Japan is facing its worst crisis since the end of World War II. The devastating earthquake, tsunami and the threat of a meltdown at a nuclear power plant have not only caused heavy casualties and severe damage, but also distrupted its economy and the global supply chain for many industries.
Last update: Wednesday 21 March 2012 [137 news items]
DRAM makers hold 1-2 months of wafer inventory
Mar 16, 15:39
DRAM chipmakers currently have one to two months of wafer inventory, industry sources estimate, adding that there should be no interruptions in their supplies between March and April...
Digitimes Insight: Japan earthquake raises concern about notebook battery supply
Mar 16, 15:32
In the wake of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, possible shortages of notebook-use lithium batteries are a concern for the PC sector although global demand for...
Upstream ACF supply may be affected by Japan earthquake, says AUO
Mar 16, 14:10
The supply of anisotropic conductive film (ACF) for the production of flat panels is likely to be affected by the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11, but with a month of inventory,...
Sapphire substrate supply unaffected by Japan earthquake, says Epistar
Mar 16, 10:42
The supply of sapphire substrates will not be affected by the Japan earthquake as the facilities of the top-2 Japan-based makers - Kyocera and Namiki - were not damaged by the quake,...
Digitimes Insight: South Korea LED supply chain unaffected by Japan earthquake
Mar 16, 10:22
South Korea's LED supply chain relies on Japan's Kyocera and Namiki for sapphire substrates, and Nichia and Toyoda Gosei for epitaxial wafers, chip packaging and LED phosphor mater...
Supply of LCD upstream materials may become uncertain in 1-2 months, says CMI
Mar 16, 01:50
The supply of upstream materials for flat panel production will sufficient in the short term but may become uncertain in one or two months as the Japan government has started implementing...
Mar 16, 01:45
Japan-based suppliers of key materials used to make handset components, including BT resin, rolled copper foil and ACF (anisotropic conductive film) have temporarily stopped taking...
Japan earthquake could impact poly-Si quotes for 2Q11
Mar 16, 01:40
Though the recent earthquake offshore of Japan has not caused substantial disruption to the global PV supply chain, industry observers are concerned that contract quotes for poly-Si...
Solar wafer maker Danen inks 7-year poly-Si supply agreement with OCI
Mar 16, 01:25
Solar wafer maker Danen Technology on March 15 announced that it has signed a seven-year polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) supply agreement with South Korea's OCI. The contract will...
TPK touch panel shipments unaffected by Japan earthquake
Mar 16, 01:15
Touch panel solution maker TPK Touch Solutions has stated that its shipments have not been disrupted by the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 and its new plant will come online...
MediaTek expects little impact from Japan earthquake
Mar 16, 01:00
IC design house MediaTek on March 15 said that the recent earthquake offshore of Japan will not affect the company's operations. Forecasts of first-quarter revenues remain at NT$19.5-21...
ODD pick-up heads see no immediate danger of shortage
Mar 15, 15:29
Supply of pick-up heads of PC-use optical disc drives (ODDs) from Japan-based makers, including Sanyo Electric, Sharp and Panasonic, is unlikely to be affected by the March 11 earthquake...
Power shortage halts Sony and Seiko Epson plant operation
Mar 15, 15:25
The earthquake on March 11 has affected the manufacturing operations of Japan-based Sony and Seiko Epson. Sony indicated that it has halted production in six plants, and the SCID...
Digitimes Insight: Japan earthquake impact on semiconductor industry
Mar 15, 14:14
Areas affected by Japan's March 11 earthquake, aftershocks and the quake-triggered tsunamis include the prefectures of Fukushima, Miyagi, Aomori, Yamagata, Iwate and Akita.
Japan earthquake to impact component supply and pricing, says IHS iSuppli
Mar 15, 13:54
The Japan earthquake and tsunami could result in significant shortages of certain electronic components, potentially causing pricing for these devices to increase dramatically, according...
Japan earthquake damages factories, says TI
Mar 15, 13:35
Texas Instruments (TI) has said that its manufacturing site in Miho, Japan, about 40 miles northwest of Tokyo, suffered substantial damage during the recent earthquake.
Memory spot prices soar on supply concerns
Mar 15, 11:53
Spot market prices for mainstream MLC NAND flash soared by up to 20% in one day on March 14, while those for DDR3 chips rose about 7%. The prices rallied amid concern that the recent...
Japan earthquake: Toshiba closes down CIS plant; may result in further tightening of supply
Mar 15, 11:51
Toshiba has closed down its plant that produces logic ICs and CMOS image sensors (CIS), including those for handsets, in Iwate, Japan because of the power failure caused by the March...
Supply of polysilicon facing shortage as Japan implements power brownout
Mar 15, 11:47
With the Japan government implementing power brownout policy on March 14, Japan-based polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) and silicon wafer makers may be forced to stop their production...
