Electronic Business articles from June 2004

Electronic Business archives from June 2004

The pay pendulum: shareholders should use care when judging CEO value.(Editor's Note)(Editorial)
June 1, 2004... In the past couple of years, scandals at several of the largest U.S. companies have caused investments to plummet and have outraged shareholders. Shareholders aren't just upset about dubious accounting practices--they're also angry about the...

A problem in search of a problem: voice was not meant to travel over wireless LANs.(Chip Advisor)
June 1, 2004... Wireless local-area networking, especially the 802.11a/b/g WiFi standards, has been one of the great success stories of the last several years. WiFi has solved problems we didn't even know we had--a sign of a truly revolutionary technology....

China bares technology standards.(Strategies)
June 1, 2004... When the Chinese government agreed in mid-April to indefinitely postpone enforcement of its wireless LAN standard, the U.S. chip industry breathed a sigh of relief. But although the postponement averted a looming trade problem, the incident was...

Just in time just makes sense: taking a cue from the auto industry, EPIC improves its supply chain.(Profile)
June 1, 2004... When John Sammut became CEO at Electronic Product Integration Co. (EPIC), the contract manufacturer's inventory turns were less than seven per year. Nearly five years later, it has doubled inventory turns, a key metric of supply chain...

Outsource or set up a subsidiary? Deciding to offshore is just the first step.(Management)
June 1, 2004... Sequence Design, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based EDA company, launched a design center in Delhi, India, only after it had worked with consultants there for five years. Atheros Communications, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based wireless LAN chip company,...

What's coming next? Persistent cost cutting will bring new high-volume products.(Economic Outlook)
June 1, 2004... Before the current market expansion ends with the next inevitable period of declining sales, most of the people in the world who have a use for, and the means to buy, a cellular telephone will have one. This is also true for PCs, DVDs, TVs,...

VCs expect a healthy 2004, especially for chip-process investments.(Finance)
June 1, 2004... By just about any measure, 2003 was one of the worst years for venture capital investing. The amount of money committed by investors to VC funds was the lowest since 1995. The amount invested in all financing stages was the lowest since 1998,...

We're on a roll.(Business Barometer)(Illustration)
June 1, 2004... This month's polling of purchasing managers shows that confidence in the electronics market continues to gain momentum. At least forty percent of those surveyed state they are seeing quarter over quarter revenue gains. This is good news for an...

Chip companies seek radiation therapy: can space technology cure errors from shrinking geometries and dropping voltages?(Semiconductors)
June 1, 2004... It's not a surprise that more semiconductor companies are currently looking for ways to thwart bit flips--particle interference that changes 0s to 1s, and vice versa. After all, it's widely acknowledged in the industry that these "soft...

WiFi winners: Broadcom, TI and Atheros lead booming WiFi chip market.(Mobile Technology)
June 1, 2004... Tumultuous events--including a faster new technology standard and new players--reshuffled the companies at the top of the booming wireless local-area network chip market last year. The biggest factor was adoption by the Institute of...

Property wrongs: increased use of IP may result in unexpected legal expenses.(Electronic Design Automation)
June 1, 2004... As the number of components on a chip has mushroomed, there's been increasing emphasis on the use of preexisting IP to speed the design process. Although customization of existing IP is often necessary, it's generally more cost-effective to...

Siesta's over: contract manufacturing ramps up south of the border.(Supply Chain Management)
June 1, 2004... Electronics manufacturing in Mexico is waking up from a three-year siesta in a big way, and companies throughout the North American supply chain couldn't be happier. "We're looking for 25 to 30 percent year-over-year growth in our business...

Doing business beyond the contract: Asia/Pacific's rise foreshadows changing business models.(Capital Equipment)
June 1, 2004... What do chip makers and other consumers of semiconductor capital equipment want from their suppliers? Process tools and testers that are better, cheaper and faster, obviously. But the extended downturn made clear that many chip makers and even...

Blind faith: still praying to keep free stock options, electronics executives are in the dark about new compensation realities.(Highest-Paid Executives)(Cover Story)
June 1, 2004... Whether they're reacting to changing markets or solving design problems, electronics companies pride themselves on staying ahead of the curve. But when it comes to executive compensation, they're not nearly as nimble or creative. Because of a...

Panacea or snake oil? A Unified Data Model might save the industry from increasing costs--if it ever comes to fruition.(Electronic Design Automation)
June 1, 2004... It used to be so simple. Engineers designed chips and handed the definition to the mask makers, who then sent the masks to the wafer manufacturers. And (most of the time, at least) the result of having this simple and understandable supply...

Redefining with software: can a new technology rewrite the rules of communications?(Communications)
June 1, 2004... On September 11, 2001, some 900 radio users from 50 public safety agencies responded to the terrorist attack on the Pentagon. Some of the firefighters, police, and rescue workers had trained together and had established radio protocols for...