Monday, June 29, 2009

IDT Completes Acquisition of Tundra Semiconductor

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IDT® (Integrated Device Technology, Inc.)(NASDAQ: IDTI), a leading provider of essential mixed signal semiconductor solutions that enrich the digital media experience, today announced the closing of its acquisition of all of the shares of Tundra® Semiconductor Corporation (TSX: TUN) for aggregate cash consideration of approximately CDN $120.8 million.

The Tundra acquisition is expected to strengthen the IDT product portfolio of serial switching and bridging using PCI Express®, Rapid IO® and VME interconnect standards. Additionally, the Tundra technology, combined with the IDT mixed signal product portfolio and channel capabilities, is intended to further reinforce the IDT leadership in interconnect solutions for the communication, computing and embedded segments.

“Tundra is a great company, bringing a wealth of technologies and capabilities to IDT that are complementary to our existing product portfolios for RapidIO and PCI Express. We believe that this strategic combination will provide customers with a broader product offering as well as improved service, support and a future roadmap for serial connectivity,” said Dr. Ted Tewksbury, president and CEO of IDT. “In addition, we currently project that this acquisition will be financially accretive to IDT’s non-GAAP EPS in the second full fiscal quarter of IDT combined operations.”

Friday, June 26, 2009

CSR plc completes acqusition of SiRF

"CSR plc (LSE: CSR.L) announces that it has completed the merger of SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc. ("SiRF"), a global leader in GPS technology, with a subsidiary of the Company.

Joep van Beurden, Chief Executive Officer of CSR said: "We are very pleased to announce the completion of the merger with SiRF. This transaction provides us with a leading capability in GPS that complements our leading Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities. We offer a comprehensive portfolio of world class wireless connectivity solutions as well as market leading location technologies to our customers.

"We are extremely excited about this transaction and look forward to supporting the existing and future needs of our joint customer base across multiple markets. Following the significant amount of planning we have undertaken for the integration of the two companies, I am confident of achieving at least $35m of synergies over the next 60 days. Our aim is to launch our combined product roadmap shortly."

CSR's second quarter results are expected to be announced in late July 2009 at which time the Company will provide an update on the progress of the integration of SiRF."

Background: On 9 February 2009, CSR and SiRF entered into a definitive Merger Agreement. Under the Merger Agreement, which is subject to a number of conditions, including the approval of SiRF Shareholders and CSR Shareholders at the Shareholder Meetings, Shannon Acquisition Sub, Inc., CSR’s wholly-owned subsidiary, will merge with and into SiRF, resulting in SiRF becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSR. In the Merger, SiRF Shareholders will receive 0.741 of a New Ordinary Share for each SiRF Share they own as of the effective date of the Merger. Based on the closing share price for CSR Ordinary Shares and SiRF Shares on 9 February 2009, the exchange ratio values each SiRF Share at $2.06, representing a total consideration of approximately $136 million or £91 million (assuming US Dollar to Sterling exchange rate of $1.494: £1).The total consideration represents a SiRF enterprise value (calculated as SiRF’s implied market capitalisation based on the exchange ratio minus total cash and cash equivalents) of approximately $20.2 million. Based on the closing price of CSR Ordinary Shares of 336.75p as of 22 June 2009, and converted to a price in US Dollars of $5.54(using a US Dollar to Sterling exchange rate of $1.6453: £1 as of 22June 2009), the transaction implies on equity value for SiRF of$279million.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Zoran Corporation Settles Outstanding Litigation With DTS and Obtains Blu-ray License

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwire - June 22, 2009) - Zoran Corporation (NASDAQ: ZRAN), a leading provider of digital solutions for applications in the digital entertainment and digital imaging markets, today announced that it has settled all outstanding litigation with DTS (NASDAQ: DTSI) and has obtained a license for all DTS related technologies required for Blu-ray products. Zoran expects to roll out its integrated single chip solution for Blu-ray products by the end of the year and to leverage its existing position in the DVD market to establish a leading position in the Blu-ray market. Zoran looks forward to working with DTS going forward.