Concern for potential panel shortage raises demand
Mar 15, 11:43
While the Japan earthquake has not brought a significant impact on Taiwan's panel supply chain, Japan makers still dominate supply of key components such as optical films and conductive...
Japan earthquake: 300MWp PV systems in northeastern region damaged, says IEK
Mar 15, 11:38
The large earthquake and consequent tsunami breaking out in northeastern Japan have destroyed roof- and ground-mounted PV (photovoltaic) systems with total installation capacity of...
Digitimes Insight: Japan quake unlikely to hit global LED supply chain
Mar 15, 11:19
LED players in Japan have been spared major impacts from the March 11 massive earthquake and tsunami that hit the country, as their plants are mostly far away from the stricken areas...
Mar 14, 16:59
The impact of the Japan earthquake on the flat panel industry is relatively limited as most of Japan's LCD fabs are located in the western Kansai region, according to an estimate...
Japan earthquake: NAND flash supply to tighten
Mar 14, 16:28
Market observers have predicted that NAND flash memory, which is widely used in smartphones, tablets and other digital consumer electronics, will be in tight supply due to supply...
Digitimes Insight: SEH plant suspension may hit global wafer supply chain
Mar 14, 15:52
While the massive tremor that ravaged the northeastern part of Japan did not cause damage to Japan's major production sites for DRAM and flash memory products, it may disrupt the...
DRAM companies stop offering quotes after Japan earthquake
Mar 14, 14:25
Many DRAM chip suppliers reportedly have stopped quoting their chip prices for the spot market segment following the earthquake which hit Japan on March 11. Meanwhile, downstream...
Mar 14, 14:11
The March 11 earthquake impacted Northeast Japan, which is also the main region of the country's semiconductor supply chain. With Japan-based wafer foundry Shin-Etsu Chemical stopping...
Japan earthquake: Battery cell prices likely to be pushed up, say Taiwan makers
Mar 14, 11:26
Sony's two battery cell factories located in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, have stopped production in the wake of Friday's earthquake, and this may push up international...
Foundries brace for impact of wafer shortage
Mar 14, 11:25
With the impact of Japan's massive earthquake disrupting production at silicon wafer supplier Shin-Etsu Handotai (SEH), major pure-play foundry chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing...
Japan earthquake: Elpida says still assessing impact
Mar 14, 10:23
Elpida Memory, Japan's only maker of DRAM, has provided its business status in the wake of the massive earthquake that hit the country, saying that information remains incomplete,...
Japan earthquake: M.Setek production disrupted, to resume operation in a week, says AUO chairman
Mar 14, 09:49
M.Setek, the Japan-based polycrystalline silicon and solar-grade wafer maker under the AU Optronics (AUO) group, saw production disrupted by the massive earthquake on March 11, but...
Japan earthquake: Acer says supply chain not substantially hit
Mar 14, 09:34
Acer has said that the devastating earthquake in Japan will not bring substantial impact on the company's supply chain.
- AUO aims at 20% market share for eTP touch panels for notebooks in 2013
- Digitimes Research: US new solar installations may only reach 3.5GW in 2013
- Solar cell prices may increase to US$0.43/W in Taiwan
- Sony Mobile to extend cooperation with ODM firms, says marketing executive
- Senao expanding retail chain in eastern China
- UDE likely to obtain orders from 2 game console vendors
- Lenovo 1Q13 net profit hikes 90% on year
- Phison warns several backend firms of possible patent infringement
- Facebook sets up OCP Taiwan
- Computex 2013: Memory module firms to showcase new SSDs
- Asia to be largest LTE market, says Nokia Siemens Networks greater China head
- ABB to produce PV inverters in South Africa
- TPV Technology suffers 1Q13 net loss of over US$10 million
- Digitimes Research: Seoul Semiconductor may see 2013 revenues up 40.3% on year
- Taiwan April manufacturing production index down, says MOEA
- Polarizer makers under price-cut pressure from clients
- AUO to supply panels for use in 2nd-gen Nexus 7, say sources
- US fab-tool book-to-bill stays above parity, says SEMI
- Intel, MediaTek and Elan taking up 60% of global touchscreen controller market
- HannStar to reach 95% utilization in 2Q13
- Windows 8 expected to take up 5-8% of global tablet shipments in 2013, say Taiwan makers
- Digitimes Research: Global LED tube light shipments to reach 220 million units in 2013
- Nvidia introduces GeForce GTX 780 GPU for gaming
- Quartz component maker TXC expects sales to rise through 4Q13
- Global LCD monitor OEM shipments down 14% on year in 1Q13, says TPV
- Releases
- White papers
- Bulletin
- Imagination says third party IP becoming a key driving force for silicon vendors
- Enriching multiple MEMS applications for mobile devices
- Dialog Semiconductor expands into ultrabooks and all-in-one PCs with a new generation of multi-touch display sensor ICs
- Altera Cyclone V GT FPGA is industry first low-power FPGA to achieve compliance for PCIe Gen2 at 5 Gbps
