Finance

Contract manufacturing is alive and kicking in the UK, according to one SME. Brantham Engineering said the volume of manufacturing leaving the country is matched by contracts returning from overseas. “There are lots of products that do go offshore, and we have lost some business,” explained Richard Hancock, business development manager at the Essex firm. Contrary to popular belief, he ...

China is developing its own standards for a broad range of consumer devices, working with outside partners in an effort to reduce the royalties it now pays for licensing intellectual property. The moves, if successful, could have a dramatic impact on the global electronics industry. While the standards initially are aimed at the indigenous Chinese market, the long-term goal is ...

After growing twice as fast as the total semiconductor market in 2003, pure-play foundry sales are forecast to increase 52 per cent in 2004 to $17.17 bn, compared to a 31 per cent increase in the overall semiconductor market this year, says IC Insights. Because of the number of foundry start-ups over the past few years, TSMC lost two per ...

Communications firm Spirent has turned last year’s interim £9.3m pre-tax loss to a £14m pre-tax profit in interim 2004. The firm saw a 4 per cent hike in turnover, from £229m to £239m. Eric Hutchinson, finance director, said: “The satisfactory start to 2004 continued into the second quarter and performance in the first half of 2004 improved markedly over the ...

Fujitsu and Cadence Design Systems’ business unit in Japan have inked a global partnership under which they will create SoC design environments at 90nm and below. Tokyo-based Fujitsu expects this partnership – which goes beyond just design tools, will allow it to achieve shorter design lead times and improve design quality – is unique in that Cadence will serve as ...

A month after settling its lawsuit against Synopsys, Monolithic System Technology reported lower revenue and net loss weighted with expenses associated with its aborted acquisition by the EDA company. Net loss for Q2 came in at $4.1m or 13 cents per share, including $3.4m of expenses associated with the Synopsys deal and subsequent litigation. That compares to net income of ...

Despite growing gloom and doom forecasts in the chip industry, foundries will continue financial growth they enjoyed in 2003, at least through 2004, according to VLSI Research. The Silicon Valley market research firm observed that the financial status of foundries rebounded in 2003, ending two consecutive years of losses, according to a study by VLSI. Foundry giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing naturally lead ...

Polymer organic LED developer Cambridge Display Technology has announced it intends to float on the Nasdaq stock exchange later this year, following an initial registration filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company said the proceeds of the IPO will be used for R&D, capital expenditure, debt repayment and possible technology or business acquisitions. At the end of March ...

The outlook for the European electronics industry has never been worse, according to the Future Horizons mid-term semiconductor industry forecast seminar in London last week. Europe is losing share in the electronics equipment market and nobody cares,” said Malcolm Penn, CEO of Future Horizons. “There’s a $4bn trade deficit in electronic equipment, but no one cares because it’s not big ...

The number of frogs per cubic metre of water could solve a conundrum that has baffled mankind for half a century: accurately forecasting the semiconductor industry. Merrill Lynch analyst Joseph Osha has taken a biological model for forecasting population growth where resources are finite, and adapted it to predicting dollar and unit growth in the chip business. The method appears ...