infineon
Latest
Infineon chief to step down
German chipmaker Infineon, supplier of silicon to a number of the world's phone manufacturers, has announced that CEO Wolfgang Ziebart will be packing up and shipping out as of June 1 due to a "difference in strategy" with the company. Specifics weren't given, but it's hard to ignore the fact that Infineon has posted five consecutive quarters of losses amidst a downturn in demand for its wares and poor performance at its Qimonda memory unit; what's more, rumor has it that an investment firm is looking to snatch up a giant share of Infineon and tie it up with Dutch semiconductor firm NXP, a plan Ziebart is said to have opposed. That may have fast-tracked his exit, but let's be honest, you can only go so many quarters in the red before your name starts to come up in "streamlining" meetings. Board member Peter Bauer will succeed Ziebart starting next month.
Is this the iPhone 3G chip?
Engadget posted about some information they received from the ZiPhone folks. According to ZiPhone, they have spotted some code in the new iPhone 2.0 beta software that suggests Apple will use the Infineon 3G chipset. The code mentions "SGOLD3," which is a series of chips that Infineon produces. iPhone currently uses the S-GOLD2 EDGE chipset. S-GOLD3H, also known as "PMB8878," supports 7.2Mbps HSDPA and has built-in acceleration and media playback features (which, incidentally, the iPhone already has and does well). This chip also includes a higher resolution camera, 5 mega-pixels instead of a 2. Engadget notes that the processor speed stays the same. [via Engadget]
iPhone 3G's baseband chip revealed?
The folks at ZiPhone spotted some code in the brand new 2.0 beta iPhone firmware that could point to the chip to be used in the upcoming 3G iPhone. The code makes mention of "SGOLD3," which could very well refer to Infineon's followup chip to the S-GOLD2 which powers the current iPhone. Infineon's less fancy name for the S-GOLD3H chip is the PMB8878, a 7.2Mbps HSDPA chip with all the video acceleration and media playback features iPhone users have come to expect. Advantages over its predecessor include higher resolution camera support (5 megapixels instead of 2), a 2x speed MMC / SD interface and DVB-H module support, but that doesn't necessarily mean any of those specs will end up in the ensuing iPhone 3G -- S-GOLD2 has plenty of features the current iPhone doesn't take advantage of. The processor speed, however, remains the same. [Via ZiPhone; thanks Adam B.] [Warning: PDF link]
3G iPhone rumored to be Infineon-powered, hitting "mid-year"
Hold the presses: Apple may be releasing a new iPhone this year... with 3G! Crazy, we know. The latest iteration of this rumor comes to us courtesy of UBS analysts, who say Infineon will likely be building chips for the phone -- they're powering the current iPhone, so no real surprise there. UBS is also betting on a mid-year 3G iPhone launch, and thinks that EDGE production will ramp down early so Apple gets a chance to clean out inventories. We've got a good feeling about this one, guys. [Thanks, Tim G.]
Toshiba, IBM, Samsung and others in pact with the 32-nm devil
Toshiba just announced its membership in an alliance to develop system chips using 32-nm circuitry. That's well below the existing 45-nm processes used in manufacturing Intel's Penryn, for example. The alliance includes IBM, AMD, Samsung (already pushing 30-nm NAND), Infineon, Freescale, and Singapore's Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing. No surprise really, what with Tosh already in bed with IBM to develop chips using 32-nm processes. The agreement is good until 2010 and covers design, development, and the production of the itty bitty circuitry. A move which should reduce manufacturing costs for the alliance with the savings passed along to us consumers.
Infineon teams with Intel for high-density (HD) SIM cards
After buddying up with IBM earlier this year on a 32-nanometer semiconductor, Infineon is now teaming with none other than Intel to produce high-density (HD) SIM cards. Announced today at the Cartes Trade Show in Paris, the agreement will spark a "strategic technology collaboration" which will see Infineon producing modular chip solutions while Intel offers up memory capacities from 4MB to 64MB. More specifically, a 32-bit security microcontroller will be provided by Infineon, while the partnership's other half throws in its "leading-edge flash memory technologies, capabilities and manufacturing." Apparently, the HD SIM will play nice with "data-intensive mobile applications, services and over-the-air downloads" which are likely to become more pervasive in the coming years, and current market research shows that these very devices will account for "six- to eight-percent of the total SIM card market in 2010." As for availability, look for samples to land in Q2 of next year, but don't expect 'em to be manufactured en masse until the first half of 2009.[Via EETimes]
Sony partners with Infineon, reduces cost of DRAM
Cutting costs is important to any business. But, when you're losing millions of dollars to sell a technologically over-powered console, you need to cut costs as quickly as possible. Sony has been reducing production costs of the PS3 significantly in the past months, and a new deal with Infineon may help the company continue its efforts to reduce its losses. "This deal allows us to combine Sony's chip-designing ability with Qimonda's chip-making ability," Sony President Ryoji Chubachi told Bloomberg. "That way, we can share a roadmap to cut costs."The DRAM that Infineon will produce will reduce costs for producing a variety of Sony devices, such as cameras, mobile phones, and more. DRAM chips are also used in the PS3.[Via GameDaily]
IBM and friends buddy up on 32-nanometer semiconductor
IBM has most certainly been on a tear of late when it comes to microprocessors, as this tidbit comes right on the heels of the firm's 4.7GHz POWER6 and self-assembling CPUs. Presumably thinking that two five heads are better than one, IBM has garnered support from Chartered, Samsung, Infineon, and Freescale to "develop and manufacture advanced 32-nanometer semiconductors." Of course, we're still not sure if the loose ends surrounding IBM's 65-nanometer team effort are all tied off, but onward and upward they go regardless. The collaborative agreements between the firms "include 32-nanometer bulk complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) process technologies and joint development of process design kits (PDKs) to support that technology," which basically means that the companies will attempt to work together at IBM's East Fishkill plant through 2010 to produce "high-performance, energy-efficient chips at 32nm." Unfortunately, we've no idea when these speedsters will be ready for the commercial world, but it's pretty safe to assume it won't be soon.[Via PCWorld, photo courtesy of Semiconductor-Technology]
