Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy is creating choppy waters for shipping and supplying critical materials, as highlighted in recent Critical Materials Council (CMC) monthly meetings.
Editor’s Picks
Global Semiconductor Capex Forecast to Drop 3% Again This Year
Using its “baseline” assumptions shown in the soon-to-be-released April Update to the 2020 edition of The McClean Report—A Complete Analysis and Forecast of the Integrated Circuit Industry (MR20), IC Insights is not lowering its current -3% 2020 semiconductor industry capital spending forecast (Figure 1) due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
Israeli Government Partners With Vayyar to Introduce Life-saving Technology to Combat COVID-19
Vayyar’s intelligent sensors provide touchless, remote and confidential monitoring to detect and monitor vital signs that can indicate early-stage COVID-19 symptoms.
Renesas Electronics Creates Open-Source Ventilator System Reference Design to Fight COVID-19 Pandemic
Many regions are experiencing a critical shortage of ventilators as COVID-19 infections continue to rise and hospital demand exceeds supply.
AMOLED Smartphone Panel Market Defies the Coronavirus Crisis, with 9 Percent Shipment Growth Expected in 2020
Despite a projected double-digit decline in smartphone shipments due to the coronavirus pandemic, the global market for active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) smartphone displays is expected to rise by 9 percent in 2020, according to Omdia.
MEMS at the Forefront of SARS-CoV-2 Testing
On Saturday, March, 21, 2020 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave emergency authorization to Cepheid, a California company, to sell a new test for rapid detection of the pandemic coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. Cepheid’s Xpert® Xpress SARS-CoV-2 test gives healthcare workers results in just 45 minutes, with less than a minute of hands-on time for sample preparation.
Intel Allocates $6M to Coronavirus Relief
The Intel Foundation will provide $4 million to support coronavirus relief efforts in communities where the company has significant presence. The foundation will also offer a special match opportunity for every regular full-time and part-time employee and U.S. retiree to a total of $2 million for relief efforts around major Intel sites.
Medtronic Shares Ventilator Design Specifications
Medtronic is publicly sharing the design specifications for the Puritan Bennett™ 560 (PB 560) to enable participants across industries to evaluate options for rapid ventilator manufacturing.
100 IC Wafer Fabs Closed or Repurposed Since 2009
Hardest hit are ≤200mm wafer fabs; 70% of closures in Japan and North America.
U.S. IC Companies Maintain Global Marketshare Lead
Propelled by 51% share of IDM sales and 65% share of fabless sales, U.S. companies captured 55% of the total worldwide IC market in 2019.
