Philips Semiconductors (Netherlands) announced that it will expand its presence in China by building a new IC assembly and test plant at the Suzhou Industrial Park in eastern China. Completion of the two-phase construction is expected by 2006. By this time, 3,500 jobs will have been created, including 500 engineering posts. It is expected that […]
STMicroelectronics (ST, Lexington, MA) introduced new LCD driver ICs that complete the company's range of semiconductor products for cellular phones. Called STE2000 and STE2001, the new chips integrate a controller/driver for 65 x 128 column black and white graphic LCDs. ST reports that the drivers feature low power consumption and a high level of integration. […]
Diodes Inc. (Westlake Village, CA) announced it has introduced a new low-barrier Schottky rectifier, the BAT750. This new surface-mount Schottky device is suitable for use in LCD modules, PCMCIA cards, portable applications, and hand-held devices. Diodes reports that it is the result of a successful development between itself and its recently-acquired FabTech subsidiary. Designed for […]
Ericsson Microelectronics (Sweden) introduced new high-current dc/dc power modules that extend the PKL 4000 family. The 1.8V, 60A PKL4118 PIT and 1.8V, 50A PKL4918 PIT models offer efficiency of up to 87 percent at 60A. At 37.2W per cubic inch, Ericsson claims that these converters offer double the power density of other half-brick modules. The […]
AVX Corp. (Myrtle Beach, SC) has expanded its offering of chip capacitors to include smaller case sizes in the CF Series of surface-mount chip film capacitors. This extended range of film capacitors now includes case sizes 1206 and 1210, supplementing the existing range of CF products already available. The film capacitors are available in standard […]
ON Semiconductor (Phoenix, AZ) announced a new monolithic analog IC, the NCP4300A, containing a precision 2.6V voltage reference and two operational amplifiers to address the accurate control of output voltage and current requirement. The new IC is designed to provide current and voltage control of power supplies and battery chargers. It is suitable for application […]
TDI Transistor Devices (Randolph, NJ) debuted the new RBL and RBL488 Series of single-channel electronic loads suitable for testing large batteries, power supplies, fuel cells and other related dc-power equipment. Features include ratings from 0 to 1,000V, 0 to 1,000A, and up to 4,000W in a single unit. Operation is below 0.5V at 1,000A. TDI's […]
Microsemi Corp. (Santa Ana, CA) announced that it has begun shipping its first gallium arsenide semiconductors three months ahead of plan. The company originally forecast that it would not see revenue from its new compound semiconductor technology until June, 2001. Initial orders are for the InGaAs/InP photodetectors Microsemi introduced in December, 2000. They will be […]
AVO International (Dallas, TX) added a new ohmmeter to its product line, the Megger Ducter DLRO10X. The company claims that this is...
Ericsson (Sweden) announced that it is stepping up its efforts to streamline operations and reduce costs by means of an efficiency program. The program is designed to save the company 20 billion crowns, or US$2 billion, per year beginning in 2002. The new efficiency program will achieve savings predominately outside of the manufacturing area through […]
Elcon Products International Co. (Fremont, CA), a member of the Tyco Electronics Group (Bermuda), announced the release of MINIPAK, a low-profile, high-density...
Chomerics (Woburn, MA), a division of Parker Hannifin Corp. (Cleveland, OH), introduced PowerSite, an automated power semiconductor attachment technology. The PowerSite process...
SatCon Technology Corp. (Cambridge, MA) announced the introduction of three new standard power-conversion products for the distributed power market. The systems convert dc electricity to ac electricity to enable distributed power generation using fuel cells, microturbines and wind generators. The first of the new products, the PowerGate 100, is a combination of power chip switches […]
International Rectifier Corp. (IR, El Segundo, CA) announced the establishment of a new software design center, the International Rectifier Electronic Motion Systems (IR EMS) Canada, located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The new facility expands IR's power management systems capabilities into the software arena of electronic motion controls. This expansion is part of a strategic initiative […]
Avnet Inc. (Phoenix, AZ) and Kent Electronics Corp. (Houston, TX) announced that they have reached an agreement for Avnet to acquire Kent in a stock-for-stock merger valued at approximately $550 million, including approximately $50 million of cash currently on the books of Kent in excess of debt assumed. Under the terms of the agreement, Kent […]