PLX Technology stock prospectus details Oxford debt exchange

"This prospectus relates to up to 3,400,000 shares of our common stock, all of which may be offered and sold from time to time by certain stockholders of PLX Technology, Inc. See “Selling Stockholders.” These shares were issued to the selling stockholders in satisfaction of a promissory note in the principal amount of $14,200,000 issued in connection with our acquisition in January 2009 of all of the outstanding capital stock of Oxford Semiconductor, Inc. (the “Acquisition”). Our common stock issued to the selling stockholders in the Acquisition was issued pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, provided by Section 4(2) thereof.

The selling stockholders will receive all of the net proceeds from the sale of the shares under this prospectus and will pay all brokerage fees and selling commissions, if any, applicable to the sale of the shares. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares by the selling stockholders.

Our common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC under the symbol “PLXT.” On May 22, 2009, the closing sales price of our common stock as reported by The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC was $2.95 per share." Link to complete filing.

SanDisk files suit against LSI Corporation

Filing Watch™ - On Friday June 19th, 2009, SanDisk Corporation filed a complaint against LSI Corporation in the US District Court, Northern District of California for:
  • Declaratory judgment for patent non-infringement, patent invalidity, and/or patent unenforceability;
  • Unfair competition
  • Intentional interference with prospective economic advantage
  • Negligent interference with prospective economic advantage
  • Trade libel
The patents at issue are US 5,379,356; 5,809,174; 5,864,817; 5,890,124; 5,982,830; 6,982,663; 5,670,730 and 5,696,928 which speak to techniques in audio and video compression and decompression as well as memory utilization for the storage of data.

SanDisk alleges that starting in September 2007 and continuing through 2008, LSI contacted them on three occasions and claimed that several of SanDisk's digital media players infringed its patents. SanDisk claims to have informed LSI that it did not believe that it was required to license the LSI patents. SanDisk further alleges that in May 2009, LSI sent threatening letters, containing false statements, to four of SanDisk's major customers claiming that certain SanDisk products infringed LSI patents. Each letter was captioned "RE: Unlicensed SanDisk Products".

In addition to a judgments of patent non-infringement, patent invalidity and/or patent unenforceability, SanDisk is seeking an award of all damages, an order enjoining LSI from initiating any action of patent infringment, an order enjoining LSI from sending false and misleading communication to their customers, attorneys fees and costs, etc.

Power-One, Inc. Announces Patent License With Texas Instruments

CAMARILLO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Power-One, Inc. (Nasdaq:PWER), a leading provider of power conversion and power management solutions, announced today that it has entered into a non-exclusive Field of Use agreement to license its digital power technology patents to Texas Instruments (TI), a designer and manufacturer of analog technologies, digital signal processing (DSP) and microcontroller (MCU) semiconductors.

The non-exclusive license agreement provides access to Power-One’s portfolio of digital power technology patents for incorporation in TI’s DC/DC controllers and modules, but does not extend to merchant stand-alone power supplies that use TI controllers.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Leadis 8K - CTO moves to IDT with sale of touch sensor business

"On June 10, 2009, Leadis Technology, Inc. (the “Company”) completed the sale of certain assets related to the Company’s touch sensor business to Integrated Device Technology, Inc. (the “Transaction”). In connection with the Transaction, Dr. Ken Lee, the Company’s Chief Technical Officer and a named executive officer, terminated his employment with the Company to accept an offer of employment with Integrated Device Technology effective June 12, 2009. Following his termination of employment, Dr. Lee remains a member of the Company’s Board of Directors."

Exar Corporation Closes Galazar Networks Acquisition

FREMONT, Calif., June 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Exar Corporation (Nasdaq: EXAR) announced today the completion of the acquisition of Galazar Networks Inc., a fabless semiconductor company based in Ottawa, Canada. Galazar Networks has a broad set of silicon and software products targeting the rapidly emerging packet-based telecom infrastructure. They offer a variety of solutions for transporting Ethernet and TDM traffic over SONET/SDH, PDH, and OTN networks. Galazar Networks will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Exar.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Verigy Ltd. 8K - Acquires probe card company Touchdown Technologies

"On June 15, 2009, Verigy Ltd. (“Verigy”), through a newly formed indirect wholly-owned subsidiary, completed the acquisition of substantially all of the assets of Touchdown Technologies, Inc., a Delaware corporation. The consideration payable in the acquisition consists of the assumption of certain liabilities of Touchdown as well as contingent consideration payable based on revenue from probe card sales during a five year period beginning November 1, 2009. There is no minimum or maximum amount of contingent consideration payable pursuant to the acquisition agreement."

