Samsung expected to use 20-nano or finer technology for all mobile chips from Q2 next year

SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. is expected to use 20-nanometer processing technology or finer technology to produce all mobile DRAMs from the second-quarter of next year, according to a market researcher on Saturday.
Finer processing technology allows a chip manufacturer to improve wafer productivity and produce a semiconductor that consumes less electricity.
According to market researcher DRAMeXchange, about 94 percent of chips produced by Samsung during the fourth-quarter of this year are believed to use 20-nanometer or finer circuit elements.
From the second-quarter of next year, Samsung is expected to stop using 25-nanometer processing technology.
On Oct. 20, Samsung said it has rolled out the semiconductor industry's first 8-gigabyte mobile DRAM package for smartphones, based on its advanced 10-nanometer production technology.
The new package of mobile chips is expected to significantly improve mobile user experiences for those using high-definition, large-screen devices, Samsung said in a statement.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2016/10/29/8/0502000000AEN20161029001600320F.html

To solve IoT security, look at the big picture, ARM says

The recent DDoS attacks launched from IoT devices demonstrate that the internet of things spans all parts of IT and that most companies deploying it still need a lot of help.

The Logitech Wireless Touch K400 Plus enables laid-back control of your TV-connected computer....

That's the message from ARM, the chip design company behind nearly every smartphone and a big chunk of IoT, at its annual TechCon event this week in Silicon Valley.
Small, low-power devices like sensors and security cameras are the most visible part of IoT, and they’re right in ARM’s wheelhouse as the dominant force in low-power chips. But on Wednesday, the company highlighted a cloud-based SaaS offering rather than chips or edge devices themselves. IoT depends on back-end capabilities as much as edge devices, and the company wants to play a role in all of it.

The SaaS platform, called mbed Cloud, handles device connection and setup, encryption-key provisioning, and firmware updates. Anyone selling IoT devices or deploying them across an organization can use mbed Cloud for any or all of these functions, ARM says. With some extra work, it can serve non-ARM devices, too.

In recent DDoS attacks, hackers built botnets out of thousands of connected devices. Making them vulnerable were default passwords that were the same on every device, letting attackers take over the devices. So it’s clear that some IoT manufacturers need help locking down products and keeping them secure, ARM executives said.
“It’s no longer just a matter of ‘build a product, throw it over the wall, and let the consumer deal with it,’” said Michael Horne, vice president of marketing and sales in ARM’s IoT division. The mbed Cloud service provides for individual device authentication and ongoing security updates to defend against new threats.
Whether they make baby monitors or jet-engine sensors, many IoT device vendors need outside help on security, IDC analyst Shane Rau said. IoT evolved from specialized, isolated devices built for vertical industries, with no provision for security. Now developers are looking outside their own fields for general features like security. ARM is in a good position to provide those, through offerings like mbed Cloud, because its designs are at the heart of so many embedded chips, he said.
“You can reinvent the wheel, or you can use this,” ARM CEO Simon Segars told reporters at the conference. “We think we can help defragment what is otherwise going to be an incredibly fragmented -- and probably weaker as a result -- set of solutions.”

IoT is ARM’s rallying cry as it marches forward from its recent acquisition by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. It will use its newfound resources to accelerate development in several areas, key among them being IoT and security, Segars said.
Embedded processors are a fast-growing part of its business, which includes about one-half smartphone chips today.
But ARM’s IoT strategy encompasses more than those billions of devices, Segars said. IoT also involves the servers that crunch the numbers streaming out of those devices and the networks that link the two. ARM-based chips are already widely used in networking. An end-to-end architecture based on ARM chips will help the company make inroads into the server business, where it’s had a hard time gaining a foothold, he said.
The company’s new owner, SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son, has said IoT was his main reason to buy ARM. Son meets regularly with ARM management and is on board with its strategy, Segars said. “He completely trusts us to get on with business.”


http://www.itworld.com/article/3136307/internet-of-things/to-solve-iot-security-look-at-the-big-picture-arm-says.html

