SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. emerged as the world's No. 1 chipmaker in terms of sales and operating profits in the second quarter, beating behemoth Intel Corp. market data showed Friday.
The rise of Samsung is significant as Intel has been standing as the leading computer chip producer for some 24 years.
Industry watchers said the rise is the result of the South Korean tech giant's successful developed next-generation technologies for dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) chips and NAND flash memory and quickly responded to changing market needs.
 
On Thursday, Samsung Electronics said its chip business posted an operating profit of 8.03 trillion won (US$7.1 billion) in the second quarter, soaring from 2.64 trillion won posted a year earlier, on the back of the rising demand for server DRAMs and SSD products. Overall sales were estimated at 17 trillion won.
It marked the first time for the chip business to post an operating profit exceeding the 8 trillion-won mark.
Intel, on the other hand, said it posted sales of $14.8 billion and operating profit of $3.8 billion for the April-June period.
The U.S. company's operating profit marked a whopping 190 percent on-year growth, although this still lagged far behind those of Samsung.
Samsung posted an operating profit ratio to sales of 45.7 percent, easily outpacing the 25.7 percent posted by Intel.
The boom of the mobile industry, which led to the rising demand for DRAM chips and solid state drives (SSDs) helped Samsung post the sharp growth, industry watchers added. An SSD is a data storage device made with a NAND flash memory chip that does not need power to store data and is more durable and faster than a hard disk drive.
Intel, on the other hand, focuses on the production of central processing units.
The South Korean tech company is anticipated to beat Intel also in terms of annual performance as the global chip industry's outlook remains rosy over the second half, industry watchers here said.
The boom of the cloud computing, virtual reality and self-driving automobile industries is also expected to lend support to Samsung's strong position going forward, they added.

Shanghai forms CNY50 billion IC industry investment fund

The city government of Shanghai, China recently introduced a CNY50 billion (US$7.4 billion) IC industry investment fund aimed at cultivating and supporting the local leading enterprises, according to a recent Chinese-language Commercial Times report.

The fund will provide CNY30 billion to support the development of the local manufacturing sector, CNY10 billion to help local fabless firms expand via acquisitions, and another CNY10 billion to foster the development of the local equipment and materials sector, the report cited China media as saying.

Named the Shanghai Integrated Circuit Investment Fund (SICIF), it completed the first round of fund-raising totaling CNY28.5 billion in 2016, according to previous reports. Contribution from the national China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund accounted for 10% of SICIF's initial fund-raising. Other major investors include Shanghai Science and Technology Venture Investment (Group) and SAIC Motor.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170725VL210.html

Toshiba board to meet Wednesday, weigh offers for chip unit: source

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp's (6502.T) board will meet on Wednesday to consider offers for its chip unit from Western Digital (WDC.O) and Taiwan's Foxconn in addition to a bid from a consortium that was previously favorite, a source familiar with the matter said. Toshiba is scrambling to sell its flash memory unit to cover losses from its bankrupt U.S. nuclear business Westinghouse.

But it has struggled to close a 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) deal with the group it previously chose as preferred bidder - a consortium including Japanese-government backed funds, Bain Capital and South Korean chip maker SK Hynix (000660.KS).

Western Digital, which jointly operates Toshiba's main chip plant, also wants to buy the business. It sought an injunction to block the sale to the consortium, arguing that any transaction required its consent.

The legal battle has unnerved the state-backed funds and they want the deal to be conditional on the conflict with Western Digital being resolved.

Another key point of contention has been a proposal by SK Hynix to help fund the deal with convertible bonds - a step that could eventually give it an equity interest in the world's second-largest maker of NAND flash memory chips.

Japanese government officials are eager to keep Toshiba's semiconductor technology in domestic hands, according to sources.

In attempt to revive the stalled talks, Toshiba earlier this month began reconsidering offers from Western Digital and Foxconn, formally known as Hon Hai Precision Industry (2317.TW), sources have said.

Western Digital is also offering about 2 trillion yen and would form an alliance with U.S. private equity firm join KKR & Co (KKR.N) as well as the two Japanese government funds that are part of the preferred bidder group, the source said on Tuesday.