- Digi-Key adds Califia Lighting to line card of more than 650 global suppliers
- Embracing the New Generation Intel Atom Family with DDR3 Memory Support
- Got The Message? Ensuring efficient and reliable delivery of content across a mission critical digital signage network
- Emb' Store On-Demand Software Service for Embedded Computing
- Efficient Network Management for Digital Signage
- Design Benefits of the MI/O Extension Solution
- ATO Solution Co., Ltd. to launch 1Gb SLC NAND Flash after 256Mb/512Mb mass production for the first time in Fab-less industry
- Chilisin's miniature power inductor in 0603/0805 sizes
- Chilisin introduces Thin-film chip inductor 0201 size
- Chilisin at 2012 electronics Munich A5/159 & 260
- Chilisin sunken-type molded power inductor for MXM Graphic application
24-May-2013 markets closed
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| TAIEX (TSE) | 8209.78 | -28.05 | -0.34% |
| TSE electronic | 310.89 | -0.43 | -0.14% |
| GTSM (OTC) | 118.64 | -0.71 | -0.59% |
| OTC electronic | 143.77 | -0.29 | -0.2% |
- Infineon ships security chips to Taiwan electronic passport program (May 23) - Company release
- Toshiba shrinks 64Gbit flash chips, but still lags Samsung (May 21) - PC World
- RFMD announces flexible gallium arsenide sourcing strategy (March 19) - Company release
- Samsung takes top spot in 28-32 nm chip foundry business: data (May 20) - Yonhap News
- Did Allwinner outsell Intel, Qualcomm? (May 8) - EE Times
- Imec and Renesas collaborate on ultra-low power short range radios (May 16) - Company release
- AMD announces memory modules designed for gaming (May 8) - x-bit Labs
- Fabless suppliers play increasing role in IC market (May 1) - IC Insights
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- Coto Technology claims industry's smallest MEMS reed switch
- Silicon Labs introduces single-chip digital radio receivers for CE devices
- Memory makers see better profits as chip pricing improves
- Globalfoundries quietly becoming a threat to competitors
- Digitimes Research: Mobile devices to drive 2013 DRAM market
Samsung reportedly to outsource more chips
Samsung Electronics reportedly is looking to expand the purchase of memory products, including mobile DRAM chips and eMMC NAND devices, from outside.
Micron reaches deal to acquire Elpida
Micron Technology and Elpida Memory's trustees have reached an agreement for Micron to acquire Elpida. Micron also announced a separate agreement with...
Taiwan DRAM firms mull fab sales
Taiwan-based DRAM chipmakers including Powerchip Technology and ProMOS Technologies are considering selling fabs in order to preserve cash and strengthen...
Specializing in the manufacture of memory chips and LCD panels, Samsung's component operations are undergoing a focus shift to advanced process design...
Opportunity lies for MEMS energy harvesting: Q&A with Holst Centre general manager Bert Gyselinckx
Digitimes recently interviewed Bert Gyselinckx, general manager of the Holst Centre in Eindhoven, to...
MEMS-enabled energy harvesting: Q&A with MIG executive director Karen Lightman
Digitimes recently spoke with Karen Lightman, the executive director of MEMS Industry Group (MIG),...
Complete mobile platform solutions: Q&A with Broadcom executive VP Robert Rango
In a relentless competition against rivals including Qualcomm, Nvidia and Media in the smartphone chipset...
Focused on embedded flash: Q&A with Spansion EVP Glenda Dorchak
Spansion recently announced a joint development with United Microelectronics (UMC) to integrate its...
- Taiwan DRAM module industry overview - Jun 2011
The year 2010 represented a peak in recent years for the DRAM module industry. Optimism surfaced in the second half of 2009 thanks to a return of demand on the...
- Taiwan DRAM-module industry overview - May 2010
Back to 2006 when total revenues for the third-party module market reached US$12.2 billion, Taiwan had over 15 vendors shipping DRAM modules under their own brand...
- Taiwan semiconductor equipment industry overview - Aug 2008
Worries about a global economic downturn have taken a toll on a number of industries, with the semiconductor industry being no exception. Players in the semiconductor...
- Foundry overview - Sep 2006
Taiwan's semiconductor industry has begun to out-run its global peers, once more, in 2006. This followed a trough in 2004, caused by over-inventory, plus volatility...
- Trends and shipment forecast for 2H 2012 tablet market
Digitimes Research remains conservative about the prospects for the period, with half-year shipments projected to reach 49.18 million units and whole-year shipments being revised downward to 88.69 million units.
- Trends in the China video market
In addition to strong potential video content demand in China, the market has developed rapidly due to government intervention and delays in establishing copyright protections.
- 4Q12 trends in the Greater China touch panel industry
In the second half of 2012, the market focus is on the iPhone 5, which uses in-cell touch screen technology. Due to the integration of display panels and touch panel functions, the high technological threshold will mean Taiwan touch panel makers are unable to enter the iPhone supply chain.