Billions of dollars are now invested around the world on nanotechnology, MEMS and other evolving technologies that stem from semiconductor manufacturing. On one hand this is great news as these technologies offer great potential in almost every aspect of human living. Following the lessons of semiconductor manufacturing it would not be ridiculous to imagine that a global market place would now ensure that any research would not be replicated in a global community.

I have always enjoyed idealised musing but all the evidence suggests that investors, governments, companies and institutions are all blindly rushing forward in a bid to be the WORLD leader in nanotechnology and/or MEMS rather than attempt a concerted effort in research to avoid a doubling up of efforts and potential patent disputes.

Of course there are exceptions that normally stem from educational institutions rather than corporate or government initiated. This is mainly as it is the researchers who truly understand the research needs at the early point of a new technology. The greatest successes will come from the marriage of strong research with the ability to achieve manufacturability and fiscal returns.

Although there are real issues that impact on increasing the number of new products onto the market, I would suggest one of the key stumbling blocks in a global economy is the number of players seeking prime positions rather than a shared approach that covers the broadest range of research possible. With research costs soaring in this field there really is only one way of effectively using the billions being thrown at research at the present time.

I would suggest this is not done in many cases.

David Ridsdale
Editor in Chief

I have recently returned from a trip to China where I was lucky enough to meet with a number of local and international companies working in the semiconductor arena. When I asked companies what were the big issues they faced in China I was offered a range of concerns that tended to be based on the individual situation. One issue that seemed to concern all of the international companies was IP protection and copyright laws.

There is no doubt that there are still concerns regarding China's integration into globally recognised IP and copyright laws. China actually signed up to the World Trade Organisation five years ago and has been erratically putting restrictions into place. At the end of March the Chinese National People's Congress ended its annual assembly with warnings of unbalanced development if China does not increase the level of innovation requiring IP protection. This is a slow process but headway is being made as the government understands the long term problems that could arise if the reputation of China does not improve in terms of IP and copyright.

From a Chinese perspective there was initial reticence to adopt international laws explicitly. This is not a surprise in a country that has only reentered the global market in recent years. Some Chinese officials did not want to be part of a process they had no part in setting up and there were early accusations that the international laws were written in a manner that supported those economies already entrenched within the process. This is a perspective that many outside of China had trouble acknowledging.

Despite the changes it was the issue that was still the only common concern amongst those I spoke with whilst in China. Some of the company officials I spoke with went as far as expressing fears that the Chinese culture had no respect for copyright and IP laws. These same officials would then tell me how they had been to the local market to pick up their supply of bootleg DVDs of movies released in Hollywood that week.

Every one of them.

Zai Jian
David Ridsdale, Editor in Chief

At the time of writing there has been no official word from Intel regarding the size of the job cuts they will initiate but the rumours flying around suggest they are to lay off up to a third of their global workforce. The result of the global innuendo is that Intel shares rose ensuring the shareholders were smiling even if the 100 000 employees around the world shuddered as they wonder if they are on the chopping block. The other impact of the news is that commentators seek a reason for such a massive cut. The main culprit has been picked as AMD.

Although there is no doubt that AMD has done incredibly well in the last few years, especially in the server, retail computer and notebook markets, it is not true that this would be the only cause for Intel’s woes. Ever since Paul Ottellini took over as CEO and President he has made it clear that he intended to restructure the chip giant. The AMD successes have compounded his difficulties, not caused them.

Intel has always had a very simple problem. They may be the biggest chip manufacture but they do not have a great track record for diversifying from their core competencies. The sheer size of the company is often a hindrance to such change rather than a help and Ottelini made it clear that the company would no longer attempt so many markets and would pull back to core competencies and then strategically move forward in specific areas.

AMD’s success has hurt Intel as the price war of recent months has shown. The cut in prices has meant that Intel appears to have clawed back a few points in the retail sector from AMD but the subsequent profit margins will be reduced drastically. Even though all the planned changes have been public knowledge there has been a tendency to view it simply as a battle between two manufacturers. Those in the know are aware that Intel is a clever company and the big blue will be making plans and not panicking.

Meanwhile consumers benefit from the price war and shareholders profit from the rumours while 100 000 employees wonder if they have a job to provide for their families.

The annual event for the European semiconductor industry began today with a positive and optimistic look at the European industry.

The press conference demonstrated the changes being orchestrated by the SEMI Europe team with the typical presentations from the SEMI people followed by three presentations representing the technical streams the show has introduced. New European SEMI president, Heinz Kundert presented an overview of European successes, demonstrating European leadership in design, photovoltaics, automotive sensors, etc. He outlined the show objectives with three areas to be focused on, Advanced Packaging, MEMS/Nanotechnology and Photovoltaics. His talk was followed up with presentations from leading members of each area.

The Semicon show has received much criticism the last few years with many people finding it squeezed out of global relevance by a plethora of events. Kundert was appropriately pleased to announce that there had been an increase in registration for the show as well as for the technical and business programs, against many people's expectations. One of the major criticisms has been the closeness to the Chinese event and the conference was informed that next year the show will move to a June time slot. When asked if that was too close to Semicon West, the SEMI people admitted they would prefer an October time slot and will move towards that goal.

The QandA session brought some interesting points about European strengths and weaknesses. As usual R&D was cited as a major strength with the need to develop ties with Asia. However there were some salient points on where Europe does not do so well. Using Germany as an example it was pointed out that despite the fabulous research, Germany will pay more for licensing foreign IP than they will make selling it. The obvious question from this is why does such a strong research area not receive the appropriate IP income? It was pointed out that R&D cannot be separated from marketing an end product and Europe has often stopped at the D section of the process.

With emerging technologies being presented at the show it a prime time for the semiconductor community to provide guidance and assistance so the same problems are not faced. SEMI has a positive role in helping to define standards in the new arenas and hopefully problems that the semiconductor industry have faced can be avoided. As with the goals of the Semicon show, only time will tell.