Nanotech

Chip forecasts head south

Brooke Crothers — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:20:00 GMT

Along with the economy, chip forecasts are heading south.

Following an outlook about weak chip industry capital spending from market researcher Gartner on Wednesday, iSuppli cut its 2008 IC revenue forecast to 3.5 percent from 4 percent on Thursday.

The memory chip industry is the canary in the coal ...

Micron to cut workforce by 15 percent, slash flash output

Brooke Crothers — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:45:00 GMT

After cutting executive pay last week, Micron Technology is now paring staff as it scales back flash memory chip production.

On the heels of reporting a $344 million fourth-quarter loss last week--when Micron said it was cutting executive pay 20 percent--the Boise, Idaho-based memory chip maker said Thursday that ...

Eying solid-state drives, Seagate tries to quell fears

Brooke Crothers — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:00:00 GMT

The largest hard-disk drive maker is going solid-state. Slowly.

Seagate will enter the market for solid-state drives in 2009, as it slowly embraces a technology that will, in some cases, replace its bread and butter: hard disks.

"Our history is based on rotating magnetic media. But as solid-state comes online, ...

AMD deal triggers Intel license warning

Brooke Crothers — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 05:40:00 GMT

Update on October 9 at 9:00 a.m. with additional comments from Intel and AMD.

Advanced Micro Device's new manufacturing venture may come with some old baggage.

After AMD announced on Tuesday that it would spin off its manufacturing assets to a new company partially owned by the ...

Intel taps Sen. Feinstein's chief of staff

Brooke Crothers — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:45:00 GMT

Corrected at 8:11 p.m. PDT: See below for details.

Intel has tapped Senator Dianne Feinstein's chief of staff to head its Washington office.

Intel said Wednesday that Peter Cleveland, chief of staff to Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) since 2006, will join the company as its new vice ...

AMD finds 'fabless' alternative

Brooke Crothers — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 14:45:00 GMT

Advanced Micro Devices appears to have found an alternative to going fabless.

The dramatic announcement by AMD Tuesday, which focuses on a new entity known for now as The Foundry Company, shows that there is another way to restructure that doesn't entail completely jettisoning manufacturing operations--referred to in the ...

AMD to spin off manufacturing

Brooke Crothers — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:23:00 GMT

Update Tuesday 4:12 a.m. PDT: AMD has made the official announcement of the manufacturing spin-off.

On Tuesday, Advanced Micro Devices will announce a long-expected restructuring, according to sources familiar with the deal.

As expected, the No. 2 supplier of PC processors will split into two companies: one for ...

Nvidia can't shake MacBook, chipset unit rumors

Brooke Crothers — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:30:00 GMT

Nvidia has become a Silicon Valley hot spot for rumors. One is tied to an analyst downgrade Monday, the other to the rumored Apple MacBook refresh.

An analyst rekindled speculation Monday that the world's largest graphics chip supplier would sell off its chipset business, while rumors persist that the ...

Memory chipmakers face survival test

Brooke Crothers — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 11:00:00 GMT

Memory chipmakers are fighting for their life.

The memory chip market--and industry--is caught in a particularly brutal downward price spiral that is threatening the viability of even the largest players.

"Memory manufacturers who have already been losing money for several quarters are now looking at another six months to a ...

Report: Fujitsu to sell hard drive unit to Western Digital

Brooke Crothers — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:10:00 GMT

Fujitsu is in talks to sell its hard disk drive business to Western Digital, according to a Japan-based report.

Western Digital is the second-largest hard disk drive maker in the world behind Seagate Technology. Fujitsu's HDD unit is ranked sixth.

Fujitsu would sell all of its plants--including those in ...