Intel + MEMS + Forbes + SMIC

choi

(1) Shara Tibken, Intel Cuts Its Outlook; Giant blames Thai flood for $1 billion drop in sales goal. Wall Street Journal, Dec 13, 2011.

(2) Rolfe Winkler, Seeking Intel on Chips. Wall Street Journal, Dec 13, 2011 (in the page "Heard on the Street).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 94681077790666.html
("More worrying [than the temporary disruption vaused by Thai flood] is the potential threat of chips based on the technology of rival ARM Holdings. Microsoft is making its Windows operating system compatible with ARM chips that will be ade by the likes of Qualcomm and Nvidia starting in 2012")

My comment:
(a) This short analysis is worth reading.
(b) Behind both Qualcomm and Nvidia is of course TSMC.

(3) Mark LePadus, Silicon Foundries to Expand into MEMS Business; GlobalFoundries, TSMC and UMC eye new and growing MEMS markets. Chip Design (magazine), Dec 13, 2011.
http://chipdesignmag.com/display.php?articleId=5047

Note:
(a) Mr LePadus was with EETimes.
(b) Microelectromechanical systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microelectromechanical_systems
(is the technology of very small mechanical devices driven by electricity)
(c)  Computer Encyclopedia in Answer.com shows three photos of MEMS, which do not, it seems to me, have anything to do with semiconductor. Then again I am a layperson in this field.
http://www.answers.com/topic/microelectromechanical-systems

(4) David Kirkpatrick, Now Every Company Is A Software Company: Ford sells computers-on-wheel. McKinsey hawks consulting-in-a-box. FedEx boasts a developer skunkworks. The era of separating traditional industries and technology industries is over—and those who fail to adapt right now will soon find themselves obsolete. Forbes, Dec 19, 2011 (cover date).
http://www.forbes.com/sites/tech ... a-software-company/

Note:
(a) Consulting in a box
http://www.vcc-sap.com/default.a ... lting_in_a_box.html

Except the Forbes article, nobody links "consulting in a box" with McKinsey.
(b) Picarro Mobile Methane Detection Demo. YouTube.com, uploaded by PicarroInc on Jan 21, 2010
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_XP5KswB0

(5) Simon Montlake, Waterworld: Massive floods in Thailand have brought hundreds of electronics factories offline, creating a serious global shortage of hard disk drives. Time to re-build--or move out?  Forbes, Dec 19, 2011 (cover date; title in print).
http://www.forbes.com/sites/simo ... nufacturing-crisis/

My comment: There is no need ot read it. In print but not online, there is a pie chart headlined "Driving force; hard disk; Share of 660 million units shipped, 2010" that shows: China 30%, Thailand 30% and Others 40%.

(6) Press release: SMIC Reaches Settlement With Elpida. SMIC, Dec 8, 2011
http://www.smics.com/eng/press/media_press_details.php?id=85100
(SMIC "will pay Elpida US$21 million" "to settle all pending arbitration claims and counterclaims")