Monday, June 15, 2009

California Micro Devices 10K

Fiscal 2009 revenue by market versus 2008:
  • Mobile handset: $30.2M down 19%
  • Consumer electronics and PC: $14.3M down 21%
  • High brightness LED: $4.3M up 34%
Fiscal 2009 customer concentration: "During fiscal 2009, 61% of our revenue was from sales to the mobile handset market......"
  • Samsung (~20%)
  • Motorola (~20%)
  • Distributor, RSL Microelectronics Co. Ltd. (11%)
Employees: "As of March 31, 2009, we had 103 full-time and part-time employees, including 36 in sales and marketing, 21 in research and development activities, 29 in production operations and 17 in administration."

Patent foundation: "As of March 31, 2009, we had been granted 44 U.S. and foreign patents...."

MagnaChip Semiconductor File Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Connection with Acquisition

Seoul, South Korea, June 12, 2009 – MagnaChip Semiconductor, Ltd. announced that its parent companies filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

The filing follows MagnaChip’s announcement that it has signed a definitive agreement with an investment group led by KTB Securities, a leading investment firm operating in Korea, to acquire MagnaChip and its operating and sales affiliates. The company is committed to completing the restructuring as quickly as possible, and plans to emerge from the process in late 2009 under a new ownership structure and essentially debt-free.

MagnaChip’s Korean operations are not part of the Chapter 11 filing. During the restructuring process, MagnaChip will carry on its manufacturing and development and sales activities to support its existing and new customers and product lines in Korea and overseas.

“After the restructuring is complete, MagnaChip will become a stronger and more financially stable company under the leadership of a dynamic and committed investment group,” said Sang Park, Chief Executive Officer of MagnaChip.

Friday, June 12, 2009

Aviza 8K NASDAQ delisting

On June 10, 2009, we received notice of a determination of the staff of the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Department, in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rules 5100, 5110(b), and IM-5100-1, to:
  • delist shares of our common stock (trading symbol: AVZA),
  • suspend trading in our common stock at the opening of business on June 19, 2009, and
  • file a Form 25-NSE with the Securities and Exchange Commission removing our common stock from listing and registration on The Nasdaq Stock Market.
The NASDAQ staff provided the following reasons for the delisting: the bankruptcy filing announced by us and the associated public interest concerns raised by it; concerns regarding the residual equity interest of the existing listed securities holders; and concerns about our ability to sustain compliance with all requirements for continued listing on The Nasdaq Stock Market.

We do not intend to request a hearing with the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel to appeal the proposed delisting.

IXYS 10K

Fiscal 2009 revenue by product group and change from FY08:
  • Power Semiconductor: $216.8M down 8.4%
  • IC's: 32.3M down 21.6%
  • Systems & RF Power Semiconductors: $ 24.5M down 8.5%
Technology Note: "In fiscal 2009, power semiconductors constituted approximately 79.3% of our revenues, which included about 29.7% of revenues from power MOS transistors and about 49.6% of revenues from bipolar products."


Wafer foundry: "Measured in dollars, we relied on external foundries for approximately 34.0% of our wafer fabrication requirements in fiscal 2009. We have arrangements with a number of external wafer foundries, three of which provide the wafers for power semiconductors. Our principal external foundry is Samsung Electronics’ facility located in Kiheung, South Korea."

Employees: "At March 31, 2009, we employed 943 employees, of whom 101 were primarily engaged in engineering and research and development activities, 64 in marketing, sales and customer support, 714 in manufacturing and 64 in administration and finance. Of these employees, 148 hold engineering or science degrees, including 19 Ph.D.s. "

Patent foundation: "As of March 31, 2009, we held 142 issued patents, of which 111 were issued in the U.S. and 31 were issued in international jurisdictions."

Ownership concentration: "Nathan Zommer, Ph.D., our President and Chief Executive Officer, beneficially owned, as of June 1, 2009, approximately 22.3% of the outstanding shares of our common stock."