The U.S. company has significantly compromised on its earlier demands for voting rights, said the source, who requested anonymity because the talks were confidential. 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-scripps-net-int-viacom-m-a-idUSKBN1AA2XW

Op amp keeps power levels low

A zero-drift, 20 kHz operational amplifier, the LTC2063 from Linear Technology draws just 1.3 µA typical (2 µA maximum) on a 1.8 V supply.

Self-calibration circuitry results in maximum input offset of 5 µV at 25°C and maximum drift of 0.06 µV/°C from -40°C to +125°C. In addition, maximum input bias current is 15 pA at 25°C and 100 pA from -40°C to +125°C.

These precision input characteristics allow the use of high-value resistors in the feedback network, keeping power consumption low without compromising accuracy, event at elevated temperatures. The LTC2063’s rail-to-rail inputs and outputs simplify single supply use and enhance dynamic range.

An integrated EMI filter provides 114 dB rejection at 1.8 GHz. With low 1/f noise inherent to its zero-drift architecture, the LTC2063 is well-suited for amplifying and conditioning low-frequency sensor signals in high-temperature industrial and automotive systems, as well as portable and wireless sensor networks.

Offered in 6-lead SC70 and 5-lead TSOT-23 packages, the LTC2063 operates from supply voltages of 1.7 V to 5.25 V and is fully specified from -40°C to +125°C. Prices start at $1.50 each in lots of 1000 units.

http://www.edn.com/electronics-products/other/4458658/Op-amp-keeps-power-levels-low

Chip demand for data centers to boom in China

With China's local governments looking to set up data centers, chip demand for data centers locally is set to surge, according to industry sources.

Meanwhile, as data center installations are set to surge in China, the demand outlook for new applications, such as Big Data, cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI), appears promising locally, the sources indicated.

International chip firms and mobile electronics vendors are seeking cooperation with China's local governments to be part of the government-led data center projects. Apple and Qualcomm have both disclosed their participation.

Apple recently signed an agreement with the government of Guizhou Province to invest US$1 billion to build a data center to promote its iCloud service in China. Apple will provide technical know-how for the data center, which will be operated by the provincial government-backed Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Development.

Qualcomm in 2016 reached a deal also with the government of Guizhou Province, and unveiled a joint venture - the Guizhou Huaxintong Semiconductor Technology. The JV, which will be 55% owned by the Guizhou provincial government's investment arm and 45% owned by Qualcomm, will focus on the design, development and sale of advanced server chipset technology in China.

Many chip vendors are also gearing up to break into the supply chain of data centers set up in China, as they anticipate China will play a driver of the server and other related chip market growth in the next several years, according to industry sources. Those include Avago, Intel, AMD, ARM, Marvell and Socionext, and Taiwan-based MediaTek, Aspeed, Nuvoton, Parade and Phison.

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170719PD207.html

New Microcontroller Series Extends Flash Memory

Mouser Electronics is now stocking the ATtiny1617 microcontroller series from Microchip Technology. The ATtiny1617 is part of Microchip’s low-power 8-bit AVR® microcontroller portfolio and offers pin and code compatibility with the ATtiny817 series devices and extending the flash memory. The 8-bit series run at up to 20 MHz and provides customized configuration and simplified process for capacitive touch systems and Core Independent Peripherals (CIPs) that help increase system throughput while lowering power consumption.

The Microchip ATtiny1617 8-bit AVR microcontrollers features 16 kBytes of in-system self-programmable flash memory, 256 Bytes of EEPROM and 2kBytes of SRAM. These devices are similar to other Microchip tinyAVR® microcontrollers. They used the 8-bit AVR processor with hardware multiplier and provide an Event System Controller that allows peripherals to communicate without using the central processing unit (CPU). This functionality allows designers to customize the configuration of the microcontrollers to specific applications. Included on the chip is an integrated QTouch® Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) that helps to simplify the development of capacitive touch systems offering touch interfaced with proximity sensing and a driven shield.
Other features of the microcontroller includes a 20MHz internal oscillator; high-speed serial communication interfaced that include USART, SPI and I²C; configurable custom logic blocks; a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with internal voltage reference; operating voltages ranging from 1.8 V to 5.5 V; and picoPower® technology for sleep currents as low at 100nA.
Microchip’s ATtiny1617 Series microcontrollers combine processing power, analog performance, and system level integration. They are available in a compact 24-pin QFN package. They are also suitable for a variety of power applications, including LED lighting, motor control, H bridges and power converters. For development, the devices are fully supported by the Atmel Studio 7 IDE, the STK600 platform and Atmel’s START online configuration tool.

