Microsoft will initially build 300,000 Surface ARM-powered Windows RT and Ivy-powered Windows 8 Pro tablets, ramping up to between 3 million and 4 million units within the 2013 fiscal year, sources tell analysts. {complink 3426|Microsoft Corp.} will end its fiscal year June 30, and the company plans to announce fourth-quarter and full-year results July 19.…
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For those of you who have been following these REACH Best-Practices articles, I have been doing my best to be as comprehensive as possible in the overviews. Recently, I met with the staff of GreenSoft Technology and was treated to a demonstration of its services and software product, GreenData Manager. GreenSoft specializes in environmental compliance…
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{complink 3847|Nokia Corp.} is facing yet another hurdle in its efforts to regain its mojo in the mobile communications market. The Finnish handset maker aligned itself late last year with {complink 3426|Microsoft Corp.} by adopting Microsoft's Windows operating system for its smartphones. When Microsoft launches its latest version, Windows Phone 8, in the fall, the…
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Despite extensive vetting of suppliers by manufacturers and the best efforts of both certified independents and franchised distributors, the reality is that counterfeit parts can and do make their way into the electronic component supply chain and, ultimately, into products. Yes, franchised distributors have this issue, too, due to cross-contamination, dabbling in the open market,…
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A low-cost, high-performance tech product is about to hit the market and will be available only through limited distribution. Sound familiar? When the Raspberry Pi hit the market, its two distributors were immediately overwhelmed with orders. A comparable product launch is shaping up, and {complink 12809|element14} is ready. {complink 2134|Freescale Semiconductor Inc.}, at its annual…
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UK-based Gremlin Electronics (named changed for confidentiality) is one of Europe's leading electronics companies. The company has implemented a software solution on top of its ERP system to increase its product availability for shipment while reducing costs such as stock and storage, airfreight, late penalties, and inevitable depreciation and scrapping. In Part 1 of this…
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Chinese manufacturing and export orders continued to fall in May, and the deceleration is expected to continue for at least the next several months, according to the results of a monthly survey by banking giant {complink 6453|HSBC Holdings plc}. Manufacturing conditions have deteriorated in China over the last seven months as demand from Europe withered…
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I wrote recently about how buying software companies is a common strategy for semiconductor firms to expand quickly into new markets and technologies. It is equally interesting to look at OEM hardware companies buying software companies. That trend has accelerated with the success of {complink 379|Apple Inc.} as it tightly couples hardware and software business…
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It seems {complink 987|Celestica Inc.} placed a large bet on the wrong horse. In the next year or so, about 20 percent of the Canadian contract manufacturer's revenues will disappear as turmoil at {complink 4644|Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM)} wreaks havoc on the extended supply chain of the BlackBerry smartphone manufacturer. Celestica, in a recent…
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We've all felt it, but now there's a name for it: outlet outrage. It happens when you are forced to lug your laptop between airport departure gates in the hope of recharging your computer. A travel study commissioned by Intel Corp. found that consumers' attachment to their mobile devices can be mood-altering. Losing a device…
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