Semiconductor

rain’s Chicago Business CHICAGO-Motorola Inc. has quietly exited the business of making programmable computer chips used in consumer electronics and other products. Late last week, a spokeswoman for Motorola’s semiconductor components group, based in Phoenix, Ariz., confirmed the move, saying …

NEW YORK-Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla., announced July 20 a work force reduction of 2,300, or 8 percent, due primarily to weakness in the semiconductor market, said the company. The company also said it planned to exit the analog base station …

Motorola Inc. last week announced its long-awaited plan for realigning the company along with another quarter of depressing financial results. Ending its “warring tribes” way of doing business, Motorola announced its communications-related businesses will be restructured under a single organization …

Stet Hallas Telecommunications S.A., Greece, went public 3 June through an equity offering by a holding company. Stet Hallas is 20-percent owned by Bell Atlantic Corp. of the United States. Telecom Finland officially has changed its name to Sonera. Telstra …

DALLAS-Texas Instruments Inc. announced plans to eliminate about 3,500 jobs in a move expected to save the company $270 million annually. The layoffs are part of a global restructuring that in part is a response to a weakening worldwide market …

Competition among companies that supply digital signal processors to the wireless industry is beginning to heat up with new alliances and investments changing the competitive landscape. IBM Corp.’s Microelectronics division last week announced it will pump $100 million into several …

VLSI Technology Inc. today announced it is shipping samples of its new Code Division Multiple Access chip solution, which it is calling the first real alternative to Qualcomm Inc.’s CDMA chip products. The CDMA+ product is about the size of …

SAN JOSE, Calif.-VLSI Technology Inc. joined the team of computer and telecommunications companies supporting Bluetooth, a technology that would allow a variety of mobile devices to be connected wirelessly. The Bluetooth Special Interest Group includes Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Toshiba …

Motorola Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. have formed an alliance to jointly develop next-generation digital signal processing technology, a move that is expected to jump-start third-generation mobile phone technology. Motorola’s semiconductor segment and Lucent’s Microelectronics Group next quarter plan to …

Motorola Inc., warning investors of another poor financial quarter, announced a restructuring plan that includes cutting employees by 15,000 worldwide and taking a $2 billion blow in special charges. The company, which employs about 150,000 people, said it will consolidate …

SEOUL, Korea-Motorola Inc. announced it will invest $300 million during the next three years in its South Korean operations. Motorola will use half to expand its current semiconductor operation in Paju, Korea. The company will use the remainder to partner …

Several leading telecommunications and computer industry companies last week announced a technology platform that would allow all types of mobile devices to communicate with each other without cable connections. Companies including Intel Corp., IBM Corp., Toshiba Corp., Nokia Corp. and …

Motorola Inc.’s shares settled Thursday after jumping more than $4 Wednesday amidst rumors Siemens AG was considering buying the telecommunications giant. Motorola shares closed Thursday at $58.25, down $1.13. Trading on the New York Stock Exchange Friday was in the …

AUSTIN, Texas-The Semiconductor Products Sector of Motorola Inc. and Telogy Networks announced that Motorola signed an exclusive licensing agreement for Telogy’s ActiveAir Wireless technologies, which Motorola plans to integrate into its wireless semiconductor solutions. Motorola said it also acquired certain …

Lucent Technologies Inc.’s Microelectronics Group acquired Optimay GmbH, a privately held software-development company based in Munich, Germany. Optimay, which will become a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies International, develops software products and services for Global System for Mobile communications wireless handsets. …

Motorola Inc.’s Semiconductor Products Sector will make its DSP56652 chip available to the open market, representing the first generally available product based on Motorola’s dual-core architecture, said the company. The DSP56652 combines on a single chip the digital signal processing …

Watkins-Johnson Co. reported first-quarter net income of $9.7 million, or $1.15 per share, compared with net income of $2.5 million, or 30 cents per share, for the first quarter last year. Sales for the quarter totaled $68.7 million, compared with …

This year’s financial outlook appears gloomy for Motorola Inc., which released poor first-quarter results last week and told analysts this quarter’s results won’t look much better. “The primary factors likely to prevent sequential earnings improvement include further gross-margin pressure from …

NEW YORK-Moody’s Investors Service Inc. confirmed the speculative grade rating of Ba1 on $1.8 billion in outstanding debt of Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., including Samsung Electronics America Inc. and other subsidiaries guaranteed by the parent company. However, the New York …

CHICAGO-Motorola Inc.’s Messaging Systems Products Group has introduced three second-generation decoder chips and related software drivers to support the recently announced FLEX G1.9 high-speed, one-way paging protocol upgrade. The new one-chip solution integrates digital FM demodulation functionality that previously was …

April 7-8 IGI Consulting. Holiday Inn, Washington, D.C. (800) 323-1088 or (617) 232-3111. Asian Consumer Electronics Show April 9-11 Kenfair International Ltd. Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong. (852) 2311 8216. Wireless Americas ’98 April 14-17 The Latin …

March 23-April 1 The International Telecommunication Union. Velletta, Malta. +356 356 356. Wireless Marketing Summit ’98 March 30-31 Shorecliff Communications International. The Wyndham Anatole Hotel, Dallas. (800) 608-9641. Inter Comm 98, March 30-April 2 Inter Comm and The Telecommunications Industry …

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.-Rockwell Semiconductor Systems Inc. introduced a complete antenna-to-microphone system solution for 900 MHz Global System for Mobile communications, the first GSM products in its wireless telephony portfolio. Rockwell plans to offer solutions to support GSM at 1800 MHz …

NEW YORK-Touted by some securities analysts last summer as small-cap wireless companies likely to outperform broader markets, Anadigics Inc. and Spectrian Corp. now are defendants in lawsuits filed by unhappy stockholders. A class-action shareholder lawsuit was filed March 2 in …

Blaming weakened Asian currencies, Motorola Inc. warned investors that its first-quarter earnings will be well below expectations. The largest shortfall will come from the company’s semiconductor business, where the Consumer Systems Group and Components Group have been significantly impacted by …