Busy period ahead for Indian semicon, solar! While, TI bids for Qimonda’s tools!!

Yes, looks like it! First, on August 31, the India Semiconductor Association and the UK-TI would be signing an MoU. The next day, September 1, there is a presentation by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and key officials on the government of India’s policies to the industry! Next, on September 4, the DIT Secretary

Definite need for rethink on India’s fab strategy!

I am intrigued to see lots of great things happening in the Indian semiconductor industry, and equally frustrated to find certain things that I feel should happen, not really going the way they should! Yes, India is very strong in the semiconductor related chip design services. However, do keep in mind folks that design services

ISA Vision Summit 2009 lacks the punch!

Yes, that’s how I felt, at the end of the opening day of India Semiconductor Association’s (ISA) Vision Summit 2009! Won’t know much about how others felt!! The picture here shows the ISA Vision Summit 2009 being inaugurated by the Guests of Honor, Dr. Debesh Das, Honorable Minister-in-Charge, Department of Information Technology, Government of West

Can the Indian semicon industry dream big? (And even buy Qimonda?)

I had ended one of my previous blog posts by saying whether the Indian semiconductor industry was hitting the right notes? In a continuation to that specific thought, it is necessary to first examine where India stands in the global industry. We are very strong in embedded design and design services — our traditional strengths.

Global semiconductor industry could well see revival in 2010?

“Let’s start from the very beginning! A very good place to start!!” Hope you all remember this lovely song sung by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music!! So, what’s the connection? Right! Last week, I blogged about how the global semiconductor industry is likely to drop by 28 percent in 2009, while the Indian

DRAM makers being offered lifelines via bail out plans!

Browsing the Web these past days has brought me to various stories, mostly discussing the various bail out plans being provided for some leading DRAM makers. It all started with Germany based Qimonda announcing that it has arranged a Euro 325 million financing package for the ramp up of its innovative Buried Wordline technology. Yesterday,

Solar sunburn likely in 2009? India, are you listening?

iSuppli’s just issued a warning that 2009 could well see the coming of a solar market eclipse! Come to think of it! Just last week, in the Semiconductor International webcast, the analysts did mention that there could be tough times ahead for solar! In fact, Aida Jebens, Senior Economist, VLSI Research Inc., did indicate that

Memory market to witness another negative sales growth in 2009

This is a continuation from my previous blog on the outlook for the global semiconductor industry, and iSuppli’s ranking of the Top 20 global semiconductor companies. Thanks to Jon Cassell at iSuppli, I also got into a conversation with Nam Hyung Kim, Director & Chief Analyst, iSuppli. Kim touched upon the outlook for DRAM and

Top 20 global semicon companies — DRAM, Flash suppliers drop out

IC Insights recently published the May update to The McClean Report, featuring the Top 20 global semiconductor companies. Not surprisingly, there have been some significant movers and shakers. The most telling — quite a few of the major DRAM and Flash suppliers have dropped out of the Top 20 list! First the movers! Fabless supplier

New camps promise exciting times ahead in memory market

The last few weeks of this month witnessed some interesting developments in DRAM. No, there are not signs of a recovery, yet. Instead, the appearance of new DRAM camps, as well as a new memory interface working group, does generate some interest. However, first, the stats. DRAMeXchange recently reported that the Q1-08 revenues of the