Qualcomm to Buy NXP Semiconductors in $47 Billion Deal

Qualcomm Inc., the largest maker of mobile-phone chips, will acquire NXP Semiconductors NV in a transaction valued at $47 billion, aiming to speed an expansion into new industries and reduce its dependence on the smartphone market.
San Diego-based Qualcomm agreed to pay $110 a share in cash for NXP, the biggest supplier of chips used in the automotive industry, or 11 percent more than Wednesday’s close, the companies said in a statement Thursday. The deal will be funded with cash on hand as well as new debt.
Chief Executive Officer Steve Mollenkopf is betting the deal, the largest in the chip industry’s history, will accelerate his company’s entry into the burgeoning market for electronics in cars. Eindhoven, Netherlands-based NXP is strong in that sector following its acquisition last year of Freescale Semiconductor Ltd.
“It’s no secret that we’ve been looking around,” Mollenkopf said in an interview. "If you look at our growth strategy it’s to grow into adjacent markets at the time that they are being disrupted by the technology of mobile.”
The purchase is Qualcomm’s response to slowing growth in demand for smartphones, which provide the bulk of the company’s revenue. The two companies, which will have combined revenue of more than $30 billion, will have products that are capable of winning sales in markets worth $138 billion by 2020, Qualcomm predicted. Two years after the transaction closes, Qualcomm forecast $500 million of annual cost savings.
The equity value of the transaction is $38.5 billion. Including debt, the enterprise value goes up to $47 billion, according to Chief Financial Officer George Davis. The acquisition will add $11 billion of debt to Qualcomm’s balance sheet, which it will be able to rapidly improve by using the overseas cash it generates to pay down, Davis said.
Mollenkopf said he will aim to combine the two companies and their products as quickly as he can and make sure that the management of the combined company has representatives from both sides.
NXP shares rose 1.7 percent to $100.34 at 10:12 a.m. in New York. Qualcomm gained 3.1 percent to $70.32.

Record Consolidation

Last year was a record for chip-industry consolidation, with semiconductor makers getting together to weather rising costs and a shrinking list of customers. Though he sat out the deal spree in 2015, Mollenkopf is now making use of his company’s more than $30 billion in cash reserves, most of which is held overseas.
“There just isn’t enough mobile growth to be had –- they are already the dominant chip supplier and licenser of intellectual property in an industry where the product is being commoditized and volume growth is moderating,” said Sid Parakh, a fund manager at Becker Capital Management, which owns Qualcomm stock. “As a long-term investor, I would much rather have a more diverse company that has the potential to participate in new markets and probably grow significantly more than it would in a mobile-only world.”
NXP is projected to report 2016 sales of $9.48 billion, the average of analysts’ estimates from data compiled by Bloomberg. By revenue, that makes it less than half the size of Qualcomm, which will report sales of $23.2 billion this year, according to analysts. Still, the Dutch company has averaged about 11 percent growth over the past three years, while the U.S. chipmaker’s sales declined 5 percent last year, a collapse from a revenue increase of 30 percent in 2013.

Connected Devices

Like other chipmakers, Qualcomm is targeting what’s called the Internet of Things, the addition of connections and computing power to everything from washing machines to trucks and industrial equipment. The company has pitched prospective new customers with modified mobile-phone chips that it says offer the easiest way to add electronic capabilities to a broader range of devices. That push is in its early stages, with wins in areas such as automotive, where Qualcomm’s chips power entertainment devices and cell-phone connections to cars.“Automotive and industrial are Internet of Things verticals that we see as more profitable for semiconductors, and this is precisely the exposure that Qualcomm would gain with an NXP deal,” Cowen & Co. analyst Timothy Arcuri wrote in a note. “Qualcomm could become the dominant player in connected industrial and automotive applications.”
By buying NXP, which started off life as Koninklijke Philips NV’s chip unit, Qualcomm is taking on the risk of merging with a company that’s in the process of integrating its own acquisition of Freescale. That $16 billion transaction was completed in December. NXP owns factories and produces some of its own chips -- something Qualcomm has avoided by outsourcing its manufacturing -- and has about 44,000 employees, compared with about 33,000 for Qualcomm.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-10-27/qualcomm-to-buy-nxp-semiconductors-for-47-billion-in-cash

