer products at 90nm are currently under qualification and remain on-schedule. Further along the technology
roadmap, we are now developing our 65nm technology process flow in our 300mm fabs.”
Dr. Chang also commented on the company’s diversification
efforts into the flash memory and solar markets, “Today we are pleased to announce two separate projects. The first
relates to a partnership which SMIC has formed with Saifun Semiconductors, Ltd. to license Saifun's NROM technology for the
production of flash memory-based products. Our new flash-memory strategy will enable us to meet the increasing demand for
flash-based products in the consumer electronics and telecommunication sectors.
The second project relates to the wafer reclamation project in Shanghai
to produce solar power modules. We will start facility installation in the third quarter and anticipate equipment move-in
during the fourth quarter.”
Average selling price of SMIC wafers has continued to decline despite
increases in revenue and capacity. The company’s blended wafer ASP for the second quarter of 2005 was $807 compared
to $829 in the first quarter of 2005, representing a 2.7 percent decline sequentially. The drop in ASP was 22 percent when
compared to the second quarter of 2004. In that quarter the blended ASP was $1,035. Logic wafer ASPs have also dropped, but
not as sharply. For the second quarter of 2005, the Logic wafer ASP was $938 compared to $967 in the first quarter of 2005,
down 3 percent, and $1089 in the second quarter of 2004, down 13.9 percent.
For the second quarter, SMIC obtained
42.2 percent of its revenue from fabless companies, 55.2 percent from IDMs, and 2.6 percent from system companies and others.
In the second quarter of 2004, SMIC obtained 9.1 percent of its revenue from the systems and other segment.
In regards to process technology, SMIC in the second quarter obtained
the majority of its revenue from its 0.18 micron process. The company also obtained revenue from its 0.13 micron and 0.15
micron process.
August 8th, 2005
CSR plc (LSE:CSR), considered the market share leader in the Bluetooth
wireless chip market, reported another strong quarter with sales reaching $94.8 million, up 61 percent from last year’s
2nd quarter of $58.9 million and up 43 percent from $66.4 million in CSR’s first quarter of 2005. For the first half
of the year, total revenues reached $161.1 million compared to $95.7 million for the first half of 2004.
Along with the increased revenues, CSR reported that its design
wins have passed the 1,000 mark and now include BenQ, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson. Still though, even
with the broad base of design wins, CRS, like most fabless semiconductor companies depends on just a few companies for the
majority of its sales. For the second quarter of 2005, CSR’s top five customers accounted for over 65 percent of total
sales with its top customer accounting for over 20 percent of total revenue. Integrated circuit revenue prevailed in the quarter,
with royalty revenue making up only $1.7 million revenue in the second quarter, the same amount the company recorded for the
first quarter of 2005.
The company also indicated that the average selling price of its
products declined 4.8 percent from levels seen in the first quarter of 2005 – setting the stage for an overall price
drop in the Bluetooth chip industry.
CSR with the increased revenues also estimated that its market share
grew from 51 percent in the first quarter of 2005 to 56 percent in the second quarter of 2005.
CSR also broke down its design wins by market sector in the quarter.
It reported that it had continued success in the GSM market, with 12 GSM mobile phone qualifications in Q2 2005 and reports
that it now has obtained wins in over 60 percent of the 50 GSM phones that have been in qualified in the first half of 2005.
In the headset market, CSR reports that it obtained over 90 percent
of the available design wins. In the second quarter it reported that a design win from Sony Ericsson was obtained and that
several other companies have qualified its products for headset applications. These companies included GN Netcom (Jabra brand),
Motorola, Nokia, Plantronics and Samsung.
New market activity was also brisk according to the company. There
has been design activity from the MP3 player and PC market, which have been adopting Bluetooth for stereo headsets applications.
CSR reported several design wins in the stereo headphone market. Noted primarily was Samsung as well as design wins from iTEch,
WiGear and Airlogic, which plan to use Bluetooth chips in headphones designed to work with popular MP3 players. In the PC
market, CSR reported a win rate of 75 percent for laptops qualified in the quarter. Design wins were from NEC, Panasonic and
Toshiba. In the automotive market, CSR reported an 85 percent win rate for available designs in the second quarter. Wins were
from leaders in the automobile electronics market such as Hyundai, Delphi Corporation, Nokia and Pioneer.
