The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, announced that worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $24.79 billion for the month of September 20112, a 2 percent increase from the prior month when sales were $24.30 billion. Sales from the 3^rd quarter of 2012 totaled $74.4 billion — a 1.8 percent jump compared to the previous quarter — but total 2012 sales were down 4.7 percent compared to the same time last year. All monthly sales numbers represent three-month moving average.

"Semiconductor sales increased from August to September and from the 2^nd quarter to the 3^rd quarter as the industry continued to exhibit relative steadiness in a choppy global economy, but the global industry remains behind last year’s pace due to lingering economic headwinds," said Brian Toohey, SIA President & CEO. "Following the November 6, 2012 election, we stand ready to work with the newly-elected Administration and Congress to enact policies that ease economic uncertainty and remove barriers to innovation."

Regionally, sales increased by 5.8 percent in the Americas on a sequential monthly basis, marking the region’s largest increase since May 2010. Sales also increased from August to September in Asia Pacific (1.6 percent), Europe (0.7 percent) and Japan (0.2 percent), but all four regions lagged behind September 2011 sales.

"On a regional basis, the Americas were particularly encouraging, posting the largest monthly increase in more than two years," Toohey said. "The region also received positive news the end of October when SIA announced that the U.S. semiconductor industry now directly employs almost a quarter of a million workers and added jobs three times faster than the rest of the U.S. economy."

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, announced that the U.S. semiconductor industry now employs almost a quarter of a million workers and added jobs three times faster than the rest of the U.S. economy, according to an analysis of government data. Total direct U.S. semiconductor employment is estimated at 244,800.

"Semiconductor workers — a quarter of a million strong and growing — are creating the technology breakthroughs that improve our lives, strengthen our country and build our future," said Brian Toohey, SIA President and CEO. "Through their hard work, the U.S. semiconductor industry continues to create jobs and spur growth despite a challenging national economy."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the semiconductor industry’s manufacturing workforce grew by 3.7 percent over the previous year. In comparison, jobs throughout the broader U.S. economy increased by 1.2 percent over the same time period.

All employment figures reflect recently-released 2011 BLS data. Total semiconductor employment data is based on the number of semiconductor employees in the U.S. manufacturing sector as reported by BLS, plus an estimate for the number of semiconductor workers employed by semiconductor fabless firms, which BLS currently counts in the wholesale trade sector.

North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $952.9 million in orders worldwide in September 2012 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.81, according to the September Book-to-Bill Report published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.81 means that $81 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in September 2012 was $952.9 million. The bookings figure is 15.1 percent lower than the revised August 2012 level of $1.12 billion, and is 2.8 percent higher than the September 2011 order level of $926.5 million.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in September 2012 was $1.18 billion. The billings figures is 12.0 percent lower than the revised August 2012 level of $1.34 billion, and is 10.4 percent less than the August 2011 billings level of $1.31 billion.

"The decline in bookings and billings for semiconductor equipment to levels last reported in the Fall of 2011 further confirms the second-half investment slowdown," said Denny McGuirk, President and CEO of SEMI. "In the current cycle, device makers are grappling with lower average selling prices and uncertainty with the broader economy, which clearly has a near-term impact on equipment purchases."

A forecasted ranking and discussion of the 2012 top semiconductor suppliers will be included as part of IC Insights’ upcoming "November Update to The McClean Report." Also included in the "November Update" will be a listing of the top semiconductor industry capital spenders and a description of a "new’ IC industry cycle model.

Three pure-play foundries are expected to be in the top 20 ranking of leading semiconductor suppliers in 2012. Combined, these three foundries are forecast to log a 16 percent increase in 2012/2011 sales, quite impressive considering the expected 2 percent decline in the worldwide semiconductor market this year. With the continued success of the fabless companies as well as the strong movement by many Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs like TI, Renesas, ST, etc.) to the fab-lite business model, IC Insights expects the IC foundries to witness very strong demand for their services over the next few years.

In total, the top 20 semiconductor supplies are forecast to register a 1 percent decline in sales this year (about $3.2 billion), one point better than the rate of decline expected for the total worldwide semiconductor market in 2012. The only expected movement with regard to the top five spots in the 2012 ranking is that fabless supplier Qualcomm is forecast to register a 30 percent surge in sales this year and move up three positions to replace TI as the fourth largest semiconductor supplier. In contrast, Freescale is forecast to register a 14 percent decline in semiconductor revenue this year and drop down three positions from 16^th in 2011 to 19^th in the 2012 ranking.

