Electronic Business articles from June 2003

Electronic Business archives from June 2003

Vitality amid the tech wreck: don't be too quick to write the high-tech industry's obituary. (Editor's Note).(Editorial)
June 1, 2003... Recent angst and anguish about the high-tech industry's future remind me of the late 1980s, when my daily-newspaper job compelled me to cover layoffs, bankruptcies and a chorus of troubled tech executives lamenting that the United States had...

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2003... YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR Heidi Elliott's article ["Getting paid for what you do," May 1, 2003, page 39] should be entitled "You get what you pay for"--which isn't much these days. Selling for a Japanese company under the umbrella of a...

Entering the PC-plus era: our obsession with digital multimedia spurs new uses. (Chip Advisor).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... From reading almost any computer-industry publication in 1999, one would think the PC was being marginalized by the rapid growth in digital consumer electronics. Information appliances-not PCs-would become the center of our digital world. We...

Creating real-time supply chain visibility: even in aftermarket sales and service, transparency is crucial. (Commentary).
June 1, 2003... In today's extremely challenging business environment, electronics companies are continually striving to gain a competitive edge. In facing that challenge, creating real-time supply chain visibility is becoming more and more critical for...

White boxes shine bright: who are these guys, anyway? (Business Trends).
June 1, 2003... Shrinking margins, deflated market share and depressed sales--those are the harsh realities confronting most PC manufacturers. Yet the so-called white box channel is managing to elude much of this doom and gloom and enjoy moderate growth or,...

Taiwanese notebook manufacturers ply the mainland: original design manufacturers open the door for major PC vendors. (Mobile Technology).
June 1, 2003... With a population of 1.3 billion people and annual economic growth ticking along at better than 7%, it's no secret that China is a highly coveted emerging market among PC makers. You need look no further than the hotly competitive environment...

Palomar branches out: redeploying engineers to tap new markets. (Profile).
June 1, 2003... Selling into diverse markets provides a good antidote for surviving a recession. The next-best thing is the ability to diversify quickly when the economy sours, but it takes savvy management to seize the opportunities. Capital equipment maker...

Getting in on the (copyright) act: electronics industry calls for change in law. (Legislation).
June 1, 2003... When Congress passed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) in 1998, the movie, music, software and Internet industries all crowded into the winner's circle. Internet service providers (ISPs) and online services such as AOL won...

New environmental laws in Europe target electronics waste: the European Union adopts two new electronics waste directives. (Regulations).(Waste Electrical and Electronic and Equipment Restriction of Hazardous Substances)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... The AeA, Washington, DC, has published a new guide for the U.S. high-tech industry, describing two new environmental laws recently adopted by the European Union. The guide is designed to help U.S. electronics companies review their...

Averting disaster at Ubicom: focus on wireless networking market puts chip maker in the black. (Profile).
June 1, 2003... Ubicom Inc. could have been a disaster story. The maker of wireless networking chips started its life as Scenix Semiconductor, in 1996. At first, the company had the wrong focus, trying to clone generic microcontrollers that ran at faster...

Boarding instructions: six tips for prospective directors who don't want legal woes. (Management).(and related article)
June 1, 2003... For many top executives, the day they're asked to join a board of directors is the day they know they've finally arrived. Although firms sometimes find it difficult to recruit top candidates (see "All A-board?" ER, December 2002, page 45),...

DRAM futures--deja vu all over again: Singapore Exchange thinks it can succeed where others have failed. (Finance).(and related article-How Futures Work)
June 1, 2003... Where others failed or feared to tread, Singapore Exchange Ltd. hopes to succeed: It plans to offer a DRAM futures contract later this year. "The specifications have been sent to regulators. We're awaiting their approval," says Rama Pele,...

When in doubt, give Wall Street information. (Update).(Microchip Technology Inc.)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Despite--or perhaps because of--more last-minute revisions in its forecast, Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ, did not take a hit on Wall Street when it announced lower-than-expected earnings for its recently ended fiscal year, just after...

Nvidia, SEC close to a deal. (Update).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... Nvidia Corp., Santa Clara, CA, has reached a tentative agreement that would resolve an investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) into accounting matters at the company, according to Nvidia's 10K report for the fiscal year...

The verities of verification: seven truths companies should consider to reduce the risk in chip design. (EDA).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... ABOUT THE TIME CHIPS REACHED 250 nanometers, design verification engineers began suffering from self-induced male-pattern baldness. "Our engineers were working 24x7, tearing their hair out because they would find so many problems late in the...

Race for 90-nanometer supremacy among chip makers heats up: as challenges mount, can foundries keep pace? (Semiconductors).(and related article)(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... The semiconductor industry's shift to 90-nanometer devices--with circuits 30% narrower than in the previous 130-nm (0.13-micron) generation--is turning out to be its toughest transition yet. Besides smaller circuit geometries, chip makers...