Exar 10K

Fiscal 2009 revenue by product line:
  • Datacom: $27.8M
  • Interface: $63.0M
  • Power Management: $24.2M
Customer concentration: "Alcatel-Lucent accounted for 11% and 16% of our net sales in fiscal years 2008 and 2007, respectively." (No OEM data for Fiscal 2009)

Wafer foundry: "Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. manufactures the majority of the CMOS wafers from which our communications and UART products are produced. Episil Technologies, Inc. and Silan manufacture the majority of CMOS and bipolar wafers from which our power and serial products are produced. High Voltage BiCMOS power products are supplied by Polar Semiconductor and Jazz Semiconductor."

Patent foundation: "We have 175 patents issued and 38 patent applications pending in the United States. We have 42 patents issued and 122 patent applications pending in various foreign countries."

Employees: "As of March 29, 2009, we employed 368 full-time employees, with 141 in research and development, 85 in operations, 88 in marketing and sales and 54 in administration. Of the 368 employees, 84 are located in our international offices. With the acquisition of Hifn, we added 158 employees, of which 73 are in China."

Thursday, June 11, 2009

IDT Acquires Touch Sensor Technology from Leadis Technology (Updated from 8K)

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--IDT® (Integrated Device Technology, Inc.) (NASDAQ:IDTI), a leading provider of essential mixed signal semiconductor solutions that enrich the digital media experience, today announced it has purchased the touch sensor technology assets from Leadis Technology. In addition, IDT will also acquire the Leadis Technology intellectual property and employee teams necessary to execute on the existing roadmap for continued touch sensor leadership and success. The transaction closed yesterday, June 10, 2009.

From the Leadis 8K filing: "......The total cash consideration for the Touch Assets is $6.25 million. At the closing of the transaction on June 10, 2009, IDT paid Leadis $5.975 million of cash consideration, with an additional $275,000 to be paid 45 days after the Closing (subject to any indemnification claims made by IDT). IDT also offered employment to certain employees that were employed in Leadis’ touch sensor business."

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

GSI Technology 10K

Customer concentration: "Based on information provided to us by consignment warehouses and contract manufacturers, purchases by Cisco Systems represented approximately 26%, 28% and 30% of our net revenues in fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively."

Other dominant customers: Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Honeywell, Huawei Technologies, Motorola, Raytheon, Tellabs, ZTE

Process technology and partner: "Most of our products are implemented using 0.13 micron and 90 nanometer process technologies on 300 millimeter wafers using process technology developed by TSMC. We currently have five separate product families in production using the 0.13 micron process. Our 72 megabit SigmaQuad, 72 megabit synchronous BurstRAM and NBT SRAM and our 36 megabit SigmaQuad products are currently manufactured using 90 nanometer process technology. We are also developing new synchronous SRAMs using 65 nanometer process technology."

Assembly and test: "All of our manufactured wafers are tested for electrical compliance and most are packaged at Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, or ASE, which is located in Taiwan. Our test procedures require that all of our products be subjected to accelerated burn-in and extensive functional electrical testing, a significant portion of which occurs at Sigurd Microelectronics Co. and King Yuan Electronics Company."

Patent foundation: "We currently hold five United States patents and have several patent applications pending."

Employees: "As of March 31, 2009, we had 108 full-time employees, including 48 engineers, of which 31 are in research and development and 29 have PhD or MS degrees, 18 employees in sales and marketing, eight employees in general and administrative capacities and 52 employees in manufacturing. Of these employees, 43 are based in our Santa Clara facility and 45 are based in our Taiwan facility."

Aviza Technology files chapter 11

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., June 10, 2009—Aviza Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVZA), a supplier of advanced semiconductor capital equipment and process technologies for the global semiconductor industry and related markets, and its subsidiaries, Aviza, Inc. and Trikon Technologies, Inc., filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

As a result of the global economic recession, demand for semiconductor manufacturing equipment has declined dramatically. Over the past several months, Aviza has undertaken significant efforts to reduce its expenses and working capital requirements in response to these unprecedented market conditions. These efforts have included significant work force reductions, executive salary cuts, mandatory time off for all of the company’s employees and significant decreases in non-labor expenses. At the same time, the company has been working with Needham & Company, LLC to review and pursue financial and strategic options for the company to maximize value on behalf of all of the company’s stakeholders, including merging with or into another company, a sale of all or substantially all of the company’s assets, and the liquidation or dissolution of the company through bankruptcy proceedings. The continuing declines in orders from and shipments to customers and related cash collections, the recent acceleration of the company’s borrowings under its secured credit facility, and the company’s inability to identify new sources of liquidity have caused the company to seek bankruptcy protection in order to better manage its operations through an orderly restructuring process.

