Finance

PCB manufacturer Circatex has been pulled out of administration by a management buy-out (MBO) which will enable it to make a fresh start unencumbered by the problems of the old business. The Tyneside-based company, originally created by an MBO of the Viasystems-owned site in December 2001, went into administration in March. The company continued to operate but staffing levels were ...

Philips Electronics has named René Penning de Vries as the next chief technology officer in its semiconductor division. In addition to his role as strategy officer of Philips Semiconductors, Penning de Vries’ new role is seen as preparation for the retirement next year of Theo Claasen who has overall responsibility for technology within Philips Semiconductors. Penning de Vries has worked ...

Having a standard product portfolio provides a regular income which supports the higher margin differentiated product business, according to STMicroelectronics. “It’s a cheque in the bank every month,” said Pasquale Pistorio, CEO of ST. “The product mix of two thirds differentiated, one third standard is fantastic. Differentiated provide the high margin, standard products drive the manufacturing machine.” Asked why competitors ...

In the same week it bought Onetta, a US optical amplfier firm, Bookham Technology said it is closing its wafer fab in the UK. The gallium arsenide wafer fab at Caswell, Northamptonshire, will close, Bookham said. The firm will end production of monolithic microwave ICs. The firm would not issue a statement, but a notice on its website reads: “Bookham ...

International Rectifier (IR) will invest $40m to bring its 200mm wafer fab in Newport, Wales into production, creating 120 new jobs. In 2002 IR bought a 150mm and a 200mm fab from ESM (the former Newport Wafer Fab) for $81m. IR started to ramp the 150mm plant in March 2002. “Since the acquisition IR has invested over $66m to expand ...

Reflecting the robust growth across the semiconductor industry, the Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA) has announced that first quarter revenues for public fabless companies grew by 37 per cent year-over-year to $8.2bn. Communications companies led the pack. Qualcomm’s CDMA technologies division led sales for public fabless companies in Q1 with $711m. Broadcom was second with $573m. Graphics company Nvidia rounded out the top ...

The electronics industry in the UK and Ireland is enjoying a rise in confidence, according to two recent business surveys. An Electronics Weekly survey of 36 business managers in manufacturing and distribution found that confidence was at a high level with expectations of recruitment and investment over the next three months. Over 85 per cent of those questioned said business ...

Dr Wei Sun, Surrey Satellite Technology’s (SSTL’s) marketing and business development director, has won the 2004 BEXA-WiB – the annual Women In Business Achievement Award, supported by the British Exporters Association. The award, presented for “outstanding contribution to UK exports”, said BEXA, was presented by Sir Stephen Brown, chief executive of UK trade and investment at the Foreign and Commonwealth ...

Nanotechnology, on which the US government is spending $1bn a year in R&D programmes, could see up to half a dozen initial public offerings this year as the venture capitalists sense an exit strategy in an area some analysts consider to be over-invested. First into the frame is expected to be Nanosys which claims to have computer modelling techniques which ...

The semiconductor production equipment book-to-bill ratio moved up to 1.14:1 in April from the 1.09:1 ratio in March, according to SEMI International, the trade body representing the manufacturers of equipment used to make chips. SEMI said that orders rose 16 per cent in April to $1.59bn compared to the $1.28bn of March, while April shipments rose to $1.4bn compared to ...