CSR
also reported interest in its newer product development efforts outside the Bluetooth area. Specifically the company noted
that there was customer interest in its UniFi single chip IEEE802.11a, b, g WiFi solution for mobile phone applications and
other consumer electronic applications. The company noted that interest was from module and mobile phone companies.
With all the activity, CSR’ Board is optimistic. For the third
quarter revenue projections are between $125 million and $135 million. CSR’s headcount now stands at 422, up from 383
at the end of the first quarter of 2005.
August 8th, 2005
Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (NASDAQ: SIMO), a fabless
semiconductor company based in Taiwan, reported revenues of NT$ 552 million, equivalent to $17.6 million U.S. for its latest
quarter ended June 30, 2005. The company reported that the revenue level represented a 37 percent year-over-year gain and
a 7 percent sequential quarterly gain. Specifically strong in the quarter were shipments of mobile storage products and multimedia
System-on-Chip (SoC) products. Mobile Storage product shipments grew 187 percent to 14 million units year-over-year, and 29
percent sequentially. Multimedia SoC products grew 196 percent year-over-year and 107 percent sequentially to 337,000 units.
Silicon Motion’s CEO, Wallace Kou, with the announcement discussed
the improvement in inventory turnover, demand for specific types of chips used in flash storage applications and the company’s
recent IPO, which raised US $41 million, ''We are pleased with our performance in the second quarter. Financially, we were
able to reduce our inventory turnover days from 136 days in Q1 to 87 days in Q2 and to shorten our accounts receivable turnover
days from 61 days to 45 days. In the product area, we experienced increasing demand for our newer products, especially in
flash card controllers and USB 2.0 flash disk controllers, and we had a number of design wins for our MP3 controllers. Additionally,
we capped the quarter with an Initial Public Offering on June 30, 2005. The IPO helped us raise approximately US$41 million
which will mainly be used to fund our needs for additional working capital, additional R&D projects, and general corporate
purposes. Going into the third quarter, with the proceeds we raised in the IPO and the momentum that we built in the second
quarter, we believe that we are well positioned to capture the growth opportunities in the mobile consumer electronics market
in the seasonally strong second half of the year.''
In terms of revenue, Silicon Motion reported that mobile storage
products accounted for 80 percent of total revenues for the second quarter, while multimedia SoCs accounted for 19 percent,
relatively unchanged from the second quarter of 2004. Revenues from mobile storage products were $US 14.1 million for the
second quarter and flat compared to the first quarter of 2005. The sequential increase in mobile storage shipments did not
result in a sequential increase in revenues as a result of a 23 percent decline in average selling price. Mobile storage products
include the company’s flash card controllers and USB 2.0 controllers.
On the other hand, revenues from multimedia SOCs grew 60 percent
from the first quarter of 2005 to U.S. 3.4 million although the average selling price also declined 23 percent sequentially.
Multimedia SoCs include the company’s multimedia display processors and portable audio SoCs.
Among Silicon Motion’s top customers in its latest quarter
were A-Data Technology, a memory module company, All American Semiconductor, ATP Electronics Taiwan, Dynacard, Lexar Media,
Macrotron Systems, Microtek, Power Digital Cards, Siltrontech Electronics, and Sunix Technology.
Silicon Motion like most fabless semiconductor companies, is dependant
of just a few customers for the majority of its sales. For the quarter, Silicon Motion’s top five customers accounted
for 38% of revenues in the quarter. The company has made efforts to decrease its dependency on just a few customers, which
does seem to be working. For the first quarter of 2005, the company’s top five customers accounted for 45 percent of
its total revenue.
AUGUST 5th, 2005
Several of Japan’s top semiconductor companies have reported
financial results for their latest first quarter, ended June 30, 2005. Those reporting include Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, NEC, and
Oki Electric.
On the far end of the downside in the semiconductor and electronic
device segments, were Fujitsu, and NEC. Fujitsu for its first quarter reported that its Device Solutions revenue was down
significantly year-over-year. The Device Solutions group is comprised of revenue from LSI Devices and Electronic Components.