Intel has sparkling Q3

Intel’s Q3 revenues grew 9.1% y-o-y and profit grew 21% y-o-y Gross margin was 64.8% and operating profit was $5.1 billion.
The PC business saw sales increase 21% y-o-y, and 5% q-o-q to $8.9 billion.
Data centre grew 13% q-o-q and 10% y-o-y to $4.5 billion.
IoT grew 20% q-o-q and 19% y-o-y to $689 million
Flash grew 17% q-o-q and shrank 1% y-o-y to $649 million.
Security was flat q-o-q and up 6% y-o-y at $537 million.
Programmables (Altera) were down 9% q-o-q at $425 million.
Q4 revenues are expected to be $15.7 billion with a gross margin of 63%.
“We’re executing well, and these results show Intel’s continuing transformation to a company that powers the cloud and billions of smart, connected devices, ” said CEO Brian Krzanich.
“It was an outstanding quarter, and we set a number of new records across the business,” said Brian Krzanich, Intel CEO. “In addition to strong financials, we delivered exciting new technologies while continuing to align our people and products to our strategy.”

http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/intel-sparkling-q3-2016-10/

China to produce 3D NAND chips as early as end-2017

Yangtze River Storage Technology (YRST) will start operating China's first 12-inch fab for the manufacture of NAND flash and DRAM memory at the end of 2016, and is expected to produce the region's first homegrown 3D NAND flash memory a year later, according to industry sources.

YRST will be able to make 32-layer 3D NAND flash chips as early as end-2017, said the sources.

Construction of YRST's 12-inch fab will be in three phases, with investment totaling US$24 billion, the sources indicated. The company will complete the first-phase construction at the end of 2016, followed by the second phase in 2018 and the third phase in 2019, the sources said.

The target production capacity at YRST's 12-inch fab is set at 300,000 wafers monthly, the sources noted. The facility will also be engaged in the manufacture of DRAM memory, and could play a role in Tsinghua Unigroup's planned strategic alliance with Micron Technology, the sources said.

YRST was formed with goverment subsidies and investments from several government-owned groups, and built based on Wuhan Xinxin Semiconductor Manufacturing's (XMC) 12-inch IC R&D and manufacturing capability and "continue to develop XMC's presence in the memory-chip market," XMC disclosed in August. XMC added it has become YRST's wholly-owned subsidiary since 2016.

In fact, YRST took over XMC's role as China's main production base for DRAM and NAND flash memory, industry sources identified. XMC is now in charge of making China's homegrown NOR flash as well as logic chips, with monthly capacity of around 30,000 12-inch wafers.

YRST will use Spansion's technology to produce 3D NAND chips based on a license agreement between Spansion and XMC, the sources said.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20161017PD204.html

16nm FinFET FPGAs in production, says Xilinx

Less than a year after first ship of all devices, open order entry for production devices is available this quarter,” said the company.
Xilinx  UltraScale+ FPGA family is a FinFET-based programmable technology which is now available at 14nm or 16nm process nodes.
This includes Kintex, Virtex UltraScale+ FPGAs and Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoCs.
Moshe Gavrielov, president & CEO at Xilinx, writes:

“This production milestone further stretches our greater than one year lead in 16nm product delivery.”

http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/16nm-finfet-fpgas-production-says-xilinx-2016-10/

Murata buys French capacitor tech firm

Murata expects the addition of IPDiA’s integrated capacitor arrays to strengthen its core business within the mobile communications market, but also to expand into new applications within the automotive and medical markets.
“Combining IPDiA’s 3D silicon capacitor technologies with Murata’s current technologies and product portfolio will enable us to expand our combined offering and meet our customers’ high reliability requirements, such as high temperature or high voltage, in automotive and other demanding markets”, said Toru Inoue, executive vice president of Murata’s components business.
IPDiA, which is based in Caen, was formed in 2009 from an existing NXP facility and technology. It has around 130 employees.
According to Franck Murray, IPDiA CEO: “The company’s patented technology has enabled silicon passive components to be considered as a superior solution in specific markets where high performance and miniaturisation are required.”
The French firm specialises in making silicon capacitors for high voltage and high temperature applications.
Compared with multi-layer ceramic capacitor (MLCC), the MOS technology used by IPDiA offers a reliability of 84,000 hours operation at 250°C.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of October.

http://www.electronicsweekly.com/uncategorised/murata-buys-french-capacitor-tech-firm-2016-10/

