Cadence Design Systems Inc. has acquired Clear Shape Technologies Inc., a design-for-manufacturing (DFM) technology company.

The collaboration announced yesterday will enable Sun’s Solaris operating system to run on International Business Machine servers. Among other things, that means customers that run Sun servers will be able to switch to I.B.M. hardware without having to rewrite any programs.

At first this will be possible on I.B.M.’s x series of servers, which also run Microsoft Windows or the open-source Linux system. But eventually I.B.M. hopes to bring Solaris to mainframes, the big multitasking machines that have been a core profit center for the company for decades.

I.B.M. has been expanding the kinds of programs that can run on mainframes, to encourage customers to consolidate multiple servers onto these bigger machines as a cost-saving move.

These steps threaten to take Sun servers out of action in favor of I.B.M. machines. But Sun can gain from this partnership by collecting Solaris service subscriptions from customers who run that operating system on I.B.M. hardware.

The arrangement is in keeping with Sun’s strategy to rebound from a devastating slump in the first part of the decade by broadening its role as a software vendor. This week, Sun and Google expanded their partnership as Google began distributing Sun’s StarOffice suite of word processing, spreadsheets and other desktop programs.

“Our view is when you make your products available on other people’s platforms, you just meet more customers, which just gives you more opportunities,” Mr. Schwartz said.

Hewlett-Packard is locked in a battle with I.B.M. for leadership in the worldwide server market. I.B.M. and H.P. each had 29 percent share in the most recent assessment by the market tracker IDC, while Sun and Dell Inc. were tied for third, with 11 percent each.

H.D. Kumaraswamy, chief minister of Karnataka would be presiding over the launch function. Ramachandra Gowda, minister for Planning, Small Savings and Science and Technology, government of Karnataka, will be the guest of honour. Prof. C.N.R Rao, chairman, Science Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, and honorary president and Linus Pauling research professor, JNCASR (Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research), is the Chief Mentor of Bangalore Nano 2007.

M.N. Vidyashankar, secretary to government, department of IT, biotechnology and science & technology, government of Karnataka, will also grace the occasion. The field of nanotechnology offers tremendous opportunities in various sectors including information technology and biotechnology. The Karnataka State believes that this is the right time to tap the opportunities in nanotechnology. Bangalore has the right ambience and ecosystem for Nanotechnology,to find all its applications.

ETP belives that the industry's revenue will double in the next five years. It will reach $442 billion in 2011. In 2006, revenue for the EMS market was $ 223 billion. This is a 17% increase compared to the preveous year.

ETP's latest research shows that Asian plants accounted for 54% of the industry's production last year. 38% of the industry's revenue was coming from the computer and peripherals market. According to ETP, Foxconn is the largest EMS provider, the company's revenue is more than twice from its rival No. 2 Flextronics.

The IC market faces a slowdown in 2007, but it will see a healthier year in 2008, according to a new report from IDC.

The worldwide semiconductor market will grow at a conservative rate of 4.8 percent in 2007, compared to 8.8 percent in 2006, according to the research firm. IDC expects growth to resume at 8.1 percent in 2008 based on the current outlook, according to IDC (Framingham, Mass).

Andhra Pradesh is on course to become the fab capital of India. After bagging the $3-billion SemIndia project, the state is poised to garner another big-ticket investment of over $2 billion in the semiconductor sector from Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (HSMC).

HSMC, promoted by a consortium of NRIs, is in advanced stages of negotiations with the state government to acquire 100 acres in the proposed 1,200-acre fab city near Hyderabad for a wafer manufacturing facility, said state industries and commerce principal secretary Sam Bob.

Early this year, HSMC had announced a cumulative investment of $4 billion to set up two plants. It has tied up with Infineon, the fourth largest semiconductor company in the world, for technology transfer.
Tamil Nadu and Karnataka too were in the fray for the project, Bob said. “Andhra Pradesh scores over Tamil Nadu and Karnataka as it is equipped with better physical and social infrastructure.

The upcoming international airport facilities can be used to directly export the chips made by the companies,” he said. The state had earlier allotted 100 acres to SemIndia in the fab city. The first phase of the SemIndia project—an assembly test-mark-plant (ATMP) worth $75 million—is expected to be operational by the end of 2008. The state has also allotted 1,100 acres for Nano-Tech Silicon India near the Fab City. The fab cluster is expected to be key ingredient for international players needing the chips. Investments have been coming in since the Centre announced a slew of sops for chip manufacturing companies in February this year. However, some experts reckon that the going may not be easy for these companies, despite the 20% capital subsidy offered by the Centre.

ISA Forthcoming Event:

ISA Frost & Sullivan 2007/08 India Semiconductor Market Update release:

Friday August 31, 2007 11.30 am to 2.00 pm

Venue:
Jakaranda I, India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.

By invitation only