Total Device Solutions revenue was 159.1 billion yen, a decrease of 27.7% over the first quarter of fiscal 2004. Of that 159.1
billion yen, LSI Devices contributed 101.6 billion yen, down 17.2 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The drop in Electronic
Component revenue was more dramatic, down 40.8 percent over the year ago period to 57.5 billion yen. However the Electronic
Component division was affected by the transfer of Fujitsu’s flat panel display business. The decrease in LSI Device
revenue was attributed in part to customer inventory adjustments and a slowing in demand in Asia and Japan for flash chips
used in cellular phones.
Among the highlights of the quarter, Fujitsu reported that an agreement
had been reached with Seiko Epson in June of 2005 for the joint development of FRAM technology, a nonvolatile memory technology
that competes with flash memory technology for embedded and single chip solutions. Fujitsu also reported that it had developed
a multilayer wiring technology for use in the design and manufacturer of 45 nanometer integrated circuits. The new routing
technology is expected to permit the company’s integrated circuits to operate at faster operating speeds and to lower
the overall power consumption of chips designed in the state-of-the-art process.
NEC Corporation, whose semiconductor operations are reported within
its Electron Device Business unit, reported that Electron Device sales were down 26 percent to 181.6 billion yen for the period
ended June 30, 2005 compared to the same quarter in 2004. NEC reported that sales were down primarily as a result of a decrease
in semiconductor sales. Semiconductor sales were 146.1 billion yen, down 21 percent over the same quarter a year ago.
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (TSE:6703) revealed more stable
semiconductor results for its first quarter (from April 1, 2005 to June 30, 2005). The company also indicated slightly positive
projections for revenue for the first half of its latest year.
Overall for the semiconductor segment, Oki reported that semiconductor
revenue for the quarter declined slightly to 35.8 billion from 37.6 billion for the same quarter last year.
Oki Electric breaks down its semiconductor operations into four
separate categories. These include Optical Components, Logic LSI, System LSIs, and System Memory. For the first quarter ended
June 30, 2005 Logic LSIs and Optical Component segments increased. Logic LSI sales increased to 19.8 billion yen from 15.8
billion yen. Optical components increased 25 percent, from 0.4 billion yen to 0.5 billion yen. Systems LSIs led the decline,
going from 9.3 billion yen last year to 6.3 billion year in the first quarter of this year. System memory sales also dropped
dramatically from 12.0 billion yen to 9.2 billion yen.
Oki indicated that LCD driver sales increased as a result of the
acquisition of Texas Instruments LCD driver business, while PHS and sound generator LSI sales declined.
For the first half of its current year, Oki projects that its semiconductor
sales will be 77.0 billion yen compared to76.6 billion yen for the same six month period last year. Oki also broke out projections
for its individual semiconductor segments. For the first half of its current fiscal year, Oki projects that its Optical Component
revenue will reach 2 billion yen, Logic LSI revenue will reach 35 billion yen, System LSIs will fall to 16 billion yen and
System Memory sales will decline slightly to 24 billion yen. For the first half of last year, optical component revenue was
1.3 billion yen, Logic LSI revenue was 32.2 billion yen, System LSIs was 18.3 billion yen and System Memory sales stood at
24.8 billion yen.
Mitsubishi Electric, on the other hand, reported an increase in
sales for its Electronic Devices business unit, which includes semiconductors. For its first quarter of its fiscal 2006 year,
the company reported revenue of 40.3 billion yen, an increase of 3 percent over the same quarter last year. The company reported
that its semiconductor business sales revenue and orders increased over the same year ago period primarily as a result of
increased power module shipments for household appliances, industrial machinery and laser diodes for recordable DVD players.
Mitsubishi’s Electronic Devices business also includes its liquid crystal business, which was down in terms of both
sales and orders from the first quarter of its fiscal 2005 year.
AUGUST 5th, 2005
Cadence Reports 12 Percent Revenue Gain over Last Year
Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NYSE:CDN)(NASDAQ:CDN), one of the largest components of the electronic
design automation market, reported revenue of $321 million for its latest quarter, its second quarter, ended July 2, 2005.
This represented an increase of 12 percent over the $287 million in revenue the company recorded for its second quarter of
2004.
