News Flash

Murata Cheerleaders, a team of small robots created by Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. using sensing, communication and group control technologies, will debut at CEATEC next week in Makuhari on Tokyo Bay, performing synchronized dancing without colliding. Cute!

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 0.97 in August, staying below 1, according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

Toshiba Corp. and partner SanDisk Corp. have opened the second phase of Fab 5, which began fabricating 15nm NAND memories this month, and started construction on schedule of the new Fab 2 at Yokkaichi Operations, Toshiba’s NAND Flash memory plant in Mie prefecture, Japan.

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 0.94 in July, back below 1 again, according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

Applied Materials, Inc. and Tokyo Electron Ltd., now carrying out the procedures to complete their merger, have announced the name and logo of the holding company that is to be based in the Netherlands following the merger. It will be called Eteris, which is derived from "eternal innovation for society," a concept that is said to express the new company's spirit.

Fujitsu Ltd. is negotiating with United Microelectronics Corp. with a view to selling its 300mm wafer fab in Mie Prefecture to the Taiwanese company, and with Phoenix, Arizona-based, On Semiconductor on the proposed sale of its Aizu fab in Fukushima Prefecture, media reported. The contemplated disposals would signal virtually a complete withdrawal by Fujitsu from semiconductor fabrication.

Applied Materials, Inc. and Tokyo Electron Ltd., now carrying out the procedures to complete their merger, have announced the name and logo of the holding company that is to be based in the Netherlands following the merger. It will be called Eteris, which is derived from "eternal innovation for society," a concept that is said to express the new company's spirit.

Toyota Motor Corp. and Panasonic Corp. have been working together since last June to connect home appliance control with Toyota's telematics service. This collaboration is about to bear fruit as a new service that is scheduled to be launched in the second half of this year.

Panasonic Corp. and Sony Corp. are in negotiations to sell their OLED businesses to Japan Display Inc., which will establish a company specializing in OLED, with government-backed Innovation Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ) taking a majority stake in the venture, media reported. The parties reportedly intend to conclude the negotiations within this month.

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 0.83 in April, according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). The fact that the ratio has been below 1 for two consecutive months is considered largely attributable to a seasonal factor.

Just a week or so after Samsung's announcement about its 3D NAND fab in Xian, China, Toshiba Corp. and SanDisk have announced that they will build a new fab for 3D NAND flash memories at Yokkaichi Operations in Mie Prefecture, replacing the idle Fab 2.

Targeting next-generation 5G mobile communications services whose launch is slated for around 2020, NTT Docomo Inc. has agreed with six companies—Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Fujitsu, NEC, Nokia and Samsung Electronics—to jointly develop related technologies and conduct trials with each of them.

Panasonic Corp. will sell a majority interest in its surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter business for 148.5 million dollars to Woburn, Massachusetts-based, Skyworks Solutions Inc., which will establish a JV on August 1 in which Panasonic will have a 34% equity stake.

As already reported in outline by the media, Fujitsu Ltd., Panasonic Corp. and the state-owned Development Bank of Japan, Inc. (DBJ) have agreed to form a yet-to-be-named JV fabless company by the end of the year—once antitrust authorities in various jurisdictions are staisfied—specializing in system LSI design and development.

Toshiba Corp. announced it has taken the lead in advancing process technology to 15nm, which it calls the 1Znm process, and will begin producing NAND flash memory using the process at the end of this month at Fab 5 of its Yokkaichi Operations.

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 0.87 in March, according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ). The ratio dropped below 1 after 11 consecutive months above 1, as billing, surged to the highest level in six years.

Fujitsu Ltd. and Panasonic Corp. have agreed to establish a fabless JV this autumn by integrating their system-on-chip LSI design businesses, using investment by the Development Bank of Japan for that purpose, media reported.

Apple Inc. is negotiating with Renesas with a view to acquiring the Japanese company's subsidiary Renesas SP Drivers Inc., attracted by its technology, Nikkei reported from Silicon Valley.

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 1.12 in February, according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 1.10 in January according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), the third consecutive month-on-month decline.

Canon Inc. has announced that it agreed with Austin, Texas-based Molecular Imprints, Inc., on February 5 to acquire the American company and will make it a wholly owned subsidiary, which means Canon has selected nanoimprint as its next-generation lithography technology.

Toshiba will invest about 40 billion yen (US$400 million*) in its Yokkaichi NAND fab, NHK, Japan's sole public broadcasting station, reported today.

Sony Corp. is negotiating the sale of its PC business, featuring the Vaio brand, to Japan Industrial Partners, Inc., a Tokyo-based investment fund, media reported.

Sony Corp. has agreed to acquire Renesas Electronics Corp.'s Tsuruoka fab, a 300mm facility, for 7.5 billion yen (US$75 million*) and will reposition it as Yamagata Technology Center (Yamagata TEC), a unit of its wholly owned subsidiary Sony Semiconductor Corp. (SCK), for fabrication of back-side illuminated (BSI) CMOS sensors. The transaction is to be completed on March 31.

The book-to-bill ratio of Japan-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was 1.35 in December according to the book-to-bill ratio report issued by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ), the second consecutive month-on-month decline, but still at a high level.

Renesas Electronics Corp., which is restructuring under a new management team appointed last June by the Innovative Network Corp. of Japan (INCJ), is reportedly preparing to eliminate 5,400 jobs in Japan by the end of fiscal 2015 (March 2016).

Global sales by Japanese semiconductor equipment manufacturers for fiscal 2014 starting April will increase 11.6%, following modest growth of 8.5% for this fiscal year ending March, according to the latest forecast announced on Wednesday by the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan (SEAJ).