SiliconBeat

Integrated Device Technology, which last week announced the closing of its purchase of the Canadian chip maker, Tundra Semiconductor, said today it would reduce its workforce by about 4.1 percent after assessing its “ongoing personnel needs in light of the acquisition.”

Based on the most recent figures we could find, Read the rest of this entry »

Silicon Image is implementing its third layoff in a year, according to a filing today with the SEC in which the Sunnyvale chip maker disclosed its decision last Friday to get rid of about 80 employees, or 13 percent of the 610 employees it reported having at the end of 2008.

The move is expected to cost the company between Read the rest of this entry »

Silicon Laboratories, the Austin maker of analog mixed-signal integrated circuits that counts local companies such as Atmel, Maxim and Cypress among its rivals, today increased its guidance for its fiscal 2009 second quarter. It now expects sales to be up 20 to 25 percent from the quarter before to a range between $101-105 million. It had previously forecast sales in the range of $92-97 million.

The company said that “visibility has Read the rest of this entry »

Silicon Valley chip competitors, Intel and Advanced Micro Devices, sure don’t seem to see eye to eye on much.

The companies have been squabbling for years over AMD’s claim that Intel has monopolized the microprocessor market. And they don’t share the same view about the economic state of the semiconductor industry.

Last month, Intel CEO Paul Otellini declared that the personal-computer sales slump had “bottomed out.”

But in an interview this week with Dow Jones Newswires, AMD CEO Dirk Meyer said not so fast.

“It’s still too early to definitely say we’ve hit bottom,” Meyer advised. “You can only point to the bottom once you’ve passed it, and I can’t say we’re past it.”

Will these two chip-makers every get on the same page? .

Aviza Technology, the Scotts Valley supplier of condsemiconductor manufacturing equipment, filed for bankruptcy protection this morning on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries Aviza and Trikon Technologies, according to a company release.

Last month the company’s lenders notified Aviza that it was in default on its credit agreements, demanding that Read the rest of this entry »

IXYS, the Milpitas maker of semiconductors used to control electricity in power conversion systems and other power-related applications, reported a 27 percent drop in sales for its fiscal 2009 fourth quarter ended in March.

The company reported a net loss of Read the rest of this entry »

Just over a month after the close of its fiscal 2009 second quarter, Aviza Technology has determined that “it expects not to meet its previously announced net sales and adjusted net loss guidance,” according to a release the Scotts Valley supplier of chip equipment maker filed Tuesday afternoon.

The company now expects sales for the quarter to be between Read the rest of this entry »

Integrated Silicon Solution, the fabless San Jose chip company that designs devices used in digital consumer electronics, networking, mobile communications, and automobiles, reported a 46 percent drop in sales for its fiscal 2009 second quarter Tuesday, saying that demand weakened some more in all of its markets during the March quarter.

“However, we believe demand has now Read the rest of this entry »

In case you missed it, Applied Materials of Santa Clara, the world’s biggest manufacturer of equipment used to make computer chips, has trimmed its board members’ pay again in light of the dismal economy.

Following on its decision in December to cut the annual cash retainer of its non-employee directors by 10 percent, Applied recently reduced the retainer by another 10 percent.

For those of you counting, that whittles the board member’s individual retainer from $65,000 to $52,000.  Applied also has slashed 20 percent from the base salaries of its senior executives.

Lam Research is getting rid of approximately 375 regular, temporary and contract workers, or about 10 percent of its total workforce, with roughly 225 of the employees being eliminated from locations in North America, with the rest located throughout Asia and Europe, the company said today in a regulatory filing.

The layoffs are expected to be substantially complete by Read the rest of this entry »