Toshiba to help self-driving cars stay out of harm's way

TOKYO -- Toshiba is leveraging its image recognition chips to join in the market for autonomous vehicles, road-testing an obstacle avoidance system it hopes to commercialize by 2020 for marketing to autoparts makers.
Unlike the individual components developed by the competition, this will be something of a turnkey system that saves energy and is relatively cheap. Toshiba hopes to establish a new revenue stream with little added investment by taking advantage of its existing semiconductor and microcontroller technologies.
Developed with Nagoya University, the new system combines a monocular camera and a laser sensor with the Visconti 4, the latest generation of Toshiba's Visconti image recognition processors for the automotive market.
The Visconti 4 can work even in the dark to recognize objects and ascertain such factors as distance and height.
In the new obstacle avoidance system, the Visconti chip processes the image data captured by the camera to three-dimensionally measure the orientation and distance of stationary objects. The chip combines this with information from the laser sensor for added precision, then creates a map depicting where the object is and how to get around it. Such information enables self-driving cars to navigate roads safely.
Toshiba is now testing this system on public roads in Aichi Prefecture with 3-D mapping software company Aisan Technology and Tier IV, a startup involved in technology for self-driving cars.
Most of the self-driving cars now under development by universities and other research institutions rely on powerful computers equipped with high-performance, electricity-hungry graphics processors and other chips to crunch the data. This approach comes with a variety of issues, including energy consumption, space and cost.
Toshiba's prototype also depends on a computer running software for data processing, but the goal is to embed these tasks into chips in the system. The company seeks a low-power, low-cost system that can withstand vibrations and temperature swings and run for at least a decade.
Visconti chips are already used in higher-end cars for front-camera-based active safety systems developed by Denso.
By also offering complete systems incorporating the image recognition processor, Toshiba expects to broaden its marketing channels to autoparts makers interested in self-driving cars.

In addition to system chips, Toshiba also makes lithium-ion batteries and microcontrollers for controlling vehicles' electric motors.
Other Japanese electrical machinery makers are bolstering their business related to self-driving cars. Hitachi group company Hitachi Automotive Systems has road-tested a system it hopes to have ready by 2025 for autonomous driving in all but emergency situations. Pioneer has developed a small laser sensor it will test-market starting in 2017.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Toshiba-to-help-self-driving-cars-stay-out-of-harm-s-way

Toshiba stepper motor driver measures 7mm x 7mm x 0.9mm

Toshiba has expanded its family of stepper motor drivers with an ultra-compact device offering a maximum output withstand voltage of 40V and output current of 2.0A.

Target applications include surveillance cameras, ATMs, office automation equipment, factory automation and home appliances.
The TC78S122FTG is a two-in-one chip that delivers a 2-channel drive function, capable of running two stepping motors simultaneously.
Integrating functions into a single chip frees up valuable space on the board to help reduce device size. Heat generated by the IC itself was one of the reasons that conventional drivers could not achieve continuous operation in applications requiring drive currents in the 2.0A range.
However, the TC78S122FTG can simultaneously drive two channels thanks to a low maximum on resistance of 0.6Ω (a reduction of 50% compared to previous products) that cuts heat generation.
In previous products the regulator circuit for the IC’s internal logic operated at standby. The new product can stop the regulator at standby due to incorporation of a ‘Sleep’ function. Consequently, IC power consumption is reduced.
Moreover, the TC78S122FTG not only drives the stepping motors, but also provides an interface for driving brushed DC motors. For example, this could include one-channel for the stepping motor, and two channels for running brushed DC motors.
To provide reduced vibration and noise, the TC78S122FTG offers high-resolution motor driving of ¼ steps (max.) and a decay mode switching function for constant current control. Built-in error detection features include a thermal shutdown circuit and an overcurrent shutdown circuit to provide enhanced reliability and safety.
The TC78S122FTG comes in a QFN package that measures 7mm x 7mm x 0.9mm.


http://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/toshiba-stepper-motor-driver-measures-7mm-x-7mm-x-0-9mm-2016-10/

