Power discretes’ sales revenue will grow at a CAGR of 6.5%, 2012-2016, estimates GBI Research. Power discretes are meeting demand for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly products.

ON Semiconductor (Nasdaq:ONNN) expanded its Roznov, Czech Republic, operations with a new 4,000sq.m. research and design facility, a quarter of which is high-tech laboratories.

The massive “gray market” for cellphones is propelling sales of lower-cost flash memories like eMMC and SPI NOR, as manufacturers of the unregulated phones strive to keep production costs low, says IHS.

At The ConFab in Las Vegas, TSMC’s BJ Woo, senior director, Graphic/PLD/CPU Business Development Division, will present “Bridging the Fabless-Foundry Gap.”

DRAM’ percentage of the cost of a smartphone is decreasing, even as DRAM usage in smartphones is on the rise. Lowering ASPs for DRAM components caused DRAM costs in smartphones to fall by more than half in the course of a year, according to IHS.

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association published the JESD209-3 LPDDR3 Low Power Memory Device Standard, targeting the performance and density demands of new-gen mobile devices.

In April 2012, venture investment dollars received by semiconductor companies was $194.2 million; a 901.0% increase M/M and 461.3% increase Y/Y, reports the Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA).

Barclays Capital’s C.J. Muse looks at the forecast for PC GPUs based on a new report from Mercury Research. Shipments of PC graphic devices in Q1 2012 came in in-line to slightly below historical trends. Nvidia lost share to Intel and AMD due to tight 28nm chip supply.

The Hybrid Memory Cube Consortium (HMCC) is a collaboration developing and implementing an open interface standard for Hybrid Memory Cube semiconductor memory architectures. Microsoft Corp. has now joined the consortium.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) signed a cooperation framework document between its subsidiary SMIC Beijing and the Beijing municipal government, forming a joint venture for SMIC Beijing's expansion adjacent to its 12” mega-fab.

The market for DRAM is expected to partially reverse the drastic losses it incurred in 2011 and achieve revenue growth this year, the result of balanced supply and demand following the exit of major manufacturer Elpida Memory, according to IHS.

Infineon Technologies AG (FSE:IFX, OTCQX:IFNNY) CEO Peter Bauer will resign his post at the end of the current fiscal year (September 30, 2012) due to worsening osteoporosis.

The top 20 semiconductor suppliers in Q1 2012, compiled in IC Insights' May Update to The McClean Report, show Intel’s firm hold on the top of the rankings, but a disappointing quarter overall. GLOBALFOUNDRIES replaced bankrupt Elpida on the top 20 charts.