THE SEMICONDUCTOR EVENING NEWS
September 12th, 2005
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. has announced a 16 Gbit NAND flash
memory chip. The chip was designed with a 50-nanometer semiconductor process technology using a 3D-transistor architecture,
which enabled the high-density memory storage capability. The memory cell size, which stores just one bit of data, was reported
as 0.00625 square microns per bit, a 25 percent reduction in the cell size of the company’s previous 8 Gbit NAND memory
Samsung developed in 2005 using a 60 nanometer technology. The 16 Gbit device has 16.4 billion transistors in total.
Samsung indicated that it plans to begin mass production of the
16Gb NAND flash in the second half of 2006. End markets for the chip potentially include replacements for hard disk drives
in PCs, and for music machine and cellular phone applications.
The company with the announcement reported that the compound annual
growth rate of NAND flash chips was 70 percent from 2001 through 2005. As well, Samsung said that NAND flash memory chip sales
would exceed NOR flash memory chip sales this year for the first time. Samsung expects that the global NAND flash chip market
will see revenues in the order of $10.1 billion this year.
Global Silicon, a fabless semiconductor company with boombox audio
chips, has raised $10 million in additional funding. The funding was led by Quester, but also included funding from Celtic
House and MTI Partners. The funds are expected to add to the company’s product line and operation expansion efforts
in the United Kingdom and China. According to Bill Jeffrey, Chairman of Global Silicon, “This is a very important step
for the company. This new capital will be used to recruit new engineers and further develop our software and chip design resources
in Cambridge, application engineers in Fenggang, China and strengthen our management team with the appointment of a CEO. Our
lead product, Xin is currently being sold in audio systems in the UK and Europe and we will introduce further audio products
during 2006. I am very pleased to have gained the support of three leading venture capital houses.”
Global Silicon, which was founded in 2000, has developed a solution
for CD digital audio players, the Xin chip. Global reports that its chip sales to audio companies based in China have been
growing rapidly. The company also indicated that it would utilize its Intellectual Property to expand into other consumer
markets. Global Silicon’s Xin chip entered production in late 2004.
Interface Sciences Corporation (ISC), based in Santa Barbara, California,
has brought out a new nanotechnology based oil spill and recovery technology. The company indicated that Hurricane Katrina
was one of the reasons. The new patented oil spill technology, referred to as Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAMs) technology,
is said to have the capacity to absorb about 40 times it weight in oil. As well, the technology permits the oil absorbed to
be recovered and reused. CEO at ISC, Mitch Hawkins commented on the product’s early release, "Interface Sciences Corporation
wants to make this highly effective material widely available to help mitigate the environmental and health impacts caused
by the approximate 3,000 worldwide annual oil spills, and in particular oil spill damage caused by Hurricane Katrina."
The launch comes about six months of the company’s plans,
which will require the company to find a partner to ramp up production. According to ISC President Chuck Fishel, "We were
not really set up to produce enough of this exciting material, but thought we had to put it out there given the emergency
in the Southeast. We can probably generate enough for use with environmental cleanup of wildlife, but need to find a partner
to accelerate the production and distribution of major quantities for large leaks and spills."
Interface Sciences has been applying its nanotechnology to a number of different fields. It list these as oil spill
remediation, fiber composites and composite structures, computer circuit boards, MEMS, sports equipment, nanoparticle functionalization
and paper treatments.
Sensory’s voice recognition and speech synthesis technology
chips are expected to be incorporated into most interactive toys given during the holidays this year. One of the reasons is
that Hasbro’s Tiger Electronics division has based its new FURBY toy on Sensory’s RSC-4128 microcontroller. According
to Todd Mozer, CEO of Sensory, "The newly-released FURBY creature uses the RSC-4128 as a complete single-chip solution providing
all hearing, talking and CPU functions." The original FURBY toy since its introduction has sold over 40 million units.
The new FURBY design is expected to be much more advanced than the
last version, which might give it even more market pull. The new toy has six times more memory and with its advanced processor
also is more agile and expressive. The motor controls turn the toy into a dancing doll that has both moving ears and eyes.
The sensors inside also give the toy the ability to respond to feeding time and tickling. It also has advanced multilingual
listening and speech capabilities.
According to Leif Askeland, Vice President of Engineering and Technology
Development at Hasbro, "Because of advances in technology, we have been able to make the new FURBY with many of the features
that we had wanted to put in the original but could not because of cost. Thanks to Sensory's cutting-edge ICs and speech technologies,
the new FURBY creature can actually listen to what you say and respond in a very vibrant fashion."
The new FURBY design is expected to retail for less than $40.00.
Besides, American and British FURBYs, there will be Dutch, French German, Spanish, Japanese and Italian FURBYs to meet the
global demand for the doll.
Sensory lists its other customers as JVC, Kenwood, Mitsubishi, Toshiba,
Uniden and Sony.
Hasbro is world known for an expansive line of toy brands, which
include PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, and WIZARDS OF THE COAST
Through Companhia Brasileira de semiconductores (CBS), Brazil’s
semiconductor manufacturing venture, Brazil is expected to have a semiconductor wafer fabrication facility by 2007. The new
facility is expected to be located in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais on a 990 acre facility along with several other
technology companies. The fab, to be in the Minas Gerais Technological Park. is planned for the production of high voltage,
mixed signal CMOS, BiCMOS and Bipolar chips.
Through Brazil’s Eldorado project, Brazil is also expected
to become home for semiconductor design houses through its own pool of local talent and foreign chip companies that are expected
to locate in the area. According to Dr. Wolfgang Sauer, CEO of CBS, "Brazil is already a major maker and exporter of advanced
high-technology products such as aircraft, consumer electronics, and cell phones and is making the necessary infrastructure
and industrial investment to step onto the world stage in semiconductor manufacturing and design. The technological park in
Minas Gerais, and CBS in particular, are clear indicators of Brazil's direction and commitment. For strategic reasons many
companies want to have semiconductor manufacturing located in multiple economic and geographic zones. A Brazilian semiconductor
industry offers a real alternative to the concentration of semiconductor manufacturing in Asia."
Both Intel Corp. and Texas Instruments announced new revenue projections
for the current quarter. Intel Corporation has narrowed the range for revenue it expects in the third quarter. It now sees
revenue in the order of $9.8 billion to $10 billion, compared to a previous forecast of $9.6 billion to $10.2 billion.
Texas Instruments Inc. expects that its revenue will fall between
$3.48 billion and $3.62 billion, up from the company’s previous projection range of $3.29 billion and $3.56 billion.
Of that revenue, semiconductor revenue has been forecast at between $3.02 billion and $3.14 billion. This compares to the
previous chip revenue forecast of between $2.835 million and $3.065 million. For the sensors and control division, which includes
RFID devices and sensors for the automotive industry, revenue is forecast between $280 million and $290 million, which has
been narrowed from the previous forecast of between $275 million and $295 million. Projected Educational and Productivity
revenue was also given. It is expected to end up somewhere between $180 million and $200 million