Samsung to churn out new 3-D flash memory for smartphones

SEOUL -- Samsung Electronics is gearing up to begin mass-producing the newest generation of 3-D NAND flash memory for smartphones.
Within the year, the South Korean electronics giant plans to manufacture 3-D NAND with 64 layers of data-storing memory cells both domestically at its new chip factory under construction in Pyeongtaek and in China at a factory in Xian.
Samsung has leading shares of the global markets for both NAND flash memory and DRAM memory for smartphones.
The NAND flash memory market was in a slump in 2015 and initially looked like it would continue to stagnate through 2016.
But the market has begun to recover and Samsung wants to move on as quickly as possible from 48-layer NAND to 64-layer NAND to keep a step ahead of second-ranked Toshiba, which plans to begin mass production of the chips in the first half of 2017.
Meanwhile, Samsung announced earnings guidance for the July-September quarter on Friday. The company will not release a breakdown with details until the end of the month, but it seems that its chip business was a major contributor to a year-on-year 5% rise in consolidated operating profit to an estimated 7.8 trillion won ($7 billion) in the quarter.
Consolidated sales in the same period dropped 5% to an estimated 49 trillion won, hurt by the recall of the Galaxy Note 7 smartphone.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Samsung-to-churn-out-new-3-D-flash-memory-for-smartphones

Soaring Semiconductor Demand Propels SK Hynix Following Samsung

With semiconductors taking the lead in upholding the performances of the Korean electronics such as Samsung Electronics, expectations are strengthening that SK Hynix will also perform better than the market expected. 
It is forecast that SK Hynix will recover to one trillion won (US$900 million) level in quarterly operating income after the fourth quarter as demand for semiconductors has been rapidly growing since August.
According to the semiconductor industry on October 9, Samsung Electronics’ Semiconductor Division reportedly posted in operating income the middle of 3 trillion won level (US$2.7 billion) close to 3.66 trillion won (US$3.29 billion), the highest-ever quarterly operating income, in the third quarter of last year. This figure is an increase of over 1 trillion won (US$900 million) from 2.64 trillion won (US$2.37 billion) in the previous quarter.
Thus, Samsung Electronics posted 7.8 trillion won (US$7.0 billion, estimated) in operating income. This figure is up about 300 billion won (US$270 million) from about 7.5 trillion won (US$6.7 billion) that the securities industry expected. This means that semiconductors virtually recouped the cost of a recall of the Galaxy Note 7 due to its problematic batteries that burst into flames. The securities industry estimates the cost at 1 to 1.5 trillion won (US$0.9 to 1.3 billion). The operating income was driven up mainly by an increase in demand for memory semiconductors for PCs which had been in a slump and non-smartphone semiconductors such as semiconductors for servers and automobiles thanks to the expansion of the IoT market.
According to data released by the US Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) on October 3, the world semiconductor market expanded 3.5% from the previous month by recording US$280 billion in August. This was a three-year monthly high, the SIA explained.
An increase in semiconductor demand prompted semiconductor prices to rise on a full scale. According to DRAM Exchange, a market survey firm, at the end of September, the average price of DRAMs (DDR3 4Gb) stood at US$1.5, an increase of 20% from US$1.25 on June 30.  
It is expected that rebounds of semiconductor demand and prices will enable SK Hynix to come up with an earnings surprise in the third quarter. It is prudently expected that SK Hynix will recover to 1 trillion won (US$900 million) in operating income in the fourth quarter. “Prices of DRAMs for PCs are expected to soar in the fourth quarter. This will set off a spike in prices of servers and mobile DRAMs,” said Lee Seung-woo, an analyst at IBK Investment Securities. “I raise SK Hynix’s operating income in the third and fourth quarters to 690 billion won (US$620 million) and 1 trillion won (US$900 million), respectively and its operating profit of next year 34% to 4 trillion won (US$3.6 billion).” 
If SK Hynix recovers to the one trillion won (US$900 million) level in quarterly operating income, it will be in one year and three months since the third quarter of last year. SK Hynix posted more than 1 trillion won (US$900 million) in operating income for seven quarters in a row until the third quarter of 2015. But a drop in prices of memory semiconductors lowered its operating income to 988.9 billion won (US$890.0 million) in the fourth quarter. In the first and second quarters of this year, the figure continued to slip to 561.8 billion won (US$505.6 million) and 452.9 billion won (US$407.6 million) in the first and second quarter of this year, respectively.

