Author Archives: david manners

GCHQ says make passwords simpler

GCHQ

GCHQ

GCHQ, which knows a thing or two about passwords, has issued guidance on how to set passwords, saying that over-complex ones may not be particularly secure.

“Password guidance: simplifying your approach”, has been published by GCHQ. It recommends concocting a password from three random words or using a password manager.

“Complex passwords do not usually frustrate attackers, yet they make daily life much harder for users,” says Ciaran Martin, director general of cyber security for GCHQ.

The problem for users is simply remembering passwords, particularly if they are a complex mixture of letters figures and symbols. GCHQ’s advice is to aimed at making users’ lived simpler.

david manners

Infineon No.1 in power semis for 12th successive year

Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss

Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss

Infineon is No.1 in power semis for the 12th year running.

‘After acquiring International Rectifier at the beginning of the year, Infineon’s 19.2% market share now makes it the clear market leader,’ says Infineon, ‘in comparison, both companies’ market share in 2013 summed up to approximately 17.5%, according to IHS. Infineon’s closest competitor lags behind with 7%.’

“Through organic growth and the acquisition of International Rectifier we’ve made our leadership position for power semiconductors even stronger compared to the global competition,” says Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss, “our leading technology expertise and our system understanding mean we will profit disproportionately from the forecasted growth.”

IHS reckons the power semi market grew 6.3% last year to $16.2 billion.

In 2014 Infineon’s MOSFET market share grew from 26.4 to 27.8%, while the second largest competitor reached 10.5 percent.

Infineon grew its stake in the discrete IGBT market from 34.7 to 38.5%, with its nearest competitor trailing behind with 14.1% of the market.

In the IGBT module segment, Infineon raised its market share from 21.4% to 23.2%, narrowing the gap to the No.1 player to about three percentage points.

david manners

Infineon No.1 in power semis for 12th successive year

Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss

Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss

Infineon is No.1 in power semis for the 12th year running.

‘After acquiring International Rectifier at the beginning of the year, Infineon’s 19.2% market share now makes it the clear market leader,’ says Infineon, ‘in comparison, both companies’ market share in 2013 summed up to approximately 17.5%, according to IHS. Infineon’s closest competitor lags behind with 7%.’

“Through organic growth and the acquisition of International Rectifier we’ve made our leadership position for power semiconductors even stronger compared to the global competition,” says Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss, “our leading technology expertise and our system understanding mean we will profit disproportionately from the forecasted growth.”

IHS reckons the power semi market grew 6.3% last year to $16.2 billion.

In 2014 Infineon’s MOSFET market share grew from 26.4 to 27.8%, while the second largest competitor reached 10.5 percent.

Infineon grew its stake in the discrete IGBT market from 34.7 to 38.5%, with its nearest competitor trailing behind with 14.1% of the market.

In the IGBT module segment, Infineon raised its market share from 21.4% to 23.2%, narrowing the gap to the No.1 player to about three percentage points.

david manners

Infineon No.1 in power semis for 12th successive year

Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss

Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss

Infineon is No.1 in power semis for the 12th year running.

‘After acquiring International Rectifier at the beginning of the year, Infineon’s 19.2% market share now makes it the clear market leader,’ says Infineon, ‘in comparison, both companies’ market share in 2013 summed up to approximately 17.5%, according to IHS. Infineon’s closest competitor lags behind with 7%.’

“Through organic growth and the acquisition of International Rectifier we’ve made our leadership position for power semiconductors even stronger compared to the global competition,” says Infineon CEO Dr. Reinhard Ploss, “our leading technology expertise and our system understanding mean we will profit disproportionately from the forecasted growth.”

IHS reckons the power semi market grew 6.3% last year to $16.2 billion.

In 2014 Infineon’s MOSFET market share grew from 26.4 to 27.8%, while the second largest competitor reached 10.5 percent.

Infineon grew its stake in the discrete IGBT market from 34.7 to 38.5%, with its nearest competitor trailing behind with 14.1% of the market.

In the IGBT module segment, Infineon raised its market share from 21.4% to 23.2%, narrowing the gap to the No.1 player to about three percentage points.

david manners

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

The collapse in demand for smartphones has caused a severe drop in foundry orders for mobile SoCs.

TSMC saw sales drop from $2.48 billion in July to $2.06 billion in August – a fall of over 17%.

At UMC August sales were down 4% and the company said its Q3 wafer shipments may fall sequentially by as much as 5%, while its ASP may fall 3%.

The reason given by both companies is excessive inventory in the mobile SoC supply chain which made customers cut back on orders.

It was the third lowest monthly sales figure for TSMC this year after February’s $1.9 billion and June’s $1.84 billion.

In the first eight months of the year TSMC had sales of $17.6 billion – 23.6% more than in the first eight months of 2014.

TSMC says Q3 sales will be between $6.33 billion and $6.42 billion.

See also: Foundry revenues grow 16% – Gartner

See also: Foundry sales outgrow industry sales

Read more TSMC stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

The collapse in demand for smartphones has caused a severe drop in foundry orders for mobile SoCs.