Mike Fister, president and CEO of Cadence Design Systems, Inc. commented
on the results from a geographic and global account perspective, "We saw good growth in both our global accounts and geographic
regions during the second quarter, confirming for us that both our technologies and our strategies are well positioned to
help all types of customers meet their market demands," "We are looking forward to CDNLive!, our new expanded user group meeting
in September, where we will share more about our new technology and products with our customers."
Bill Porter, senior vice president and chief financial officer commented
on product performance, "Once again in the second quarter, we saw good results across our product portfolio with particular
strength in custom IC as well as digital and verification. Our diversified portfolio is a significant driver of our consistent
results."
As far as product segment revenue went, Cadence reported that that
their customs design tool revenue was 31 percent of total sales for its second quarter of 2005, compared to 24 percent of
total sales in its first quarter of 2005. For the second quarter of 2004, custom design tools stood at 27 percent of total
revenues. Cadence’s custom design tools address the analog and mixed signal integrated circuit development and the custom digital integrated circuit design markets.
Cadence other product segment revenue were either slightly down
or flat in terms of a percentage of total revenues from the first quarter to the second quarter of this year Cadence’s
major product segments include Functional Verification, Digital IC Design, Custom IC Design, Design for Manufacturing, System
Interconnect, Services and Other. The product segment revenue includes software maintenance revenue.
For the third quarter of 2005, Cadence has projected total revenue
somewhere between $320 million to $330 million. For its 2005 year, the company foresees revenue between $1.275 billion and
$1.215 billion.
August 4th, 2005
Mercury Computer Systems’
Semiconductor Sales Jump
Mercury Computer Systems, a provider of 3D imaging systems and OEM
semiconductor products, has reported quarterly revenues for its fourth quarter of its fiscal 2005 year. Revenues for the fourth
quarter were $71.5 million, which represent a 21 percent increase in revenue over the company’s fourth quarter in 2004.
For the entire 2005 fiscal year, Mercury Computer reported total sales of $250.2 million, an increase of 35 percent over its
2004 fiscal year.
Jay Bertelli, CEO at Mercury Computer Systems, Inc., discussed the
company’s growth in detail, "We are thrilled to report the strongest revenue year in Mercury's history. We achieved
strong organic growth in our high-end markets, including signals intelligence and medical imaging. Additionally, we augmented
our 3D imaging and visualization solution portfolio with products and services gained through our acquisition of the TGS Group
in May 2004, and increased our growth potential in this market with the recent acquisition of SoHard AG, a leader in web-based
picture archiving and communications systems for hospital enterprises. This past month, we agreed to acquire Echotek Corporation,
a long-time hardware alliance partner, to fill a product gap and enhance our defense business opportunities in signals intelligence
as well as commercial wireless communications. We expect to close on Echotek in the third quarter of this calendar year."
Although Mr. Bertelli did not specifically discuss semiconductor
results, which are part of the OEM Solutions group at Mercury, the company did indicate that revenues from the OEM Solutions
group revenues reached $48.4 million for fiscal 2005, up 81 percent over last year, and representing 19 percent of the
total company’s revenue. For the fourth quarter however, OEM Solution’s revenues were $10.2 million, which was
only 14 percent of total company revenues. Mercury indicated that the semiconductor growth was due to design wins moving into
production. In this regard, the company specifically pointed to semiconductor capital equipment company shipments. The semiconductor
equipment companies are using Mercury’s chips in semiconductor inspection and mask-generation systems.
JULY 26th, 2005
Intel has reported a 15 percent increase in revenue year-over-year
for its second quarter. The company announced revenues of $9.23 billion for the three months ended July 2, 2005 versus $8.05
billion for the three months ended June 26, 2004. For the six month period ended July 2, 2005, revenues were $18.67 billion
versus $16.14 billion for the same period ended June 26, 2004. The company expects sequential growth in the third quarter.
Intel projects for that quarter, revenue may come in somewhere between $9.6 billion and $10.2 billion.