EDA circa 2013: industry pundits predict the future of design tools. (ElectronicDesign Automation).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... What will EDA look like in the year 2013? It's a question that causes some EDA experts to throw their hands up in dismay. "In this business, the foreseeable future is about two months," quips Ian Getreu, who, in addition to being vice president...

Will software tool developers enter the EDA market? (Competition).
June 1, 2003... ASK ANY EDA VENDOR about the future of his firm, and you're likely to hear how that vendor will be a big player, come what may. However, Gary Smith, EDA industry analyst for Gartner Dataquest, isn't so sure. "Every time there's been a...

Moore's Corollary and EDA. (Economics).(Brief Article)
June 1, 2003... MOST PEOPLE IN THE electronics business are familiar with Moore's Law, the observation by Intel cofounder Gordon Moore that the number of transistors on a chip is destined to double every 18 months. Fewer are familiar with what might be called...

Averting disaster: study your business process first, and then buy the software. (Supply Chain Management).
June 1, 2003... Headlines not so long ago screamed with stories of supply chain software disasters. In 2000, Nike Corp., Beaverton, OR, saw its common shares shed $2.61 billion in market value after it revealed that its new demand- and inventory-management...

Distributors and CMs ramp up logistics roles. (Services).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... THIRD-PARTY LOGISTICS (3PL) providers in the electronics industry used to be just that--companies such as UPS or FedEx that specialized in shipment and delivery--but electronics was only one of many industries they served. Now, electronics...

Depending on intellectual property: optical inspection players must differentiate themselves in a tough market. (CapitalEquipment).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... Times being what they are, electronics manufacturing equipment suppliers are finding that it is more critical than ever to distinguish their product from that of the competition. Depending on unit volumes in large part to drive tool sales,...

The mixed message of mixed-signal chips: the goal of integrating analog and digital circuits will always lie just ahead. (Analog Digital).
June 1, 2003... DIGITAL ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, from modern communications systems to computers, to specialized gear such as medical meters, has always needed analog circuitry to link its abstract logic with the physical world. At its simplest, that means chips...

Mixed-signal designers find the right mix: design talent, low-cost CMOS and a keen eye for market needs have Silicon Labs outperforming the industry. (Analog Digital).
June 1, 2003... Navdeep "Nav" Sooch learned a powerful lesson about business while working for Crystal Semiconductor Corp. during the 1980s and l990s. Although the Austin, TX-based company designed several successful products, it also developed several...

Price check on global manufacturing costs: there's a difference between what companies pay and what they're charged. (Commentary).(Industry Overview)
June 1, 2003... Each time in the past decade that we have asked brand-name electronic product companies to rank their criteria for manufacturing-outsourcing decisions, they have reported "pricing" as their dominant concern. Yet, our newest study of global...

Good riddance to stock options: can companies replace them with real pay for performance? (Editor's Note).(Editorial)
June 15, 2003... Although technology executives are still putting up a good fight, the practice of using stock options as a major form of compensation is likely coming to an end. Rochelle Garner's story "Kissing options goodbye," page 22, describes how and...

Letters.
June 15, 2003... TOBACCO ROAD Are the guys Tam Harbert talks about ["A Dying Shame," May 1, 2003, page 4] the same ones who lost their jobs in the tobacco industry and are now repeating the same rhetoric for the electronics industry? This whole scenario is...

Higher quality and lower costs boost voice-over-IP market: can you hear me now? (Business Trends).
June 15, 2003... Once mired in a niche market of hobbyists willing to suffer the glitches and iffy quality of transmitting voice over the Internet, voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP) technology is now being heard in the business and consumer sectors. ...

CRM rises to the top: tread lightly when automating your sales processes. (Management).
June 15, 2003... Ron Jiron, like everyone else, wants happier customers. He's the CEO .of Inland Empire Components, a Lake Elsinore, CA, distributor of surplus electronics components, and he's working with Surado Solutions Inc., Riverside, CA, to install a...

How to survive underwater (options): companies' answers are getting more creative. (Finance).
June 15, 2003... As electronics stocks remain sluggish, the nagging problem of... underwater stock options isn't going away. Employees sir on piles of options priced so far above current stock values that the options are essentially worthless. A few years ago,...

Virage Logic sets sights on SoC IP: memory specialist expanding into logic and I/O. (Profile).
June 15, 2003... Virage Logic got its start in 1996 in a narrow niche of semiconductor intellectual property. It figured out how to design memory chips so that factories could manufacture them more easily and achieve higher yields. That business still accounts...

Can the FCC's decision jump-start the DSL market? Eliminating the line sharing requirement may spur investment. (Policy).
June 15, 2003... The Federal Communication Commission s decision to unleash the four ex-Bell companies into the broadband market may finally resuscitate at least some electronics suppliers in the long-moribund telecommunications sector. Although the FCC...

