Counterfeit electronic parts are on the rise. The US military is particularly alarmed. The Senate Armed Services Committee met in November to discuss the risk counterfeit parts are posing to the reliability of US military defense systems. After the hearing, Senators Carl Levin and John McCain introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act…
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Technology changes quickly, but not that quickly. Many high-tech developments start out as breakthroughs and then become trends. For the electronics supply chain, trends are stable — at least for awhile — and offer the market some level of predictability. Not all trends succeed for the long-term: Netbooks were a trend that petered out quickly.…
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Semiconductor industry executives’ revenue and profitability growth expectations overall are down from a year ago
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Sometimes, I find it hard to watch a big company tumble. I can't help but wince when organizations that had a huge presence in the tech scene begin to crumble. Other times, I just throw my hands up in frustration and want to shake some sense into the executives. More frequently, I want companies that…
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When a manufacturer offers a product for sale, the design engineers expect to have access to documentation that provides sufficient information to determine whether the product will perform as needed for the design under consideration. This is a fundamental requirement for electronic component parts and assemblies. For components that are intended for use in assemblies,…
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There is some evidence that US manufacturers are at least reevaluating their offshore manufacturing strategies. According to a report released yesterday by Cook Associates Executive Search, 85 percent of 3,000 c-level executives polled in the low-volume, high-mix manufacturing space say production jobs might actually return to the US. To be fair, in electronics manufacturing, high-mix,…
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PHOENIX — Avnet, Inc. (NYSE:AVT) announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ROUND2 INC. and its parent Round2 Technologies, Inc. (“ROUND2”). The acquisition has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is subject to the approval of ROUND2's shareholders as well as customary closing conditions. The…
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BERNIN, France — Soitec (Euronext), a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials for the electronics and energy industries, has purchased a manufacturing facility in Rancho Bernardo, Calif., within San Diego City limits, and will soon begin fitting the factory to produce its concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules for the U.S. renewable-energy market. The…
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AUSTIN, Texas — Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) today announced that networking and multimedia group Senior Vice President and General Manager Lisa Su plans to leave the company at the end of this year to pursue other opportunities. Moving forward, Freescale will create two new strategic product groups – the Networking & Multimedia Solutions Group (NMSG) and…
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GENEVA — STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, announced today the launch of “ST New Ventures”, its corporate venture capital fund currently under incorporation. The acceleration of the pervasion of semiconductor has led ST to create a venture fund which will invest in technology, product and…
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