Micron shares surge as Hynix cuts offer relief

Bad news for Hynix is translating into good news for the memory chip industry.

The world's second largest memory chipmaker will close its U.S. plant and slash production 30 percent, bringing relief to an industry plagued by glut.

This comes in the wake of a 30 percent cut in flash chip production at Toshiba and SanDisk announced Monday.

As part of this reduction in output, Hynix is expected to sell its U.S. production unit before the end of the year, according to a Reuters report citing a story in the Seoul Economic Daily on Thursday.

All of … Read more

Apple buys stake in mobile graphics chip designer

Apple has taken a small stake in a British chip designer, revealing how the company plans to power the graphics in future iPhones and iPod Touches.

Imagination announced Thursday that Apple has acquired a 3.6 percent stake in the company, which will only cost Apple 3.2 million pounds, or about $5 million. Imagination designs chip cores for a variety of applications, but its most prominent designs are its PowerVR cores for graphics in mobile phones.

That is believed to be the source of Apple's interest in the company, according to AppleInsider, which has tracked Apple's interest … Read more

Gartner says 2009 chip sales decline to set record

Can the chip industry doldrums get any worse? Yes, Gartner says. In fact, semiconductor sales may set a record for consecutive yearly declines.

The market research firm on Tuesday predicted that in 2009, the chip industry will see back-to-back yearly declines for the first time in its history, with global chip revenue expected to decline 16.3 percent, to $219.2 billion.

Sales in the fourth quarter of 2008 will post a historic decline too, sinking to a record quarter-over-quarter decline of 24.4 percent, surpassing the 20 percent decline record set in the second quarter of 2001, the firm … Read more

Intel, Nvidia bookend top-20 chip ranking

iSuppli releases its preliminary 2008 top-20 chip rankings as semiconductor suppliers fall upon hard times.

Intel, Samsung, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, and STMicroelectronics occupy the top five positions, while Advanced Micro Devices was No. 11 and Nvidia No. 20 in the ranking.

Memory chip manufacturers are some of the hardest hit. South Korea-based Hynix, which dropped from No. 6 to No. 9, and Micron Technology (No. 16) are both restructuring. Micron is reducing staff and shutting down facilities, while Hynix seeks outside investors.

Micron is expected to post a 9.2 percent revenue decrease in 2008 and Hynix's revenue should … Read more

Chip sales dip in October, flash sales dive

The Semiconductor Industry Association said Monday that global sales of semiconductors declined by 2.4 percent in October as memory products saw the steepest declines.

This follows an SIA report last month that said chip sales in the fourth quarter, historically a strong time period for the microelectronics industry, are expected to decline by 5.9 percent from the previous quarter.

Monday's report said that global sales of semiconductors declined by 2.4 percent in October to $22.5 billion against sales of $23.0 billion in October 2007. October sales were off by 2.1 percent compared to … Read more

More MacBook rumors and pics surface

Corrected at 2:45 p.m.: This report misidentified one of the MacBook Pro's rumored features; it is a mini-DVI connector. The report also misidentified the Web site attributed to the original report. It was AppleInsider.

Despite the tanking economy, Apple's new MacBooks due to be unveiled Tuesday are creating some buzz (see Techmeme) and propping up Apple's stock price. The latest alleged pictures in the wild are of the new aluminum case (above) of the forthcoming systems posted on MacX.cn.

According to AppleInsider.com, the new higher end MacBook Pro will include a mini-DVI connector … Read more

Apple to repair MacBooks with faulty Nvidia GPUs

An investigation by Apple shows some MacBook Pros may have faulty Nvidia graphics processors after all, despite Nvidia's earlier assurances to the contrary, the computer maker has announced.

Apple said it will repair at no charge MacBook Pros where the Nvidia GPU has failed, or fails within two years from the purchase date. Problem signs include distorted or scrambled video, or no video on the screen though the computer is turned on. Models that might be affected are 15-inch and 17-inch MacBook Pros with Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics processors. The computers were made between May 2007 and September … Read more

TI launches Kilby Labs, marks 50 years of integrated circuits

Texas Instruments commemorated the 50th anniversary of the integrated circuit with the opening Friday of Kilby Labs, honoring Jack Kilby, the Nobel-prize-winning inventor of the seminal electronic device.

As a new TI employee in 1958, Kilby was forced to work during the traditional company summer vacation. During that time, he built the first integrated circuit, now the basic building block of everything from 3G cell phones to supercomputers.

The first IC was crude: a sliver of germanium with protruding wires glued to a glass slide (see image below). When Kilby applied electricity to the circuit, "an unending sine wave … Read more

IBM cuts chip plant pay, following job cuts

IBM is cutting pay for workers at chip manufacturing plants in New York and Vermont. This comes on the heels of job cuts at the Vermont facility.

Some shift workers at IBM's semiconductor plant in Essex Junction, Vt., will see net pay reductions of up to 10 percent in early 2009, said Jeff Couture, an IBM spokesperson.

In effect, a 20 percent premium for shift workers is being eliminated, according to Couture. To mitigate employee earnings losses, IBM is making a one-time base pay increase, he added. However, even with this increase, the "net for employees will range … Read more