The global semiconductor market is finally approaching rock bottom, according to IDC. Global semiconductor revenue in 2016 will decline for the second consecutive year, to $324 billion, by 2.3 percent. An economic pause in China and emerging markets and a softening of the overall outlook this year in the U.S. are key factors that will…
A 40-year-old Chinese citizen pleaded guilty in a New Haven, Conn., federal court last week to conspiring to sell counterfeit ICs to a buyer in the United States. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Daofu Zhang of Shenzen, China, and two co-conspirators each operated businesses in China that bought and sold electronic components.…
Ongoing consolidation has me sometimes feeling that the semiconductor and electronics industry is a shrinking group of major corporations representing leading sectors. The headlining M&A story of the year—so far– is the Foxconn-Sharp merger penned at the beginning of April, but which began in 2012. The seesaw story of Sharp’s financial troubles plagued the company for…
Hsinchu, Taiwan, R.O.C. – TSMC (TWSE: 2330, NYSE: TSM) today announced that the Company and the municipal government of Nanjing, China have signed an investment agreement. This agreement affirms that TSMC will make an investment in Nanjing valued at US$3 billion to establish TSMC (Nanjing) Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary managing a 12-inch wafer fab…
Englewood, Colo. – The industrial semiconductor market is forecast to grow from $43.5 billion in 2014 to $59.5 billion in 2019, at a compound annual growth rate of eight percent, according to IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). Analysts expect market growth to be driven by increased capital spending and continued economic growth, particularly in the United States, led by commercial…
Electronics makers were the lead architect of the digital marketplace. They supplied its bolts and nuts – the hardware and software behind the technology – and should know what it’s supposed to do and how it works. Alas, the electronics industry itself has not mastered its creation and has struggled to counter the effects of…
San Jose, Calif.–GigOptix, Inc. (NYSE MKT:GIG), a leading supplier of advanced semiconductor communications components for use in Cloud connectivity, data centers, and high-speed optical and wireless networks, today announced that it has signed Avnet, a leading global technology distributor, as its distributor for all GigOptix product lines sales in China. “Avnet’s comprehensive portfolio of products and…
ZTE Corp. was the primary target but a decision by the U.S. Department of Commerce restricting the sale of electronics components to the Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer is reverberating throughout the industry. Executives at component suppliers, distributors and OEMs said they are monitoring the situation and have implemented further supply chain vetting actions to avoid…
China is carving out a bigger role for itself in the semiconductor industry and has lined up a huge war chest to fund acquisitions in the sector. Based on its rising chip consumption profile and an aggressive political strategy, observers believe China will eventually become a major force in the sector despite Western opposition over…
When ZeeVee Inc. was founded in 2007, its principals knew exactly where it would manufacture: China. A significant number of OEMs and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) providers had spent the prior decade moving manufacturing facilities there, so ZeeVee decided to follow best practices at that time. Today, ZeeVee, a manufacturer of video and signal distribution…