Prior to the commencement of the Chapter 11 case, Aviza executed a nonbinding letter of intent to sell certain of its assets and businesses to Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. (“SPP”). Through the bankruptcy proceedings, the company intends to pursue its proposed strategic transaction with SPP and effectuate other significant asset sales in order to maximize value on behalf of all of the company’s stakeholders. The company expects to continue essential operations, including product support, service and warranty programs, during this process.

Supertex 10K

Fiscal 2009 revenue by segment and change from 2008:
  • Medical Electronics: $30.4M up 4%
  • Imaging: $26.5M down 37%
  • Industrial/Other: $13M down 26%
  • Telecom: $8.7M up 18%
  • LED Lighting: $3.9M up 174%
Customer concentration: ".......General Electric Company accounted for a total of 13%, 13% and 11% of our net sales from both direct and indirect channels (“combined sales”) for fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively."

New product developments (underway in fiscal 2009 to be completed in fiscal 2010 and 2011):
  • Medical Electronics/Ultrasound: 27
  • LED Drivers: 17
  • Other: 8
Employees: "As of March 28, 2009, we had 352 full time employees primarily located in Northern California and Hong Kong."

Patent foundation:
"We hold twenty-three United States patents which will expire between 2015 and 2027, and we have additional United States patent applications pending."

SMIC - 6K Technology update

"From the advanced technology front, our 45nm low-power technology qualification progress is on-track and has shown test chip yield improvement. We completed licensed technology transfer from IBM on high-performance bulk-CMOS technology last quarter and process qualification is in progress in our Shanghai 300mm facility. Numerous customers are engaged in our lead-customer partnership and design-in activities, in parallel with SMIC’s silicon verification with IBM’s proven 45nm technologies. Furthermore, 65nm customer low-power product qualification is in its final stage. We are positioned to move into volume production in the third quarter of 2009.

In the first quarter, we have received strong orders reflecting recovering demand from 90nm and 130nm technology nodes. Furthermore, we see promising new tape-out activities in the first quarter, averaging more than one tape-out per day. We continue to forge more strategic alliances to better serve our customers; such as with Dolphin Integration for its ultra-low power digital-to-analog audio converters for the Portable Media Player market, and with FlipChip International for next-generation 300mm flip chip bumping and wafer level packaging."

Monday, June 8, 2009

Microsemi Acquires Nexsem, Inc.

IRVINE, Calif., June 8, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Microsemi Corporation (Nasdaq:MSCC), a leading manufacturer of high performance analog mixed signal integrated circuits and high reliability semiconductors, today announced that it has executed an asset purchase agreement with Nexsem, Inc., a small privately held semiconductor designer and marketer based in Orange County, CA. Nexsem is a growing designer and marketer of high voltage DC to DC conversion devices targeted at the traditionally fast growing commercial markets such as the: LCD-TV, Set Top Box, Notebook and Netbook, and other high-volume commercial applications.

Saturday, June 6, 2009

MoSys Acquires Prism Circuits, Inc.

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MoSys, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOSY), a leading provider of high-density system-on-chip (SoC) memory intellectual property (IP), today announced the acquisition of substantially all of the assets and business of privately held Prism Circuits, Inc., a profitable supplier of high data rate parallel and serial interface (I/O) IP. The acquisition is expected to result in the following benefits:
  • Expand MoSys’ product portfolio and addressable markets with the addition of highly valued and differentiated IP
  • Accelerate the growth opportunity for MoSys’ 1T-SRAM IP in the networking and communications markets and provide stronger customer synergies
  • Increase revenue and generate positive cash flow for the second half of 2009 and 2010
  • Add a world-class team of engineers, including a highly talented, cost-efficient engineering design center in India
Founded in 2006 and based in Santa Clara, California, Prism Circuits specializes in silicon-proven, low-power, serial interface IP cores (SerDes) with data rates running at 10 gigabits per second and above, and IP cores for DDR 3 and DDR 2 parallel interfaces. Prism Circuits has established customer relationships with tier one companies such as Fujitsu, Microsoft and Juniper, as well as strong foundry relationships with Fujitsu and TSMC, which MoSys expects to build on and improve.