Sales from pure-play foundry GlobalFoundries are forecast to jump by a strong 31 percent while foundry giant TSMC is expected to show a healthy 17 percent increase this year. Considering that AMD, the original "parent" and largest customer of GlobalFoundries, is forecast to show a steep 17 percent sales decline this year, it is obvious that GlobalFoundries’ current spike in revenue is being driven mostly by its success in attracting new IC foundry customers (e.g., ST. Freescale, Qualcomm, etc.). As a result of its excellent performance this year, GlobalFoundries is forecast to replace Elpida and more into the top 20 ranking for the first time, rising from the 21^st spot in 2011 to 15^th place in 2012.

The growth of the industrial electronics semiconductor market is set to fall short of previous expectations in 2012, as the business is buffeted by weakening global economic conditions, according to an "IHS iSuppli Industrial Electronics Market Tracker Report" from information and analytics provider IHS.

Revenue for industrial semiconductors — use in a wide array of application markers from home automation to aeronautics and military purposes — is projected to finish the year at $31.4 billion, up 3 percent from $30.5 billion in 2011. This year’s meager expansion contrasts with the solid 9 percent increase of last year and the exuberant surge of 35 percent in 2010 immediately after the recession. It also represents a significant downgrade from the previous forecast of 7.7 percent growth issued in July.

This year will bring the slowest growth for the next four years, with revenue set to rise in a range from 7 to 12 percent during each of the next four years. Revenue is forecast to reach $44.8 billion by 2016.

"The chip revenue forecast was dialed back after economic headwinds got stronger in the 2^nd quarter, affecting several top semiconductor suppliers and original equipment manufacturers of industrial electronics," said Jacob Carrasco-Heres, Industrial Electronics Analyst at IHS. "So when hoped-for growth did not pan out as expected and sales eventually came out lower, the market was downgraded to reflect the changed circumstances."

Among the companies affected by the downturn in industrial semiconductors are Texas Instruments, Analog Devices Inc., Infineon Technologies, Atmel, Fuji Electric and Linear Technology. Manufacturers that have lowered their 2012 outlook because of weaker orders include Danaher, Siemens, Bombardier, Agilent, Vestas and Johnson Controls.

Industrial semiconductors are used in many markets and applications. In energy generation and distribution, for instance, the chips are employed in wind turbines for renewable power, in inverters for photovoltaic solar energy, as well as in conventional oil and gas automation machinery. The semiconductors play an important role in military and civil aerospace, via applications in missiles and munitions, homeland security, satellites and avionics.

Other areas where industrial semiconductors are used include building and home control, covering security systems, lighting, smart meters and climate-control devices like air conditioners; medical electronics, including medical instruments, medical imaging and diagnostics; manufacturing and process automation; embracing motors and similar devices; and the test and measurement segment or a range of instruments, such as oscilloscopes and analog testers.

Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments decreased during the 3^rd quarter 2012 when compared to the 2^nd quarter 2012 area shipments according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its quarterly analysis of the silicon wafer industry.

Total silicon wafer area shipments were 2,389 million inches during the most recent quarter, a 2 percent decrease from the 2,447 million square inches shipped during the previous quarter. New quarterly total area shipments are 1 percent greater than the 3^rd quarter 2011 shipments.

"The positive volume growth experienced during the 2^nd quarter did not continue into the 3^rd quarter as wafer demand declined," said Dr. Bruce Kellerman, Chairman of SEMI SMG and Senior Director of Semiconductor Product Marketing at MEMC. "Ongoing market uncertainties continue to hinder a full recovery as the semiconductor industry encounters slower conditions than anticipated earlier in the year.

TSMC announced its net sales for October 2012: On an unconsolidated basis, net sales were approximately NT$49.28 billion, an increase of 15.1 percent over September 2012 and an increase of 32.3 percent over October 2011. Revenues for January through October 2012 totaled NT$419.67 billion, an increase of 19.1 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

On a consolidated basis, net sales for October 2012 were approximately NT$49.94 billion, an increase of 15.2 percent over September 2012 and an increase of 32.8 percent over October 2011. Consolidated revenues for January through October 2012 totaled NT$424.88 billion, an increase of 18.0 percent compared to the same period in 2011.

