57.5 F
Laguna Hills
Monday, Mar 18, 2024
-Advertisement-

Moderate Growth Seen for Chip Makers After Record Year

Orange County chipmakers could see a revenue uptick this year as global chip sales are projected to grow modestly.

The World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization estimates worldwide chip sales will top $310 billion in 2012, up 2.6% from 2011. The global chip market topped $300 billion in 2011, a record for the industry in a challenging year marked by European debt concerns, declining business confidence and supply-chain disruptions from natural disasters.

Local chipmakers in line to benefit from sales growth this year include Broadcom Corp. and WiSpry Inc., both based in Irvine; Microsemi Corp. of Aliso Viejo; and Jazz Semiconductor Inc. and Mindspeed Technologies Inc., which are in Newport Beach. Also on the watch list for next year: Broadcom’s pending $3.7 billion deal for Netlogic Microsystems Inc. in Santa Clara, expected to close in the first half of the year.

Global chip sales in 2013 are projected to jump 5.8% to more than $328 billion, according to WSTS.

More Snags

Irvine-based disk drive maker Western Digital Corp. has run into more snags concerning its planned acquisition of San Jose-based Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Ltd.

More than 1,000 workers at Hitachi’s disk drive factory in Shenzhen, China, have been on strike the last few weeks over the prospects for severance pay related to Western Digital’s pending $4.3 billion deal. The workers are upset that Hitachi’s subsidiary, Shenzhen Hailiang Storage Products Co., sold its stake to Western Digital without clarifying compensation, according to reports by Radio Free Asia, Japan Times and others.

Hitachi postponed the sale last month after a delay in a European Union commission review process. The deal was expected to close in the fourth quarter. Now the buy has been pushed back to at least March, Hitachi said.

Buschur: staunch IP defense

Western Digital agreed in November to a series of conditions to gain approval from the EU. Those included selling production assets from its 3.5-inch disk drive operations and some related intellectual property divestitures. The commission said the deal, if left unimpeded, would have allowed Western Digital to face competition only from Cupertino-based rival Seagate Technology LLC in the 3.5-inch disk-drive market.

Disk drives store and allow access to data. Western Digital’s disk drives go into computers, external storage devices, corporate networks and consumer electronics such as DVR players.

In April, Seagate offered $1.4 billion for Samsung Electronics Co.’s disk drive business. The commission recently approved that deal.

Powerwave Lawsuit

Cash-strapped Powerwave Technologies Inc. has filed a patent lawsuit against Microelectronics Technology Inc. of Taiwan and its L.A.-based U.S. unit MTI Laboratory Inc.

The suit, filed last month at the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, involves printed circuit-board technologies. The suit alleges MTI is making, using and selling products such as remote radio heads that contain circuit-board technology created by Powerwave.

“We have established ourselves as a leader in developing innovative technology for advanced wireless networks, and have invested considerable intellectual and monetary resources to bring this technology to market,” Powerwave Chief Executive Ronald Buschur said. “We are committed to defending our intellectual property rights to protect our investments in various advanced technologies.”

The recent recognition of patents as an asset class has made settlements without litigation more likely. But in some cases companies go to court to protect their intellectual property and wring out revenue from their research and development legacies.

Powerwave, which makes cellular base station gear for wireless networks, has been hampered by declining sales linked to a significant slowdown in equipment spending by Dallas-based AT&T Inc. and other North American network operators. The company burned through $16 million in the first three quarters, prompting a series of moves the last few months to conserve cash or build up its capital.

Want more from the best local business newspaper in the country?

Sign-up for our FREE Daily eNews update to get the latest Orange County news delivered right to your inbox!

-Advertisement-

Featured Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-

Related Articles

-Advertisement-
-Advertisement-