Under the terms of the agreement, MoSys paid approximately $13.5 million at the closing, and potentially will pay an additional earn-out amount of up to $6.5 million after the first anniversary of the closing date, subject to the attainment of specified milestones during the initial 12-month post-acquisition period. MoSys has not assumed any Prism stock options or employee equity incentive awards but has agreed to grant up to a maximum of 3.7 million shares of MoSys common stock under stock options or restricted stock units (RSUs) to 25 newly hired former Prism Circuits employees (with one RSU share equated to three option shares for this purpose).

Friday, June 5, 2009

Exar Corporation to Acquire Galazar Networks

FREMONT, Calif., and OTTAWA, June 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Exar Corporation (NASDAQ: EXAR) and Galazar Networks Inc., announced today that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Exar will acquire Galazar Networks - a privately held company based in Canada. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Zarlink 20F

Fiscal 2009 revenue by reporting segment:
  • Communications Products: $140M up 79%
  • Medical Products: $34.7M up 24%
  • Optical Products: $22.7M up 42%
  • Custom and other: $29.8M up 23%
Employees: 606

Xilinx 10K

Wafer foundry: "Currently, UMC manufactures the substantial majority of our wafers..........we purchase wafers from multiple foundries including United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), Toshiba Corporation (Toshiba), Seiko Epson Corporation (Seiko), Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. and He Jian Technology (Suzhou) Co., Ltd........We extended our collaboration with our foundry suppliers in the development of 65-nm, 45-nm and 40-nm complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing technology and we were the first company in the PLD industry to ship 65-nm and 45-nm high-volume FPGA devices."

Assembly and test: "We purchase most of our assembly and some of our testing services from Siliconware Precision Industries Ltd. in Taiwan, Amkor Technology, Inc. in Korea and the Philippines and STATS ChipPAC Ltd. in Singapore."

Distributor:
"Avnet, Inc. distributes the substantial majority of our products worldwide."

Patent foundation: "As of March 28, 2009, we held more than 2,000 issued United States (U.S.) patents, which vary in duration, and over 750 pending U.S. patent applications relating to our proprietary technology."

Employees: "As of March 28, 2009, we had 3,145 employees compared to 3,415 as of the end of the prior fiscal year."

Cirrus Logic 10K

Fiscal 2009 revenue by reporting segment:
  • Audio products: $97.3M down 3%
  • Energy products: $77.3M down 5%
Distributor: "Sales to one distributor, Avnet, Inc., represented 33 percent, 27 percent and 29 percent of total sales in fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively."

Patent foundation:
"As of March 28, 2009, we held 1,094 U.S. patents, 136 U.S. pending patent applications and various corresponding international patents and applications."

Employees: "As of March 28, 2009, we had 479 full-time employees, of whom 46 percent were engaged in research and product development activities, 36 percent in sales, marketing, general and administrative activities and 18 percent in manufacturing-related activities."

Thaler acquisition: "On December 8, 2008, we executed an asset purchase agreement with Thaler Corporation of Tucson, Arizona, an entity specializing in the manufacture of precision analog and mixed signal devices. The purchase price of the acquisition was $1.1 million, which consisted primarily of intangible assets and inventory."

Microchip 10K

Fiscal 2009 revenue by reporting segment:
  • Microcontrollers $731.6M down 12.2%
  • Memory products $89.3M down 25.7%
  • Analog and interface products $82.3M down 0.3%
Wafer fabrication: " Fab 2 (Tempe, AZ) currently produces 8-inch wafers and supports manufacturing processes from 0.35 to 5.0 microns. During fiscal 2008 and the first half of fiscal 2009, Fab 2 operated at approximately 99% of its capacity. In response to lower demand in the second half of fiscal 2009, we reduced the production levels of Fab 2 to about 60% of capacity. We acquired Fab 4 (Gresham, OR ) in August 2002 and began production in October 2003. Fab 4 currently produces 8-inch wafers using predominantly 0.22 to 0.5 micron manufacturing processes and is capable of supporting technologies below 0.18 microns. Similar to Fab 2, Fab 4 was operating at about 100% of its active capacity during the first half of fiscal 2009. We reduced the production levels of Fab 4 in the second half of fiscal 2009 to about 60% of its active capacity. A significant amount of clean room capacity and equipment acquired with Fab 4 can be brought on line in the future to support incremental wafer fabrication capacity needs. We believe the combined capacity of Fab 2 and Fab 4 will provide sufficient capacity to allow us to respond to increases in future demand over the next several years with modest incremental capital expenditures."

