Mr. John Berg

Chief Technology Officer , AMERICAN SEMICONDUCTOR, INC.

GLG News by Mr. John Berg, Chief Technology Officer

Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.

GLG News is now G+ Insights

G+ is a community for professionals, academics and entrepreneurs to connect through online discussions and in-person meetings. You will continue to see G+ Insights (formerly GLG News) here as well as on the G+ website, where you can share and discuss the G+ Insights you read.

Agilent Technologies and Varian: Good Deal

July 28, 2009

Analysis of:Agilent to Buy Varian for $1.5 Billion | online.wsj.com

Agilent Technologies Inc. agreed to acquire Varian Inc. for about $1.5 billion. This acquisition will expand Agilent's product portfolio in the industrial and life sciences markets and will give Agilent entry to the NMR, imaging, and vacuum technology fields. This is another major step in Agilent's evolution into a leading bioanalytical measurement company. One should expect the deal to be accretive in 2010, as Agilent estimates $75 million in cost savings from the deal.

Sun Microsystems and Oracle: Perfect Together?

July 20, 2009

Analysis of:Sun Holders Approve Oracle Deal | online.wsj.com

The shareholders of Sun Microsystems $7.4 billion takeover. Will the be buyer's delight or buyer's remorse for Oracle? Are the winners Oracle's shareholders or Sun Microsystems' competitors?

Applied Materials: The new 800 pound gorilla in Solar

July 9, 2009

Analysis of:Applied jumps to top of solar equipment rankings | www.eetimes.com

Applied Materials is the largest equipment provider of photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing equipment in 2008, its first full year in the market, according to market research firm VLSI Research Inc. Although this revenue includes its 2007 HCT acquisition's reveue, Applied has gained traction with its SunFab Solar Module Production Line. The implication is ominous for the other nine suppliers on this list, many of whom have been in the solar equipment business for some time: the 800 pound solar equipment gorilla has arrived.

Spansion: A Titanic in Disguise?

July 6, 2009

Analysis of:Spansion names fourth CFO in less than five months | www.siliconbeat.com

When a company replaces a CFO, it is important to look at the new individual's background to determine whether the company has placed a knowledgeable hand on the corporate financial rudder.

Ex-Spanion CEO Parachutes into SST: Will this be another Dunkirk?

June 8, 2009

Analysis of:SST Strengthens Management Team by Appointing Bertrand F. Cambou as President | www.marketwatch.com

Bertrand Cambou has moved into his new role as President at SST, a company mired in a difficult situation: a fabless embedded memory semiconductor company that is trying to re-invent itself as a NAND controller company. In reaching for outside management, the Board acknowledges that the existing senior management team of Bing Yeh (CEO), Dr. Yaw Wen Hu (COO), Paul Lui (SVP), and Chen Tsai (SVP) need an outsider to energize the company.

When will Phase Change Memory make an Impact in the IC business?

July 1, 2008

Analysis of:Spansion: Numonyx' PCM is 'marketing fluff' | www.eetimes.com

Bertrand Cambou, CEO of Spansion, has an opinion on Numonyx' push into phase-change memories: "Phase-change memory is pure marketing fluff." Although Cambou is correct that existing Numonyx phase change memories are not ready for prime time, the situation will be quite different below 32nm, which is a technology node that Spansion may never reach, if it continues to hemorrhage cash as it is. Below 32nm, the issues surrounding FLASH will require an architectural change in order to scale products to the 22nm node and below. Phase change memory is a leading contender to replace the traditional double poly FLASH cell. Samsung, Hynix, and Numonyx are actively pursuing this technology. Mr. Cambou's company is behind the curve, as a failure to plan for the future in high tech is a plan for failure.

Intel and NAND FLASH: Santyana was correct; Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it

March 14, 2008

Analysis of:Analysis - Intel NAND woes and cardinal sins | www.electronicsweekly.com

Intel is a terrific company. Since 1985, it has focused mostly on MPU's, as the expense of everything else, and consequently, it has dominated the market. Prior to 1985, it was also a memory company - competing against the Japanese. Intel used GCA steppers - an utterly inferior product - while the Japanese uesed 1x projection systems - which made larger die with fewer defects. Who won? The Japanese, of course. Today it is not just the Japanese, but the Koreans as well - Samsung and Hynix.

Is Micron spinning out its Image Sensor Division?

March 10, 2008

Analysis of:Bloodied Micron tries extreme (re)makeover | www.eetimes.com

Micron announced last week that its newly named sensor business, Aptina, will run as an independent division within Micron. The divsion will have independent sales, marketing and profit-and-loss functions in order to be more "responsive to the market." Aptina employs about 700 people and represented 12 percent of Micron's total net sales. Aptina will continue to use Micron's fabs but will be allowed to pursue manufacturing alliances with Asian foundries. This move is signaling that Micron is putting its sensor business for sale. Micron already breaks out the revenue and operating profit (loss) of its imaging business in in its annual and quarterly reports. The latest quarter saw the imaging business dip into the red. Selling this asset would be apropos for Micron, as sensors have little in common, either in manufacturing or in sales channels, with Micron's main business: DRAM and FLASH memories.

Page : 11 to 8 of 8

Subscribe to Updates

By RSS