http://electronics360.globalspec.com/article/9329/new-microcontroller-series-extends-flash-memory

SK Hynix drops demand for voting stake in Toshiba chip unit

South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc., a member of the international consortium favored to purchase Toshiba Corp.’s flash memory subsidiary, has dropped its demand for voting rights in the unit, sources said.
The major semiconductor maker has informed related parties of its intention to provide lending to the acquisition framework of the consortium, which is led by the government-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan, the sources said.

The decision removes the biggest obstacle to uniting the members of the consortium, which was picked on June 21 as the preferential bidder for Toshiba Memory Corp.
Following a petition filed by U.S. hard disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. for an injunction to block the sale of Toshiba Memory, a California superior court held off making a decision on Friday, a step that could make it possible for Toshiba to conclude a deal to sell the unit.
If the conflict within the Japanese-U.S.-South Korean consortium is resolved, Toshiba will be in a better position when it holds talks with Western Digital, its joint partner in the flash memory business. The struggling electronics and machinery giant needs to sell the prized flash memory unit to erase its negative net worth by March 2018 so it can remain listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The situation was caused by huge losses at Westinghouse, its U.S. nuclear energy business.
After becoming the preferred bidder, the consortium was thrown into disarray by SK Hynix’s demand for a voting stake in its rival. SK Hynix was originally added to provide funding to U.S. investment fund Bain Capital, another member of the group.
If SK Hynix sticks to its demand for the stake, the consortium’s bid to acquire the flash memory firm could face a protracted antitrust screening, clouding the prospects for reaching an agreement by March 2018.
The negotiations have been delayed substantially by the demand and by the strong opposition put up by Toshiba’s partner Western Digital.
Some in the consortium have called for bringing Western Digital into the consortium to help sort out the legal difficulties between it and Toshiba.
Following SK Hynix’s decision, Toshiba aims to conclude the deal by the end of July, the sources said.
Partners Toshiba and Western Digital are fighting over issue because Toshiba’s goal is to raise as much money as possible from the sale and Western Digital’s goal is to acquire the highly competitive unit for itself.
In addition to the petition for the California court injunction, Western Digital has taken its case to the International Court of Arbitration of the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce. Toshiba has meanwhile asked the Tokyo District Court to seek an injunction ordering Western Digital to stop interfering with the sale.
The two companies cannot part ways to continue production at their flash memory joint venture, a source said.
In the exchange of lawsuits, each is believed to be aiming for a favorable out-of-court settlement. Toshiba and Western Digital are likely to seek a compromise during the ICA proceedings in August and beyond, industry watchers said.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/07/16/business/corporate-business/sk-hynix-drops-demand-voting-stake-toshiba-chip-unit/

South Korea, Taiwan, China lead surging chip investment

TOKYO -- Global chipmaking leaders South Korea, Taiwan and mainland China likely will drive investment in semiconductor manufacturing equipment to an all-time high this year, with Samsung Electronics and others scrambling to fill roaring demand for memory.
Worldwide sales of chipmaking equipment are forecast to grow 19.8% in 2017 to $49.4 billion, says industry group SEMI, beating the roughly $47.6 billion record set in 2000 amid the dot-com bubble. The group projects sales to balloon a further 8% in 2018 to $53.2 billion, breaking $50 billion for the first time.
South Korea, the second-place spender, is expected to overtake leader Taiwan. But China, presently a distant third, likely will rush forward in 2018 to disrupt their ranks. Meanwhile, Japanese manufacturers of chipmaking equipment are benefiting handsomely from the sharp investment growth.
Thirsty for space
A growing hunger for NAND flash memory -- used for storage in smartphones and data centers -- drives this demand for chipmaking equipment.
Samsung's 2016 capital spending on semiconductors topped the equivalent of roughly 1 trillion yen (about $8.85 billion at today's exchange rate), and one director suggests the company is aiming even higher this year. South Korean compatriot SK Hynix looks to put profits from more stable operations in DRAM memory toward boosting NAND production.
Another tailwind comes from the shift toward 3-D memory, in which chips are stacked vertically to increase storage space.
"Memory is overwhelmingly insufficient to handle the data boom" and will continue to be so "until the first half of 2018 at least," said Tetsuya Wadaki, a Nomura Securities analyst.
The memory chip industry tends to move in three- to five-year cycles of boom and bust. But some say the field has entered a "supercycle" in which skyrocketing demand overcomes those ups and downs, known as "silicon cycle."
Jostling for top spot

