27/09/2010
Database giant Oracle has been looking at the electronics industry for years, occasionally making acquisitive style noises, but never really doing anything. However, Oracle has bought into the industry through the acquisition of Sun Microsystems – developer of the Sparc processor.
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21/09/2010
The distribution sector, much like the eda industry, has been an avid believer in the mantra that 'big is beautiful'. In pursuit of that goal, the big broadliners have acquired all manner of smaller companies over the last decade or so. If you look at Arrow's website, it lists 30 such acquisitions in the last decade.
That approach has left something of a vacuum. At the top of the pile – at least in the Western hemisphere – are Arrow and Avnet. At the other end is an array of specialists and design in companies. The middle ground has become increasingly empty; the few companies of reasonable size – Abacus was one example – have been acquired by one or the other.
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21/09/2010
Thank God August is behind us! For us August is a dead month – key contacts are on holiday and we lose half the team for their breaks. That's uncharitable, but the reality is that everyone needs the break –it's getting very tough now as the project advances into the build and delivery phase.
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20/09/2010
There's a number of companies which specialise in the 'big event'. Apple is, perhaps, the most famous, using its Worldwide Developer Conference as the opportunity to introduce new products to an unwaveringly loyal audience. Intel and Microsoft are other adherents to the approach.
These large, well managed events can be useful, particularly if the company is prepared to explain what it's doing. Where they fall down, in some respects, is where expectations are raised, but not fulfilled.
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15/09/2010
A fair range of electronic components are now in short supply as the semiconductor industry struggles to meet demand.
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13/09/2010
Some electronic components are becoming harder to get hold of and are now on allocation. Why is this happening?
The reason, according to industry watcher Malcolm Penn, is under investment in capacity. Previous slumps in the semiconductor market have, in general, been driven by over capacity. But Penn says there was barely enough capacity before the global economy collapsed. When it did, more capacity was taken offline and investment in new capacity reined back.
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07/09/2010
Anyone switching on their pcs this morning can't have failed to notice that Google's home page is infiltrated by a large number of interactive coloured balls, which users can move around the screen.
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06/09/2010
Over 100 years ago, when Henry Ford was conceiving a mass produced automobile, it was in an environment where cars were specified and built to order one by one. Each car was 'hand crafted' with the care and precision warranted by a fledgling auto market where society's elite were the only ones who could afford such a revolutionary contraption.
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27/08/2010
The skills gap has been the subject of many commentaries over the recent past. The problem of an aging engineering population, combined with a decrease in the number of people looking to follow engineering as a career, means there's a shortfall.
EngineeringUK summed up the problem in its report published at the end of 2009. According to its research, the UK needs to create 580,000 engineers in the next few years – replacing those who are close to retirement and to fill new jobs. This can only be done by attracting new entrants to the profession or by upskilling those from other sectors. That's a significant number of people and a figure that's not going to be attained overnight.
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24/08/2010
congatec reported sales of €18.9million for the first six months of 2010 and this is encouraging news for the industry as a whole.
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23/08/2010
Intel made an audacious entrance into the security software market last week when it announced that it is to buy McAfee for $7.68billion.
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13/08/2010
London South Bank University will be encouraged by EU funding of £1.5million for its environmental design projects – including major research into the practical uses of nanotechnology in manufacturing and industry.
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12/08/2010
The furious pace at which innovations are brought to market is inevitable in an industry that thrives on competition.
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06/08/2010
Following yesterday's comment that UK designers seem reluctant to promote themselves and the industry, I received an email from Darren Lee, operations at Blueprint Product Design.
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05/08/2010
Thales and Intellect's INSTINCT-Technology Demonstrator 2 project is an ideal opportunity for businesses and academic institutions to showcase emerging security technologies.
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02/08/2010
Distribution has experienced more than its fair share of pain during the last couple of years. Business plummeted accross the board at the first signs of recession and the sector has been inching its way back since.
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26/07/2010
Bloodhound SSC's cockpit instruments:
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23/07/2010
The demise of Tier Logic is a fairly sad indictment of the current state of the venture capital market when it comes to electronics. How times change.
You don't have to go back too many years to find a completely different state of affairs. At the end of the 1990s, venture capitalists (VCs) were fighting to put money into dot com companies and those targeting web based communications. All manner of crazy ideas were being pitched to the VC community, which responded by writing large cheques without too much 'due diligence'.
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23/07/2010
Science Minister, David Willetts' announcement that the UK's 24 nanotech centres are 'most unlikely' to survive the next 18 months has no doubt raised a few industry eyebrows.
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19/07/2010
World Cup 2050 Match report: Semi-finals - England v Germany.
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12/07/2010
BIS faces hard choices as it looks to cut spending
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05/07/2010
After four quarters of growth, the industry now finds itself in the full flood of a classic market boom. Order books are full, customers are building stocks, double ordering is rife, capacity is strained, lead times increasing and deliveries are stretched.
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28/06/2010
While financial experts continue to pore over the finer details of last week's emergency budget, there appear to be some business friendly items.
Trade association Intellect says plus points include capital allowances, R&D tax credits and the 10% capital gains tax rate for entrepreneurs.
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23/06/2010
When New Electronics reported the growth of the optoelectronic market in June 1970, the primary drivers were detectors and emitters.
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23/06/2010
Sir Ian Orr-Ewing's 'bitter disappointment' in June 1970 was understandable as early Sonobuoys were fraught with problems
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