Despite dire predictions about the pharmaceutical industry’s future, some pharma companies will reinvent themselves, and according to ‘Pharma 2020: From vision to decision," a new report issued by PwC, the industry is on the cusp of a golden era of renewed productivity and prosperity. However, its success is not guaranteed.

Health reform is accelerating the need for wholesale changes in the pharmaceutical industry and its response to rising demand for medicines, major scientific and technological advances, economic pressures and socio-demographic shifts — in both developed and growth markets around the world. In its report, PwC portrays a beleaguered pharma industry that has reached a critical juncture: the prospect exists for unprecedented global growth in the future, but the industry’s prevailing business model and management culture are ill-suited to capitalize on the market opportunity over the next decade and beyond.

Pharmaceutical companies that survive a difficult transitional period in the coming years can prosper in 2020 if they are willing to prune their pipelines and make tough decisions to address rising customer expectations, poor scientific productivity and cultural barriers, the report says.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released new data highlighting the biopharmaceutical industry’s vital role in contributing to the U.S. economy. The data represents approximately $53 billion across 17 states, spent with businesses that provide important services and supplies in support of the industry’s mission to bring new medicines to patients. The results provide data at the local level for a subset of biopharmaceutical companies, and offer an impression of the industry’s impact on communities across the country.

"These findings illustrate the interconnectedness of the biopharmaceutical industry across communities," said John J. Castellani, President and CEO of PhRMA. "Our industry’s contribution to the economy extends well-beyond the doors of biopharmaceutical companies to a wide range of businesses that are crucial to vast technology, research and development efforts, the production and distribution of medicines for patients and to our nation’s ongoing economic recovery."

A report by the Battelle Technology Partnership Practice quantified the overall impact of the biopharmaceutical sector of the economy annually at $917 billion. The industry directly accounts for approximately 650,000 jobs nationwide and each biopharmaceutical job also supports nearly five additional jobs. This translates to a total of four million jobs across the economy, from manufacturing and construction to jobs in child care, retail, accounting and more. Biopharmaceutical companies partner with a broad network of businesses large and small on a wide range of essential activities — including clinical trial and regulatory support services, computing and information technologies, manufacturing and equipment, contract manufacturing, and transportation and logistics providers.

Biomedical and health research and development (R&D) spending from all sources declined by more than $4 billion or 3 percent between fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2011 according to Research!America’s "2011 U.S. Investment in Health Research" report. This represents the first drop in overall spending since Research!America began compiling the data in 2002.

The decline follows an uptick in research funding attributed to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which allocated $10.4 billion to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) over two fiscal years (2009-2010). The overall downward trend in R&D spending is coming at a time when other nations are ramping up their own investments in research, and meanwhile, pending across-the-board budget cuts (sequestration) could reduce federal biomedical and health research funding by 8 percent to 10 percent or more.

Research!America’s "2011 U.S. Investment in Health Research" report shows varying levels of health research funding in the private and public sector. For example, federal funding for research totaled $39.5 billion in fiscal year 2011, a 14 percent decrease from the previous year’s total of $45.9 billion. Agency funds were distributed across all 50 states to hospitals, universities, independent research institutes and small businesses. Under sequestration, the NIH would lose $2.53 billion in funding in fiscal year 2013.

Overall, private industry has continually increased investments in R&D — a total of $77.6 billion in 2011, a 1.4 percent increase from 2010, despite inflationary pressure and the economic recession. The pharmaceutical industry increased its investment to $38.5 billion, a 3 percent increase from the previous year. In contrast, biotechnology investment declined by nearly $800 million, or 3 percent. The medical device and technology sector significantly increased investment in research, totaling $9.8 billion. Currently, more than 80 percent of R&D among PhRMA member companies is conducted in the United States, but R&D spending abroad has more than doubled over the past decade.

Contract Pharma reports outsourcing has been a major trend in recent years, and the broad industry developments continue to favor increased biopharma outsourcing. However, their "9^th Annual Report and Survey of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Capacity and Production" confirms a number of trends related to outsourcing. This year’s survey was based on responses from 302 biopharmaceutical industry professionals from 29 countries. Overall, the study indicates that outsourcing continues to increase, but spending is leveling off, and industry attitudes and the execution of outsourcing appear to increasingly be more sophisticated strategic and better planned (as opposed to being areas for reflexive cost-cutting).

