Spansion Inc., a leading innovator of Flash memory solutions, and Fujitsu Semiconductor Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Fujitsu Limited, announced they have executed a definitive agreement for Spansion to acquire the Microcontroller and Analog Business of Fujitsu Semiconductor for approximately $110 million, plus approximately $ 65 million for inventory.
Researchers are developing a new type of semiconductor technology for future computers and electronics based on “two-dimensional nanocrystals” layered in sheets less than a nanometer thick that could replace today’s transistors.
The layered structure is made of a material called molybdenum disulfide, which belongs to a new class of semiconductors – metal di-chalogenides – emerging as potential candidates to replace today’s technology, complementary metal oxide semiconductors, or CMOS.
Gartner’s numbers for semiconductor market are in and surprise, surprise, Intel has managed to maintain its top position for the 21st consecutive year. That’s right, you might hear about ARM processors on the news most of the time, but they are still miles behind the Silicon Valley giant. Samsung was in the second spot with a revenue of $28.6 billion. The revenue according to Gartner, was held back by weak DRAM growth in 2012, as well as a dilution of the NAND flash market. However, thanks to a growth in application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and application-specific standard products (ASSPs), the company managed to achieve an overall growth.
Apple might be ditching Samsung as a chip partner in favor of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, according to a report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily News.
Samsung has been making all of Apple’s mobile chips since 2010, but the company’s contract is set to expire in 2014. When that happens, Apple is reportedly going to rely on TSMC to make a so-called “A7″ processor — a next-generation chip that would power a future iPhone.