On a cold winter evening when the weather is dismal and its dark before 5pm I can think of nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and watching something on the TV. I am sure I am not alone in that guilty pleasure.

Nevertheless, despite our fondness for the beloved TV there has been a drop in global television demand of 3% in 2013. Moving forward this is set to change and the semiconductor market for TVs is forecasted to increase by an estimated 7%. This estimated increase is vastly due to the increase of technologies in TV sets such as LED backlighting, wireless video connections, multi-format decoders and networking interfaces thus increasing the content of semiconductors per device. read more...

On a cold winter evening when the weather is dismal and its dark before 5pm I can think of nothing better than curling up on the sofa with a hot chocolate and watching something on the TV. I am sure I am not alone in that guilty pleasure.

Nevertheless, despite our fondness for the beloved TV there has been a drop in global television demand of 3% in 2013. Moving forward this is set to change and the semiconductor market for TVs is forecasted to increase by an estimated 7%. This estimated increase is vastly due to the increase of technologies in TV sets such as LED backlighting, wireless video connections, multi-format decoders and networking interfaces thus increasing the content of semiconductors per device. read more...

Smartphones and tablets, most of us own either one or both. Personally, I would struggle without a Blackberry and I don't know what I would do without my Kindle. (How else can you take a library of books away with you whilst only using the space of a single paperback?) Both these gadgets have almost rendered my dear laptop redundant and I am sure that I am not the only one that feels this way either. The electronics market as a whole seems to be in agreement with me.

Our fondness for such gadgets has resulted in the worldwide electronics industry coming back with a moderate growth. The period of December 2012 and January 2013 showed a 3.8% growth in direct correlation to that of the previous year whereas the previous year to year figures showed a decline. Where the PC was a major factor in the semiconductor and electronic industry for the past 3 decades the growth has been stagnant over the last 2 years. PCs are slowly being displaced in the market by tablets as well as creating their own market at the same time. Since Apple's iPad encouraged the current wave of tablets in 2Q 2010 shipments grew to over 50 million units in 4Q 2012. read more...

Ever had the problem of expecting parts to be delivered and then finding that the lead time has been pushed out? The increase in lead times affects all of us at one time or another, this may result in additional costs being incurred whether it is for machine down time or just the initial cost of the part you need.

There are ways of avoiding this issue by making sure you plan ahead: read more...

Some refreshing news! The first quarter of 2013 has shown an average 2% increase in the sales figures of the top 20 semiconductor companies in comparison with the same period of 2012.

An increase of 1% in the worldwide semiconductor market has also transpired. read more...

Chip Carrier

• BCC – Bump chip carrier
• CLCC – Ceramic leadless chip carrier
• LCC – Leaded chip carrier
• LCCC – Leaded ceramic chip carrier
• DLCC – Dual lead-less chip carrier
• PLCC – Plastic leaded chip carrier

Pin Grid Arrays read more...

With the conversion from analog to digital, many new standards in audio and video have been introduced; vastly improving the affordability and quality of the digital multimedia experience. The proliferation of broadband and wireless has further enabled ease of access and it has become rewarding and easy for consumers to access fresh media.

Trends in the consumer electronic market have transpired from the improvement in quality and easy access accelerated by the fast moving digital revolution: read more...