Trends include the continued and accelerating emphasis of large international Big Bio/Pharma companies (those collectively responsible for ≥90 percent of industry R&D and sales on increasing involvement in development of biopharmaceuticals, and the coming of biosimilars. Already, ≥40 percent of the overall pharmaceutical R&D pipeline is reported to involve biologics (versus small molecule drugs), and this expected to eventually reach 50 percent. Compared to drugs, biologics offer more specificity and reduced toxicities; associated with this, they have a higher success rate in clinical trials and attaining approvals, have higher sales per unit (the products cost much more), often with fewer sales involved, and higher profit margins.

While the European economic outlook may be showing the first signs of positivity after three years of gloom, the outlook for medical device markets remain bleak. In fact, the period 2012 to 2014 is predicted to be the most challenging period for device suppliers since the Eurozone spiraled into recession in early 2009.

Until the economic collapse, business had been strong for medical device suppliers in Europe. Health care spending continued to broadly rise across the European regions from 2005 to 2008, a response to ageing population, a proliferation of chronic disease states and European Union (EU) subsidized health care funding for new member states in Eastern and Southern Europe. Advances in device technology further spurred demand for top-end devices, particularly in advanced medical imaging and health care IT infrastructure programs.

However, the economic crisis quickly exposed that rises in health care costs were unsustainable, prompting action from both public and private health care providers.

The initial economic crisis had moderate impact for medical device suppliers. While some public and private providers froze funding plans for future purchasing of medical equipment, the majority of medical device markets performed robustly. Revenue growth remained positive for the vast majority of device markets, albeit down on the "boom period of 2005 to 2008." Existing equipment procurement contracts were also unaffected, leaving long-term equipment purchasing and lease deals in place. Private sector medical purchasing was observed to slow, a consequence of tightened credit from lenders.

Pfizer Inc. announced its intention to acquire NextWave Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held, specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of unique products for the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and related central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Pfizer had previously entered into an option and merger agreement with NextWave during the 2^nd quarter 2012 and made an option payment of $20 million. Now, Pfizer is exercising its option to acquire NextWave. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will make a payment of $255 million to NextWave’s shareholders at the closing of the transaction, and NextWave’s shareholders are eligible to receive additional payments of up to $425 million based on certain sales milestones.

The transaction is expected to close during the 4^th quarter 2012, subject to regulatory approval in the United States, and other customary closing conditions.

Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and health care issues finds that, based on full-year 2011 sales, Takeda maintained its position as the largest Japanese pharmaceutical company with ethical drug sales of $17.2 billion, with its closest domestic rival, Astellas, garnering $11.7 billion. However, that gap is expected to close considerably by 2018 as Takeda’s late-stage pipeline agents — such as the prostate cancer compound orteronel and the diabetes agent fasiglifam — fail to offset the loss in sales following generic competition to its key brands, Actos and Biopress. As such, the company’s sales will decline to $15.7 billion in 2018 — a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of -1.3 percent between 2011 and 2018. In contrast, Astella’s growth will be fueled by the recently-launched prostate cancer drug Xtandi and the overactive bladder drug Betanis/Myrbetriq. Despite declines in Vesicare and Lipitor due to generic competition, the company’s sales will reach $13.9 billion in 2018 — a CAGR of 2.6 percent between 2011 and 2018.

Pharmaview’s analysis also finds that the decline in Takeda’s top-line means the company will slip from 12^th position in the global ethical drugs market in 2011 to 15^th in 2018. Astellas will maintain its rank as the 18^th largest pharmaceutical company. There will also be considerable movement of the mid-size Japanese players, with Otsuka and Dainippon-Sumitomo moving down the ranks, and Kyowa Hakko Kinn and Shionogi moving up.

The Economic Department Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah), a non-profit organization that works with state and local government to drive economic growth, has reported research that show Utah has the highest concentration of medical device manufacturing firms per total number of companies in the state.

About 17 percent of all life-science companies in Utah are medical device companies (116 out of 600).

The state also leads the nation in the employment of medical device engineers and medical appliance technicians. Salt Lake City, the state’s capital, has the highest concentration of people working as biomedical engineers per total number of employed people, and the highest total number of medical appliance manufacturing technicians than any other city in the nation, according to EDCUtah.

Consumer confidence in the overall economy increased in October to the highest level since 2008, according to the latest CEA Index released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®. Consumer confidence in technology fell slightly from September.

The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, rose 5.5 points in October reaching 177.7, the highest level in almost five years. The October 2012 ICE is 18 points higher than October 2011, and the highest level ever for the month of October since the ICE was introduced in 2007.