H-1B debate cools down--for now: from top of mind to bottom of the heap. (Labor).
June 15, 2003... In the late 1990s, major technology companies couldn't say enough about the need for more H-1B visas. Today few have anything at all to say about the topic--or the impending September 30 deadline when the limit on H-1Bs granted will shrink back...

Uncle Sam wants you: the U.S. government is a ready market, says CTO. (Government).(e-government initiatives)
June 15, 2003... The chief technical officer of the U.S. government visited Silicon Valley the last week in May with a welcome message: The federal government is open for business. CTO Norman Lorentz is with the Office of Management and Budget, the linchpin...

Arrow/Mentor pact canceled. (Update).
June 15, 2003... The closure of Arrow Electronics Inc.'s Global Information Business (GIB) division, announced on May 28, nullifies the companys development agreement with Mentor Graphics Corp., (See EB, April 15, 2003, "EDA turns to the channel," page 27.) ...

Purchasing managers look forward. (Business Barometer).(Industry Overview)
June 15, 2003... Call it cautious optimism about the war and/or the economy, but this month's polling of purchasing managers is showing positive signs for the electronics industry. One-third of respondents believe overall business conditions will improve in the...

Kissing options goodbye: storm clouds signal impending change. (Compensation).
June 15, 2003... LAST YEAR it seemed as if the captains of American industry had outdone themselves in achieving wretched excess. Each new revelation, ranging from the highly inappropriate to the outright criminal, seemed to top the last one. WorldCom had given...

Waiting for X Architecture: despite delays, diagonal interconnects may finally be nearing production. (Semiconductors).
June 15, 2003... Two years ago this summer, Tokyo, Japan-based electronics giant Toshiba Corp. and an up-and-coming electronic design automation (EDA) company announced a breakthrough semiconductor technology they predicted would lower manufacturing costs,...

Is DSL ready for a comeback? (Communications).(Industry Overview)
June 15, 2003... THE DOMESTIC DSL market is poised for a comeback if it can overcome certain technological limitations of the national infrastructure The prospect of new services such as HDTV, video on demand and voice over packet has captured consumers'...

Homegrown tools: EDA customers still cling to their own software. (Electronic Design Automation).
June 15, 2003... Design engineers are a practical bunch, and if standard EDA tools don't do the job, they roll up their sleeves and build their own tools. EDA vendors often view these tools as technology to potentially incorporate into their commercial tools...

EDA firms good investment, says VC executive. (Finance).(Interview)
June 15, 2003... ALTHOUGH THE HIGH-TECH sector as a whole seems mired in the financial doldrums, EDA has remained a bright spot, especially when it comes to venture capital. Hardly a week or two goes by that an EDA start-up doesn't announce new funding,...

OEMs seek single point of contact for SCM: distributors and contract manufacturers are welcome to apply. (Supply Chain Management).(Industry Overview)
June 15, 2003... One of the contributors to 2001's disastrous inventory glut was the number of entities managing segments of the supply chain. As a result, the double- and triple-ordering of components for a single manufacturing project went unnoticed, and when...

Tools for the distribution trade. (Finance).(Industry Overview)
June 15, 2003... THE NATIONAL Electronic Distributors Association (NEDA) set out to compile a report quantifying the value of franchised distribution. What it got was the "secret weapon" the industry has been seeking for decades-- the ability to justify in hard...

Getting the lead out: New European Union environmental laws will shake up the electronics industry. (Capital Equipment).
June 15, 2003... When Thilo Sack scanned the crowded shelves of a Toronto Best Buy store last December for a DVD player, one package stood out. It had a green sticker on it that implied the device was lead-free. Naturally, Sack bought it. For nearly three...

RFID finds its place: for years, radio frequency identification technology has remained a niche market. But with costs coming down, the supply chain may become a big market for RFID tags. (Wireless Technology).(Industry Overview)
June 15, 2003... TAKE A LOOK at the average Joe's key chain, and you're apt to see radio frequency identification (RFID) technology hard at work. Have one of those sensors for buying gas at the pump or an access card to get past security at your apartment...

When a vision vanishes: what do you do when your target market never appears? National Semiconductor is finding out. (Profile).
June 15, 2003... BRIAN HALLA once had a vision. He would transform National Semiconductor Corp., Santa Clara, CA, from a steady but stodgy producer of analog and low-cost commodity chips into a passionate purveyor of a system on a chip (SoC) that would be the...

The age of the million-dollar mistake. (Commentary).
June 15, 2003... Collaborate or pay As mainstream design embraces 0.13-micron technology, suppliers and customers of intellectual property (IP) are facing new and very different challenges. Soaring costs--up to $750,000 for a full maskset--mean that...