South Korea likely will claim the lead in chip equipment spending for the first time this year, with a 70% jump to $12.9 billion expected. Taiwan would slip to second, but the amount is projected to exceed $10 billion, buoyed by cutting-edge investments from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world's largest contract chipmaker.
Yet mainland China appears set to surge past Taiwan to second place in 2018 amid a massive government-backed push, with its chipmaking equipment purchases projected to reach $11 billion -- a year-on-year leap of roughly 60% and more than threefold growth over five years.
Digital storage company Yangtze River Storage Technology looks to construct a massive memory plant in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Yangtze -- whose parentage includes Tsinghua Unigroup, affiliated with Beijing's prestigious Tsinghua University -- has received some 2 trillion yen equivalent in government support to build the plant, which will be among the world's largest. Tsinghua Chairman Zhao Weiguo expressed an intent to join the ranks of the top worldwide memory makers in 2020.
Faded into memory
Japan held the market crown until the 2000s, but has dwindled to a global share of around 10%. The nation has no standout investments besides those at a chip plant belonging to embattled conglomerate Toshiba, and its sense of presence in the market has faded.
But the country's chip production equipment makers are largely enjoying the ride. Domestic market leader Tokyo Electron recently upgraded its sales target for the year through March 2020 by 50% to 1.2 trillion yen and plans a round of investment in equipment for silicon wafer etching. Its compatriot Disco, whose products include wafer-cutting equipment, projects record sales and operating profit for the first half of fiscal 2017. But Nikon, which makes semiconductor lithography equipment, heavily downsized its staff recently after losing a technological battle to Dutch rival ASML.

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Trends/South-Korea-Taiwan-China-lead-surging-chip-investment

Helix aims for ‘zero-power’ in smart grids

Fabless power semiconductor firm Helix Semiconductors is sampling its first production chip for use in electricity grids.

The US firm says it can reduce the power consumed by electronic appliances when in an inactive, or standby, mode.
Dubbed ‘Zero Power,’ the goal is specified as less than or equal to 5mW.
Based on a patented MuxCapacitor voltage reduction technology, the eMpower HS100 is  capacitive-based and is designed to offer high efficiency even in light load and no load scenarios.
According to Helix, when converting AC mains to 5Vdc the the device achieves more than 90% end-to-end efficiency from its full load range of 10W all the way down to 100mA, which represents 5% of full load.
Likely applications include IoT gateways, remote sensors and smart LED lighting.
Harold A. Blomquist, president and CEO of Helix Semiconductors, writes:

“We are currently developing future implementations of our eMpower HS100 in smaller geometries, which will open the door for more applications to experience unprecedented power efficiencies.
“Next-generation products include a 0.18 micron chipset for higher power applications, initially targeting 30W, and a 48V DC-DC device for Power over Ethernet, electric/hybrid vehicles and datacom/telecom applications.”

https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/helix-aims-zero-power-smart-grids-2017-07/

Western Digital gets U.S. court order to access Toshiba databases, chip samples

(Reuters) - Western Digital Corp (WDC.O) won a temporary U.S. court order on Tuesday saying that Toshiba Corp (6502.T) must allow Western Digital's employees to access databases and chip samples as part of a joint venture with Toshiba around flash memory chip plants in Japan.

Toshiba is scrambling to sell its flash memory business and Western Digital is among the bidders.

In a sign of high tensions around the deal, Toshiba threatened to lock Western Digital out of shared databases and quit sending chip samples.