In a major shift for the IC industry, communications applications are forecast to surpass computer applications as the leading end-use for ICs starting in 2014 and lasting through at least 2016, according to data in IC Insights’ soon-to-be-released "IC Market Drivers 2013 – A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits." In 2014 and lasting through IC Insights’ forecast in 2016, communications will be the largest end-use application in every major geographic region of the world. The communications IC market is forecast to grow 9.2 percent in 2012 to $90.0 billion, from $82.4 billion in 2011, and increase 11.7 percent to $100.5 billion in 2013, breaking the $100-billion level for the first time.

The total communications IC market is forecast to reach $114.4 billion in 2014, 4.6 percent more than the $109.4 billion computer IC market. From 2011 to 2016, the communications IC market is forecast to grow by a cumulative annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.1 percent, reaching $159.5 billion at the end of the forecast period. The communications segment accounted for 31.2 percent of worldwide IC sales in 2011 and the computer end-use segment 41.7 percent. By 2016, these two segments will flip-flop, with communications forecast to represent 42.2 percent of the total IC market, compared to 34.0 percent for the computer segment.

The low-cost smartphone segment, defined as models with a selling price of less than $150, is a strong growth opportunity for the mobile phone industry, according to the new NPD DisplaySearch "Smartphones: Displays, Designs and Functionality" report. Low-cost smartphone shipments are forecast to double every year from 2010 to 2016, increasing from 4.5 to 311.0 million.

"Most mobile phone subscribers around the world can’t afford to spend more than US$200 for a smartphone, on top of their service plans," noted Shawn Lee, Research Director at NPD DisplaySearch. "Low-cost smartphone manufacturers create these new products quickly without much investment, which has allowed them to extend their telecom subscriber base to emerging regions."

Most of the demand (60 percent) is from the Asia Pacific region, where a large majority of component suppliers and manufacturing factories are located — providing both time and cost savings. These solutions have a shorter lifetime than high-end smartphones and are manufactured via ready-made solutions from application processor manufacturers. The product mix is complex, requiring continuous development cycles for new products.

To keep prices low, the key requirements for components are low-cost and readily-available supply. Android is the most popular operating system for low-cost smartphone designs because it is open source. Brands and manufacturers tend to use mature, low-price components, rather than developing new ones. For the display, this means standard a-Si TFT LCD rather than high-resolution LTPS.

The penetration rate of Android-based low-cost smartphones is increasing, with NPD DisplaySearch forecasting their share to grow from 2 percent of total smartphone shipments in 2012 to 29 percent in 2016. Local brands and "white box" vendors in China have taken an aggressive stance in capturing market share.

Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end-users reached almost 428 million units in the 3^rd quarter of 2012, a 3.1 percent decline from the 3^rd quarter of 2011, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales accounted for 39.6 percent of total mobile phone sales, as smartphone sales increased 46.9 percent from the 3^rd quarter of 2011.

While the mobile phone market declined year-on-year, Gartner analysts said there were positive signs for the industry during the 3^rd quarter.

"After two consecutive quarters of decline in mobile phone sales, demand has improved in both mature and emerging markets as sales increased sequentially," said Anshul Gupta, Principal Research Analyst at Gartner. "In China, sales of mobile phones grew driven by sales of smartphones, while demand of feature phones remained weak. In mature markets, we finally saw replacement sales pick up with the launch of new devices in the quarter."

Smartphones continued to fuel sales of mobile phones worldwide with sales rising to 169,2 million units in the 3^rd quarter of 2012. The smartphone market was dominated by Apple and Samsung. "Both vendors together controlled 46.5 percent of smartphone market leaving a handful of vendors fighting over a distant third spot," said Mr. Gupta.

Nokia slipped from No. 3 in the 2^nd quarter of 2012 to No. 7 in smartphone sales in the 3^rd quarter of 2012. RIM moved to the No. 3 spot with HTC not far behind, at No. 4. "Both HTC and RIM have seen their sales declining in the past few quarters, and the challenges might prevent them from holding on to their current rankings in coming quarters," added Mr. Gupta.

While seasonality in the 4^th quarter of 2012 will help end-of-year mobile phone sales to end-users, Gartner analysts said that there will be a lower-than-usual boost from the holiday season. Consumers are either cautious with their spending or finding new gadgets like tablets, as more attractive presents.