Assembly and test: "We perform product assembly and testing at our facilities located near Bangkok, Thailand. As of March 31, 2009, approximately 77% of our assembly requirements were being performed in our Thailand facility. As of March 31, 2009, our Thailand facility was testing substantially all of our wafer production. We use third-party assembly and test contractors in several Asian countries for the balance of our assembly and test requirements. During fiscal 2009, we completed certain projects to increase capacity at our assembly and test operation in Thailand. Due to lower demand in the second half of fiscal 2009, we are currently operating at levels significantly below the total operating capacity of our Thailand facility."

Employees: As of March 31, 2009, we had 4,895 employees.

RF Micro Devices 10K

Customer concentration: "Nokia, represented approximately 52% of our total revenue in fiscal 2009 as compared to 59% of our total revenue in fiscal 2008."

Fiscal 2009 revenue by reporting segment:
  • Cellular Products Group: $659.8M down 22%
  • Multi-Market Products Group: $226.7M up 97%
Employees: "On May 15, 2009, we had 4,095 employees."

QLogic 10K

Customer concentration: "Our products are incorporated in solutions from a number of OEM customers, including Cisco Systems, Inc., Dell Inc., EMC Corporation, Hewlett-Packard Company, International Business Machines Corporation, NetApp, Inc., Sun Microsystems, Inc. and many others........Our top ten customers accounted for 84%, 85% and 80% of net revenues during fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively."

Fiscal 2009 revenue by reporting segment:
  • Host products: $440.9M up 1%
  • Network products: $117.6M up 16%
  • Silicon products: $61.4M up 39%
  • Royalty and services: $14M up 1%
Wafer foundry: "Our semiconductors are currently manufactured by a number of foundries. Our major semiconductor suppliers are LSI Corporation and International Business Machines Corporation. Most of the ASICs used in our products are manufactured using 180, 130, 90 or 65 nanometer process technology."

Employees: "We had 1,031 employees as of May 14, 2009, including approximately 90 employees related to our acquisition of NetXen in April 2009."

Integrated Device Technology 10K

Customer concentration: "....when sales through all channels are considered, we estimate that end-customer sales to Cisco represented approximately 12%, 15%, and 17% of our revenues in fiscal 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively."

Fiscal 2009 revenue by reporting segment:
  • Communications: $304M down 13%
  • Computing and Consumer: $359M down 17%

Wafer fabrication split: In fiscal 2009, we manufactured wafers representing approximately 40% of total revenue at the Oregon wafer fabrication facility which produces 200mm (8-inch) wafers ranging from 0.6-micron to 0.12-micron process technologies. For wafers which require more advanced manufacturing processes, we use third-party foundries that are primarily located in the Asia-Pacific region.

Employees: As of March 29, 2009, we had approximately 2,112 employees worldwide, with approximately 1,128 employees located in the United States.

Intel to Acquire Wind River Systems for Approximately $884 Million

SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 4, 2009 – Intel Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Wind River Systems Inc, under which Intel will acquire all outstanding Wind River common stock for $11.50 per share in cash, or approximately $884 million in the aggregate. Wind River is a leading software vendor in embedded devices, and will become part of Intel’s strategy to grow its processor and software presence outside the traditional PC and server market segments into embedded systems and mobile handheld devices. Wind River will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Intel and continue with its current business model of supplying leading-edge products and services to its customers worldwide.

The acquisition will deliver to Intel robust software capabilities in embedded systems and mobile devices, both important growth areas for the company. Embedded systems and mobile devices include smart phones, mobile Internet devices, other consumer electronics (CE) devices, in-car "info-tainment" systems and other automotive areas, networking equipment, aerospace and defense, energy and thousands of other devices. This multi-billion dollar market opportunity is increasingly becoming connected and more intelligent, requiring supporting applications and services as well as full Internet functionality.

