Semiconductor

PREFERRED NETWORKS Preferred Networks Inc. announced its founder, president and director, Michael Saner, will retire Dec. 31. Saner previously held upper-management positions at several paging companies, such as Paging Services Inc., a paging repair, maintenance, installation and sales company he …

Horizon Personal Communications Inc. launched its personal communications services network in seven basic trading areas in Ohio and West Virginia, under an affiliate agreement with Sprint Spectrum L.P. Horizon, which is an affiliate of The Chilicothe Telephone Co., has a …

HILLSBORO, Ore.-TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. received its first production order from Ericsson Components AB under terms of a joint development agreement signed last year. The first product is a power amplifier, which Ericsson plans to use in a dual-band Global System …

OYSTER BAY, N.Y.-The market for power semiconductors, integrated circuits and modules is expected to grow at an annual average rate of 19 percent, to reach $2.8 billion by the end of 2003, according to a new Allied Business Intelligence report, …

OXFORD, United Kingdom-Romances don’t always last forever. Mostly they decay gracefully at the close of a seemingly predetermined life cycle. Sometimes they blossom into universally admired permanent relationships. Other times they collapse suddenly and acrimoniously, leaving bitterness and recriminations. The …

IBM Corp.’s Microelectronics Division last week introduced its first standard, high-volume chip based on the company’s silicon germanium manufacturing process. The company said the new standard chips can be used in cellular phones, pagers and other wireless communications devices to …

WASHINGTON-Last week’s annual meeting of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund ended with a blueprint-but not a bold solution-for containing a worsening global financial crisis that is taking a toll on wireless firms in the global market. Highly symbolic …

Motorola Inc., remaining cautious about its financial outlook for 1998, said it likely will reach $7.9 billion in sales with earnings per share around 22 cents for the fourth quarter. The manufacturer, which implemented a restructuring program months ago, last …

Paging carriers looking to provide airtime for telemetry and off-the-hip paging applications received a big boost when Motorola Inc. introduced its first-generation ReFLEX chipset solution. The chipset includes a ReFLEX encoder/decoder equipped with ReFLEX Stack two-way software and a complete …

MELBOURNE, Fla.-GE Harris Railway Electronics L.L.C. announced it has joined with Harris Semiconductor to develop and market a railroad-specific wireless communications system called TrainTalk Intra-Train Communications. The system was designed for commanding, controlling and monitoring on-board operating functions using Harris …

The year-old Asian financial crisis is being blamed for an increasingly gloomy outlook for the third quarter, which ends this week. The situation is compounded by growing economic worries in Russia and Latin America and a weakened semiconductor market. Several …

NEW YORK-By incorporating Silicon Germanium into its components for wireless handsets, CommQuest Technologies, Encinitas, Calif., announced Sept. 14 it has advanced significantly toward its goal of offering a Global System for Mobile communications phone-on-a-chip within a few years. The IBM …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-U.S. chip manufacturers endorsed a compromise legislative plan regarding Year 2000 disclosure issues that provides liability protection to encourage businesses to share problem-solving information about Y2K problems and solutions, the Semiconductor Industry Association said. The bill enables companies …

PALO ALTO, Calif.-Watkins-Johnson Co. said weak orders for semiconductor capital equipment is the primary reason for a planned restructuring of its operations that would reduce its global work force by about 20 percent. Watkins-Johnson expects its third-quarter loss, net of …

Determined not to miss out on market opportunities provided by third-generation technology, NEC Corp. has taken early steps into the 3G arena. The Japanese manufacturer has begun operation of a new subsidiary in Singapore that will design and develop hardware …

Audiovox Corp. and Tendler Cellular introduced a system to provide location information for wireless 911 callers using a Global Positioning System receiver built into a cellular handset. Using FoneFinder, emergency calls go through to public-safety answering points just as any …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-World semiconductor sales dropped 1.9 percent from June to July 1998-to $9.67 billion-and 17 percent since July 1997, because of pricing pressures and continued economic turmoil in Japan, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association’s “Global Sales Report.” Sales …

NEW YORK-Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s Corp. are considering whether to downgrade about $400 million of Hyundai Semiconductor America Inc. debt because of uncertainties generated by the South Korean government’s plan to merge the semiconductor operations of its …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-VLSI Technology Inc. last week said its third-quarter revenue and earnings per share will be lower than analyst estimates. The company expects revenues for the third quarter ending Sept. 26 will be 5 percent to 10 percent lower …

Chile’s Undersecretary of Telecommunications Juanita Gana announced mobile phone carriers no longer can force subscribers to sign long-term contracts, according to an article in El Diario. Until now carrier contracts have been for between 12 and 24 months. Ericsson Radio …

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.-Rockwell Semiconductor Systems last week introduced its first chipset using Code Division Multiple Access technology. The chipset is an integrated radio-frequency subsystem for CDMA that also supports Advanced Mobile Phone Service analog cellular phones. The chipset can be …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-U.S. semiconductor companies maintained their share of the Japanese chip market during the first quarter of 1998 despite the economic slowdown there, said the Semiconductor Industry Association. The numbers from the U.S. Department of Commerce and United States …

NEW YORK-Sirf Technology Inc., a Santa Clara, Calif., company established in 1995, announced agreements last week with Ericsson Inc., Hitachi America Ltd. and Nokia Corp. designed to propel the use of global positioning system technology in wireless devices, including cellular …

NEW YORK-Amid a broader trend of increasing mergers and decreasing initial public offerings among information technology, communications and media companies, carriers seized both options with gusto during the first six months of this year. The number of individual IPOs in …

VLSI VLSI Technology Inc. said its president and chief operating officer, Richard M. Beyer, left the company for personal reasons. “We have a very solid team that can weather the current semiconductor industry downturn while we continue to invest in …