Intel also briefly highlighted the results for the quarter. Intel
reported that microprocessor units were at record levels, with a lower average selling price due in part to an increase in
Xbox processor shipments. Along with record microprocessor shipments, the company reported that wireless connectivity units
established a record. Also higher record levels of flash memory units with lower average selling prices and higher chipset
units were reported. On the downside were lower motherboard units and lower wired connectivity units.
Although year-over-year revenue was 15 percent higher, sequentially
revenue declined. For the first quarter of 2005, total revenue at Intel reached $9.43 billion. Microprocessor revenue and
chipset revenue increased sequentially in Intel’s Mobility Group, which is focused on wireless applications. Microprocessor
revenue in the Mobility Group was $2.06 billion for the second quarter of 2005 compared to $1.92 billion for the first quarter
of 2005. Chipset and other revenue in the Mobility Group was $566 million in the second quarter of 2005 compared to $516 million
in the first quarter of 2005.
Microprocessor revenue from the Digital Enterprise Group fell from
$4.94 billion in the first quarter of 2005 to $4.60 billion in the second quarter of 2005. For the first half of 2005, Digital
Enterprise Group microprocessor revenue declined to $9.55 billion from $9.65 billion for the same period last year. This contrasts
starkly to mobility microprocessor revenue, which almost doubled to $3.97 billion for the first six months of 2005 when compared
to $2.39 billion for the first six months of 2004. For all of 2004, the Mobility Group’s microprocessor revenue was
$5.67 billion with sequential gains for each quarter in 2005. On the other hand, Digital Enterprise Group microprocessor revenue
peaked in the fourth quarter of 2004 at $5.26 billion. Flash memory chips, part of the Mobility Group also, also peaked in
terms of dollars in the fourth quarter of 2004, at $643 million. For the latest second quarter, flash memory chip sales at
Intel were reported at $528 million.
Within the Mobility Group, Intel specifically pointed out sales
of its application processors used for phones and other consumer electronic products. It reported strong demand and double-digit
year-over-year growth. Intel pointed to the fact that O2, a major European telephone company, had designed a new cellular
phone based on the Intel PXA800F baseband chipset for GSM/GPRS networks.
Commenting on Intel’s performance in the quarter was Paul
Otellini, President and CEO of Intel, "Intel delivered record second-quarter revenue, with growth of 15 percent versus a year
ago led by strong demand for our notebook platforms. Our investments in new products, advanced silicon capacity and emerging
markets are paying off with growth that is outpacing the industry. We look forward to the second half of 2005 as we ramp dual-core
microprocessors into high volume, begin production on our 65nm process technology and deliver innovative new platforms."
Intel continues to press forward through its process technology.
Intel has sampled three new dual core microprocessors based on its 65 nanometer (nm) process, which should lead to high
volume ramps in 2006. Further underscoring its manufacturing focus Intel has entered into an agreement with Corning
for the development of low-defect photomask substrates for high volume 32 nanometer chip designs. Intel also noted that for
2005 its capital expenditures are expected to be between $5.7 billion and $6.1 billion, which is above the $5.4 billion to
$5.8 billion it previously projected. The reason given was higher expected demand.
JULY 26th, 2005
In what has been a mundane year for EDA companies, Synplicity, Inc.
(NASDAQ:SYNP), has broken away from the crowd with an “EDA significant” rise in revenue. The company reported
that for both the quarter ended and the six months ended June 30, 2005, the company’s revenue rose 7 percent year-over-year.
For the quarter ended June 30, 2005, the company noted a 4 percent sequential gain over the last quarter. Revenues for the
second quarter ended June 30, 2005 was $15.2 million. For the six months ended June 30, 2005, revenue was $29.7 million.
Gary Meyers, President and CEO specifically pointed out the triple
digit booking gains for the company’s structured ASIC design tools, "In the second quarter, we continued to grow revenues
and profits. In the FPGA line of business we had strong sequential and year over year bookings growth of the Synplify Pro
and Identify product lines. We also had more than 100 percent year over year bookings growth for the structured ASIC product
line and sold a record number of structured ASIC licenses. As we look to the remainder of 2005, we are focused on continuing
to drive growth and profitability."
Looking forward, Synplicity projects that revenue for the third
quarter would rise again to somewhere around $15.8 million. For the year, total revenues are estimated at between $62 million
and $63 million – higher than previous guidance.
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