Western Digital sued Toshiba in San Francisco County Superior Court saying that its joint venture with Toshiba means Toshiba must get its consent for a sale. It asked the court for two separate orders: An injunction to stop the sale, and a temporary restraining order forcing Toshiba to give its workers access to shared databases.

A judge granted the temporary order for access to the shared databases Tuesday and set a further hearing on July 28.

"We welcome the decision of the court, which we believe validates our position," Western Digital said in a statement.

Toshiba plans to appeal the ruling, which it believes essentially provides Western Digital access to technical information until the July 28, the company said in a statement.

"This is a proceeding with many rounds and many rulings, and while we are disappointed with the judge's ruling, it doesn't forecast the outcome of this proceeding or those to come," Toshiba said in the statement.

A hearing on the injunction to stop the sale is set for Friday.

Despite the legal tensions between them, Toshiba and Western Digital resumed talks this week. Toshiba also returned to talks with a group led by Taiwan's Foxconn. The renewed negotiations come after a potential $18 billion sale to Bain Capital and South Korea's SK Hynix Inc (000660.KS) stalled out.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-western-digital-toshiba-idUSKBN19W2IL

Samsung hosts foundry forum, unveils vision

SEOUL, July 11 (Yonhap) -- Samsung Electronics Co. on Tuesday hosted a forum on its foundry business, inviting local partners and sharing its vision on the segment.
During the Samsung Foundry Forum Korea 2017, the company expanded ties with business partners amid rising demand for chips in line with the development of the Internet of Things, automotive and artificial intelligence industries.
Samsung said its production based on the 10-nanometer technology is stable, and it is currently preparing to take steps toward 7-nanometer production.
The South Korean tech giant has been tapping deeper into the foundry business, restructuring its organization earlier this year to uphold three major pillars in its semiconductor business: namely memory, system LSI and foundry.
The foundry business refers to making chip designs for other companies that do not have a semiconductor fabrication plant.

http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/business/2017/07/11/0501000000AEN20170711003400320.html

Commentary: Proximity benefits China IC designers in tapping domestic market

The geographic proximity advantage has proved the most powerful weapon for China IC design houses to develop the vast domestic market, as they can respond to local customers' needs for changing designs or increasing new functions much faster than foreign competitors including Taiwanese counterparts.

The advantage has enabled China's IC design companies to "intercept" orders meant for their Taiwanese counterparts, which have long enjoyed a robust niche market of chip designs for cosumer electronics and IT products in China, the sources said.

This is despite the fact that China IC design houses still lag behind their Taiwanese counterparts in IC designing capabilities, whether in designing touch-control ICs, LED driver ICs, or the latest fingerprint recognition chips and OLED driver ICs.

Over the past few years, China's IC design industry has grown rapidly thanks to strong policy support from the government, stable research assistance from academic units and continuous injection of funds from local capital markets.

As a result, many large-sized local IC design houses have sprung up in China, including Silan, RDA Microelectronics, and Spreadtrum Communications seen in early years, followed by Rockchip Electronics and Allwinner Technology, as well as the latest Sinowealth Electronic and Huiding Technology.

Major Chinese players springing up

These major China IC design houses have managed to outperform Taiwanese counterparts in vying orders from domestic clients in China due largely to the geographic advantage, causing the revenues, gross profit rates and net earnings of Taiwanese IC designers to fall year on year.

This can be evidenced by the fact that Spreadtrum Communications has tapped into the market for 2G/2.5G chips that was dominated by Taiwan's MediaTek, and also penetrated the market for 3G chips and entry-level 4G chips which MediaTek was supposed to be able to dominate.

In addition, Silergy has quickly developed into a major player in LED driver designs due to strong domestic market demand in China; Sinowealth Electronic has won a significant share of the China market for LCD driver IC designs; and Huiding Technology has also successfully grasped over 50% of China's design market for touch-control ICs and fingerprint recognition chips. All these indicate the geographic advantage has worked well in helping China IC designs duplicate the Taiwan IC designers' dominant role in Taiwan's PC supply chains in the past.

In contrast, after enjoying a brilliant past in the mature market for chip designs for consumer electronics and IT products, Taiwan IC designers face many huge challenges, including technology upgrade, business transformation and how they can increase added-value of their products. 

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20170705PD208.html