U.S. ownership rates for tablet computers continued to increase in the 3^rd quarter of 2012, according to new research released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®, and consumer satisfaction with these products remains consistently high. CEA’s "Consumer Outlook on Tablets: Q4 2012" shows that tablet ownership rates among online U.S. consumers reached 31 percent as of September 2012, more than doubling the ownership rate from October 2011 (14 percent).The report examined trend information on consumer behavior and sentiment regarding the sale and use of tablet computers between July and September 2012.

Consistent with data from the "Consumer Outlook on Tablets: Q3 2012" report, approximately two-thirds of online consumers expect to purchase a table sometime in the future.

With consumers all over the world facing continued economic uncertainty, global TV demand is expected to be flat in 2013, after shipments of all TV types declined by more than 4 percent in 2012, to 237 million, according to the latest results from the NPD DisplaySearch "Quarterly Advanced Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report."

"Worldwide demand for TVs continues to face pressure from external factors, such as slowing economic growth, high unemployment rates, and the rising house\hold penetration of flat panel TVs," noted Paul Gagnon, Director, North American TV Research at NPD DisplaySearch. "At the same time, internal factors, such as slower cost reductions and a greater focus on profits at the expense of volume, are leading to a lower level of retail price erosion, which is also impacting demand."

Despite the slower overall growth rate of shipments, the industry continues to show progress in the advancement of larger screen sizes and advanced display technologies like LED backlights and 3D. Shipments of 50 in. and larger screen sizes are expected to rise 13 percent in 2013, compared with just 1 percent growth of 40-49 in. and a 2 percent decline in shipments of 40 in. and smaller sizes. Demand for smaller sizes will start to compete with TV viewing on the larger and higher resolution displays found in mobile devices such as tablet PCs and smartphones. At the same time, a large group of flat panel adopters will be upgrading from 32 in. LCD TVs to 40 in. and larger sizes.

In the long term, as the TV replacement cycle shifts from the flat panel replacement of CRTs, to flat panel upgrades, here is potential for renewed growth, especially as new features become more affordable. LCD TV shipments will continue growing throughout the forecast while demand for CRT and plasma TVs declines.

Despite high expectations set by manufacturers Samsung and LG Electronics for the entry of organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays into the TV market in 2012, these sets will likely only be available in small volumes by the end of this year.

With 55 in. OLED TV demonstrations stealing the show at CES in January 2012, commercial products were expected in time for the Olympics in August. But as the year progressed, the possibility of commercialization in 2012 was called into question, due to mass production challenges and expected high retail prices. In September, OLED TVs were one again demonstrated at IFA in Berlin, and even at some local retailers, but were still not commercially available.

According to the NPD DisplaySearch "Quarterly Global TV Shipment and Forecast Report," OLED TV panel makers and set manufacturers are still targeting commercialization this year. The report disclosed that at least 500 OLED TVs will ship in 2012. While this is a very small quantity in comparison to the total TV market, the start of shipments will be an important breakthrough.

IC Insights was to release its 2013 edition of "IC Market Drivers—A Study of Emerging and Major End-Use Applications Fueling Demand for Integrated Circuits" in November. The study examines several key system applications including the market for digital televisions and its impact on the IC market.

Total worldwide shipments of digital and analog televisions are forecast to slow considerably in 2012, growing to 236 million units, which represents an increase of only 1.2 percent over 2011. Digital televisions, which first surpassed CRT televisions in 2008, are forecast to represent 92 percent of new TV shipments this year.

The digital television upgrade cycle continues in full swing in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, and China, and that is helping offset slower growth in mature markets such as Japan, Western Europe, and North America where the upgrade to flat-panel digital televisions sets has largely taken place. Through 2016, TV shipments are forecast to grow to 269 million units, which represents a CAGR of 2.9 percent from 2011-2016.

Economic hardship is seen as one reason for the slow rate of growth for televisions in 2012, but perhaps more telling is that a younger, tech-savvy generation of consumers is choosing to watch TV when it wants via the Internet using the mobile device of their choice.

Flat panel display (FPD) manufacturing equipment spending fell 69 percent Year-over-Year in 2012 to $3.8 billion — making 2012 the weakest year in history for FPD equipment makers. Despite the challenges facing the FPD industry, including slow demand growth as TV and PC markets mature, 2013 offers hope of significantly improved conditions.