TSMC saw sales drop from $2.48 billion in July to $2.06 billion in August – a fall of over 17%.

At UMC August sales were down 4% and the company said its Q3 wafer shipments may fall sequentially by as much as 5%, while its ASP may fall 3%.

The reason given by both companies is excessive inventory in the mobile SoC supply chain which made customers cut back on orders.

It was the third lowest monthly sales figure for TSMC this year after February’s $1.9 billion and June’s $1.84 billion.

In the first eight months of the year TSMC had sales of $17.6 billion – 23.6% more than in the first eight months of 2014.

TSMC says Q3 sales will be between $6.33 billion and $6.42 billion.

See also: Foundry revenues grow 16% – Gartner

See also: Foundry sales outgrow industry sales

Read more TSMC stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

Smartphone demand collapse hits foundry orders

The collapse in demand for smartphones has caused a severe drop in foundry orders for mobile SoCs.

TSMC saw sales drop from $2.48 billion in July to $2.06 billion in August – a fall of over 17%.

At UMC August sales were down 4% and the company said its Q3 wafer shipments may fall sequentially by as much as 5%, while its ASP may fall 3%.

The reason given by both companies is excessive inventory in the mobile SoC supply chain which made customers cut back on orders.

It was the third lowest monthly sales figure for TSMC this year after February’s $1.9 billion and June’s $1.84 billion.

In the first eight months of the year TSMC had sales of $17.6 billion – 23.6% more than in the first eight months of 2014.

TSMC says Q3 sales will be between $6.33 billion and $6.42 billion.

See also: Foundry revenues grow 16% – Gartner

See also: Foundry sales outgrow industry sales

Read more TSMC stories on Electronics Weekly »

 

david manners

Taiwan’s IC design houses consolidating

Taiwan's IC design houses consolidating

Taiwan’s IC design houses consolidating

The Taiwanese chip industry is in a state of accelerated consolidation with MediaTek acting as the consolidator.

The independent Taiwan design community is now under notice that it will have to cope with a powerful competitor or a new owner.

MediaTek already has a number of local chip companies under its belt, the most notable being MStar which was acquired last year.

Earlier this year it acquired Alpha Imaging for UAV chips and Chingis Technology for flash chips.

Now it is planning to use MStar to take over the analogue IC design company ILI Technology (Ilitek) for $115 million while it makes an $890 million bid for analogue IC designer Richtek under its own name.

According to Digitimes, the resultant merger could account for half Taiwan’s IC design revenues and will put the leading independent houses – Novatek Microelectronics, Himax Technologies, Realtek Semiconductor, FocalTech Systems, Raydium Semiconductor, Elan Microelectronics, Sitronix Technology and Silicon Motion Technology – under scrutiny as possible takeover targets.

Mediatek has already absorbed Andes Technology for MCUs, Goodix for touchscreen controller ICs, and mCube for MEMS.

Read more Mediatek stories on Electronics Weekly »

david manners

Taiwan’s IC design houses consolidating

Taiwan's IC design houses consolidating

Taiwan’s IC design houses consolidating

The Taiwanese chip industry is in a state of accelerated consolidation with MediaTek acting as the consolidator.

The independent Taiwan design community is now under notice that it will have to cope with a powerful competitor or a new owner.

MediaTek already has a number of local chip companies under its belt, the most notable being MStar which was acquired last year.

Earlier this year it acquired Alpha Imaging for UAV chips and Chingis Technology for flash chips.

Now it is planning to use MStar to take over the analogue IC design company ILI Technology (Ilitek) for $115 million while it makes an $890 million bid for analogue IC designer Richtek under its own name.

According to Digitimes, the resultant merger could account for half Taiwan’s IC design revenues and will put the leading independent houses – Novatek Microelectronics, Himax Technologies, Realtek Semiconductor, FocalTech Systems, Raydium Semiconductor, Elan Microelectronics, Sitronix Technology and Silicon Motion Technology – under scrutiny as possible takeover targets.

Mediatek has already absorbed Andes Technology for MCUs, Goodix for touchscreen controller ICs, and mCube for MEMS.

Read more Mediatek stories on Electronics Weekly »

david manners

Intersil buys Great Wall

Intersil buys Great Wall

Intersil buys Great Wall

Intersil has bought Arizona mosfet specialist Great Wall Semiconductor (GWS) for $19 million. A further $4 million is payable if performance metrics are met.

GWS was founded in 2002, has 10 employees and 22 patents related to lateral low-voltage power mosfet technology which allows low-gate charge power mosfets to be made on a CMOS process.

‘GWS’s design team brings valuable experience leveraging advanced design and process technology to enable power efficiency gains and footprint reduction in complex power systems,’ says Intersil.

“This small but experienced team will be a great asset as we continue to expand our power management capabilities,” says Intersil’s Mark Downing.

“GWS has differentiated itself through expertise in lateral power mosfet device and processing technology combined with miniature chipscale packaging,“ says Sam Anderson, CEO of GWS, “we have developed important intellectual property that enables energy savings and environmental progress.”

The basics of the firm’s technology is described in this lateral mosfet conference paper from APEC.

david manners