http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/english/news/ict/16152-expansion-chip-market-soaring-semiconductor-demand-propels-sk-hynix-following-samsung

ARM on track to lead self-driving future: CEO

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- ARM Holdings is revving up work on autonomous cars as the British chip design house shifts its focus from smartphones to the so-called internet of things, CEO Simon Segars told The Nikkei in his first interview since the company was acquired by Japanese telecommunications giant SoftBank Group in September.
ARM ultimately aims to put its processors in every setting imaginable, becoming part of the foundation of a networked society, Segars said. Nonmobile operations will come to constitute the majority of sales, he said, as ARM relies less on the smartphones where it enjoys a 90%-plus market share in processors.
Automotive technology forms the core of this effort. Cars will become in essence supercomputers on wheels, Segars said. ARM is paying close attention to what kinds of algorithms and safety technologies are needed to make self-driving vehicles a reality, he said.
The company's primary customers are chipmakers. But it also maintains dialogue with automakers and autoparts manufacturers as well as software companies, Segars said. Collaborating with such diverse companies lets the chip design house incorporate the seeds of next-generation technology into products early on, he said. Though vehicle technologies take longer to develop than other elements of the internet of things, requiring a long-term approach, they will become a key field in the future, the CEO said.
First steps
ARM is discussing joint technological development with the likes of Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, BMW and Daimler, according to another official. Partnerships with such components makers as Denso and Robert Bosch are also in the works.
These efforts go beyond automated driving. ARM is in talks with partners to put its technology to work in connected cars more broadly, as well as to reduce battery consumption and make gasoline vehicles more efficient, the official said. The company is apparently sharing plans up to seven years down the road with Toyota under a development partnership.
By establishing a solid presence in driver-assist systems as well as in-vehicle entertainment and navigation, ARM aims to secure its place as a leader in such next-generation technologies as automated driving.
ARM's acquisition by SoftBank opens the door to long-term strategic planning and will let the company raise spending on research and development above the current 25% or so of sales, the official said. ARM will also be able to retain its neutrality under the new parent -- a deciding factor in the acquisition deal.
SoftBank is a client of a client of a client for ARM, and there is no overlap between the companies' businesses, according to the official. The chip design house will be able to keep its current business model, built on licensing intellectual property to various chipmakers.

Competition in the chip design business is heating up as Eastern European and Taiwanese players mature. But according to Segars, ARM's strength is less technology itself than its ability to create a digital ecosystem. The company has also invested in software and related businesses to make ARM the world standard in chip design, he said.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Executive-Lounge/ARM-on-track-to-lead-self-driving-future-CEO?page=2

Inotera says deal with Micron to complete by December

notera Memories expects its share-swap deal with Micron Technology of the US to complete by December.

In a filing Inotera issued with the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE), the company said it has "made sufficient progress in addressing the issues" that caused a delay in closing. Inotera continued "we anticipate that the share swap record date will be set for the first half of December 2016."

An Inotera board meeting has been scheduled for October 11, and a share swap record date will be set at the meeting, Inotera added.

In June, Micron announced a delay in its planned buyout of Inotera, adding it would update the matter toward the latter part of calendar 2016. The deal was supposed to close in mid-July.

Micron had agreed to buy all shares it does not own in Inotera, in which it holds a 33% stake. Inotera will merge with Micron's Taiwan unit following the buyout.

Inotera's share price on the TSE rose 4% to NT$29.20 (US$0.93) during the morning session of October 5.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20161005PM200.html

Micron posts smallest revenue decline in a year

Memory-chip maker Micron Technology Inc reported better-than-expected fourth quarter revenue, which saw its smallest decline in a year, as pricing improves and the personal computer market shows signs of rebound.
Micron forecast first-quarter adjusted profit of 13-21 cents per share, while analysts were expecting a profit of 9 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It would represent the company's first profit in three quarters.
The company's share were marginally higher at $17.92 in after-market trading on Tuesday.