According to the latest NPD DisplaySearch "Quarterly FPD Supply/Demand and Capital Spending Report," spending on manufacturing equipment for FPDs is forecast to rise 121 percent from $3.8 billion in 2012 to $8.3 billion in 2013.

"The majority of FPD equipment spending in 2013 will be used for new low temperature polysilicon (LTPS) fabs or conversion of amorphous silicon (a-Si) capacity to LTPS for use in both TFT LCD and active matrix OLED (AMOLED) production," according to Charles Annis, Vice President of Manufacturing Research at NPD DisplaySearch. "One reason spending is increasing so much is because LTPS fabs cost substantially more than a-Si fabs to build. There are extra process requirements such as crystallization and doping, plus complicated processes that often necessitate more than 10 mark steps. LTPS fabs also require higher priced equipment, particularly high resolution photolithography tools," Annis continued. "However, these technologies enable production of high-value displays for use in fast-growing applications such smartphones and tablets."

As a consequence of the dramatic drop in capital investment in 2012, demand is expected to start catching up to supply by the second half 2013. As a result, NPD DisplaySearch expects that 2013 will see a more balanced market, higher fab utilization rates and improved profitability for panel makers. At the same time, new manufacturing and panel technologies, such as oxide semiconductors, in-cell touch, flexible AMOLEDs, and AMOLED TVs, offer the hope of lower costs and higher value applications.

Total cumulative photovoltaic (PV) installations in Southeast Asia are forecast to reach almost 5 GW by 2016, according to the latest report from IMS Research (recently acquired by IHS Inc.). The report, which analyzes the PV markets in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore and Philippines, reveals that the region will grow at 50 percent per year on average over the next five years, providing an attractive market for ailing suppliers in Europe. Installations have previously been dominated by Thailand, however, other regions are also forecast to quickly and account for significant share of the market.

The new report, "The PV Market in South East Asia" found that although the region accounted for less than one percent of global installations in 2012, IMS Research forecasts that its share will increase by more than four times by 2016. Annual Installations are forecast to grow by 50 percent a year on average for the next five years and exceed 1 GW by 2015.

In recent years, Thailand has accounted for the majority of installations in the region and will be the fifth largest market in Asia in 2012 (after China, Japan, India and Australia). Rapid growth in Thailand has been driven by the attractive "adder" incentive scheme which has resulted in several large ground-mount systems being completed. However, a new incentive scheme to promote smaller rooftop systems is expected in 2013. As a result, the market share of utility-scale systems in Thailand is forecast to fall by 25 percent 2016.

The global engineering and construction company, M+W Group, has acquired one of the U.K.’s leading providers of air movement and ventilation ductwork solutions, Senior Hargreaves.

M+W Group, which is headquartered in Germany with its U.K. base in Chippenham, was established a century ago. Now, the Group is the leading global engineering, construction and project management company in the fields of Advanced Technology Facilities. Life Science & Chemicals, Energy & Environment Technologies and High-Tech Infrastructure with over 7,000 people worldwide.

Senior Hargreaves was founded in Bury in 1872, originally trading as Henry Hargreaves and Sons, prior to acquisition by the Senior Engineering Group (now Senior plc) in 1957. The Senior Hargreaves name has become synonymous with ventilation ductwork, and the company is renowned as a leading manufacturer and distributor of high quality heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions with expertise across the nuclear, industrial, commercial, retail and leisure sectors.

Airgas, Inc. and Biologics Modular, LLC jointly announced a three-year marketing, sales, and service agreement to provide modular facilities to serve as self-contained bio-repositories, bio-manufacturing sites, and research suites for health service providers, educational facilities, and pharmaceutical manufacturers. Airgas will provide the specialty gases and equipment, cryogenic liquids and freezers, and laboratory design services while Biologics Modular will manufacture, fit out, and deliver the modular suites and provide site preparation.

Filtrona Porous Technologies, a developer and manufacturer of custom fluid-handling components found in everyday products around the world, exhibited a range of novel technologies including bonded-fibers, polyurethane-based foams for Advanced Wound Care applications, sintered porous plastics, cleanroom wiping materials, and brand protection products at the MEDICA/COPAMED trade fair in Dusseldorf, Germany in November 2012.

New innovations featured at the show include molded and thermo-formable medical-grade foams and specialty wiping materials for use within the clean environments required by the medical and life-science markets. These new products, as well as other technology samples, were on display at the Filtrona Porous Technologies Booth.