The board of directors of Wind River has unanimously approved the transaction. It is expected to close this summer, subject to certain regulatory approvals and other conditions specified in the definitive agreement. Upon completion of the acquisition, Wind River will report into Intel’s Software and Services Group, headed by Renee James.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Skyworks Acquires Axiom Microdevices

WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Skyworks Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:SWKS), an innovator of high reliability analog and mixed signal semiconductors enabling a broad range of end markets, today announced its acquisition of Axiom Microdevices, the world's only volume supplier of CMOS-based power amplifiers for mobile phones. “The acquisition of Axiom complements our existing GaAs capabilities, bolsters our fundamental intellectual property portfolio and augments our design expertise,” said David J. Aldrich, president and chief executive officer of Skyworks. “Today Skyworks is the leading supplier of both GaAs and silicon front-end solutions for cellular and smart phone applications. With the addition of Axiom’s patent and product design portfolio, we can further our industry leadership position. At the same time, this acquisition supports our existing product road maps in adjacent linear products markets, such as low power smart grid networks and wireless meter reading, where we maintain a first-mover advantage. At a higher level, this transaction is another important step towards realizing our vision of enabling mobile connectivity in handsets and across a set of highly diverse analog markets.”

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed and will have no significant impact to Skyworks’ operating expenses. Accordingly, the company expects the transaction to be earnings per share neutral in fiscal year 2009 and accretive thereafter.

Monday, June 1, 2009

NetLogic Microsystems to Merge with RMI Corporation

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & CUPERTINO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NetLogic Microsystems, Inc. [NASDAQ:NETL], a leader in the design and development of knowledge-based processors and high-speed integrated circuits, and RMI Corporation, a leading provider of high-performance and low-power multi-core, multi-threaded processors, today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement to merge. Under the terms of the agreement, NetLogic Microsystems will pay the stockholders of RMI Corporation a combination of cash and shares of NetLogic Microsystems’ common stock at the closing date, and subject to the attainment of earn- out objectives applicable to the acquired business during the 12-month period following the closing date, may pay additional cash and shares to the RMI stockholders. The amount of cash and shares for the consideration paid upon closing and for the earnout, if any, will both be determined based on the average closing price of NetLogic Microsystems stock for the 20-trading day period in which the last day will be the third trading day prior to the closing, subject to an agreed-upon collar. The estimated number of shares of common stock to be issued on the closing date is between 5.1 million shares to 6.5 million shares of NetLogic Microsystems common stock to the preferred shareholders of RMI Corporation, and at the closing price of $32.72 on May 29, 2009, the aggregate value of the shares that would be issued on the closing date would be approximately $175.4 million. Fifty percent of the shares payable upon closing will be subject to a six-month lockup and the other fifty percent will be subject to a twelve-month lockup from the closing date. Based on the closing price of NetLogic Microsystems common stock on May 29, 2009 of $32.72, the estimated amount of cash to be paid on the closing date is $8.0 million. Additionally, if the maximum earnout is achieved, the range of additional NetLogic Microsystems common shares to be issued would be between 1.6 million to 2.5 million shares, and, at the $32.72 per share closing price of NetLogic Microsystems common stock on May 29, 2009 the estimated additional amount of cash to be paid at full achievement of the earnout would be $6.5 million. A portion of the consideration payable to the stockholders of RMI will be placed into escrow pursuant to the terms of the definitive agreement. NetLogic Microsystems will also grant common stock, restricted stock units and stock options to employees of RMI who join NetLogic Microsystems following the close of the merger. The estimated amount of common stock and restricted stock units is between 1.1 million and 1.5 million shares as well as between 1.5 million and 2.0 million shares of employee stock options. NetLogic Microsystems will not be assuming any current RMI Corporation employee’s stock options or shareholder warrants. The transaction has been approved by the board of directors of each company, and the holders of a majority of RMI Corporation’s shares have consented to the transaction, as well. The closing of the transaction remains subject to closing conditions, including the approval by the stockholders of NetLogic Microsystems of the issuance of the shares of common stock to be issued in the transaction and required regulatory filings and reviews. NetLogic Microsystems expects the transaction to close by the end of the third quarter of 2009.