Micron, which manufactures DRAM chips used in PCs and NAND flash memory chips widely used in smartphones to store music, pictures and data, has enjoyed a recovery in the last six months amid signs of improvement in the market.
"We are seeing improving market conditions in terms of both slowing supply growth and improving demand across a number of key segments," Micron CEO Mark Durcan said.
With DRAM prices rebounding to 7 month highs, Micron is benefiting as the supply glut in the market has dried up following aggressive cut backs in production amid signs of a bounce back in demand.
Prices of both DRAM and NAND chips are expected to rise in the fourth quarter, according to research firm TrendForce, with DRAM prices anticipated to rise over 10 percent from the previous quarter.
On an adjusted basis, Micron lost 5 cents per share, beating estimates of a loss of 12 cents per share.
The net loss attributable to company's shareholders was $170 million, or 16 cents per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with a profit of $471 million, or 42 cents per share, a year earlier. (bit.ly/2dpsaFi)
The latest quarter included a $58 million charge related to a restructuring program the company announced in the third quarter.


Micron's net sales fell 10.6 percent to $3.22 billion in the fourth quarter. Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $3.15 billion.
Up to Tuesday's close, the stock had risen 25.7 percent this year, on par with the nearly 25 percent gain in the broader Philadelphia SE Semiconductor Index during that period.
(Reporting by Narottam Medhora in Bengaluru)





http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-micron-tech-results-idUKKCN1242AJ

PC DRAM chip prices expected to increase

The prices of PC DRAM chips are expected to surge 30 percent this quarter to hit a two-year high after an aggravated supply crunch boosted prices by 7.4 percent last month from August, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday.
The latest projection is much higher than a 10 percent price increase estimated by the Taipei-based researcher early last month.
TrendForce research director Avril Wu (吳雅婷) attributed the expected price surge primarily to stronger-than-expected global demand for notebook computers during the peak season.
Also, an increasing number of new laptops are equipped with more memory, up to 8 gigabytes each, Wu said.
Last month, the contract prices for PC DRAM chips jumped to US$14.5 per unit, according to price information from TrendForce.
DRAM chipmakers usually negotiate chip prices once a month with notebook computer vendors.
The price hikes are even more drastic on the spot market. DDR3 and DDR4 4-gigabyte chips traded on a daily basis have surged 19 percent and 15 percent to US$2.1 and US$2 per unit respectively this month from a month earlier, according to the research house.
“This indicates that the supply constraint is continuing to worsen,” Wu said in a report released yesterday. “PC vendors are adding orders at higher prices [to cope with rising laptop demand], while the increased demand has greatly surpassed the expectations of DRAM chipmakers.”
Wu said supply of PC DRAM chips also becomes pinched as the world’s major PC DRAM chipmakers accelerate their expansion into memory chips used in handsets and servers to broaden their product portfolios and minimize operational risks.
The situation becomes more complicated as some memorychip makers are seeing lower yield rates when converting existing technology to more advanced 20-nanometer technology, Wu said.
In the current quarter, the world’s major memorychip makers are to allocate a smaller portion, or less than 20 percent, of their capacity for PC memorychip manufacturing, as those chipmakers prefer producing more expensive chips used in smartphones, Wu said.
Global memorychip makers led by Samsung Electronics Co allocate 40 percent of their capacity to produce memory chips for phones to cope with rising demand, as the fourth quarter is also a high season for smartphone sales, she said.
The stock price of the nation’s largest PC DRAM chipmaker, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), rose 0.51 percent yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which climbed 0.72 percent.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2016/10/04/2003656448

MediaTel Helio 30X to be first TSMC 10nm chip, says paper

MediaTek's next-generation Helio X30 high-end smartphone solution will be the first chip to be rolled out from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's 10nm production lines, according to a Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

With its 10nm process node and capacity being verified by clients, TSMC is expected to kick off its 10nm production in the fourth quarter of 2016, paving the way for MediaTek to officially launch the Helio X30 chips at the end of the first quarter of 2017, said the paper.

TSMC's 10nm foundry clients for 2017 will also include Apple, HiSilicon Technologies and Qualcomm, the paper added.

The Helio X30, a successor to MediaTek's first deca-core chipset, the X20, will have two Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz, four Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 2.2 GHz, and four Cortex-A35 cores that will run at 2.0 GHz.

The X30 will also feature a PowerVR 7XTP-MT4 quad-core GPU and support up to 8GB of LPDDR4, fast eMMC5.1 or UFS 2.1 NAND flash storage and dual-cameras up to 26-megapixel, noted the paper.

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