The Semiconductor Industry (SIA), representing U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and design, announced that worldwide semiconductor sales for 2012 reached $291.6 billion, the industry’s third-highest yearly total ever but a decrease of 2.7 percent from the record total of $299.5 billion set in 2011. Total sales for the year narrowly beat expectations from the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization’s industry forecast. Global sales for the month of December 2012 hit $24.7 billion, a decline of 3 percent from the previous month when sales were $25.5 billion. Fourth quarter sales of $74.2 billion were 3.8 percent higher than the total of $71.5 billion from the 4^th quarter of 2011. All monthly sales numbers represent a three-month moving average.

"Despite substantial macroeconomic challenges, the global semiconductor industry outperformed forecasts and posted one of its highest yearly sales totals in 2012," said Brian Toohey, President and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. "Recent momentum, led by strength in the Americas, has the industry well positioned for a successful 2013."

The industry saw strong demand in several market segments during 2012. Logic was the largest semiconductor category, reaching $81.7 billion in 2012, a 3.7 percent increase compared to 2011. MOS microprocessors ($60.2 billion) and memory ($57 billion) rounded out the top three segments, but both lagged behind 2011 sales totals. Optoelectronics was the fastest growing market on a yearly basis, increasing 13.4 percent in 2012 to reach $26.2 billion for the year. Optoelectronic applications offer energy efficiency and low cost in a wide range of products including mobile devices and cameras. NAND flash — used in a host of mobile devices, USB flash drives, memory cards and related products for the storage and transfer of data — grew at the second fastest rate of 4.1 percent to reach $25.4 billion in 2012.

Regionally, the American continued to show signs of strength, increasing sales by 13.4 percent in December 2012 compared to December 2011 and by 12 percent in the 4^th quarter of 2012 compared to the 3^rd quarter of 2012, but ongoing economic and policy uncertainty continues to pose risks to the near-term market outlook. Sales in Asia Pacific during December also increased compared to the same month in 2011 (6.7 percent), while sales in Europe (-5.5 percent) and Japan (-11.2 percent) decreased over the same period. Total yearly sales in all four regions were lower in 2012 than 2011, with Asia Pacific (-0.6 percent) and the Americas (-1.5 percent) seeing the smallest declines.

"Despite lingering economic and policy uncertainty, the U.S. semiconductor market continues to show signs of strength, posting impressive growth in December," continued Toohey. "As the foundation of all modern electronics, semiconductors are critical to America’s economic strength, national security and global competitiveness. By enacting measures that foster growth and remove uncertainty, policymakers can further strengthen the industry and help unlock its full potential in 2013 and beyond."

North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $924.1million in orders worldwide in December 2011 (three-month average and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.92, according to the December "Book-to-Bill Report" published by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.92 means that $92 worth of orders was received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2012 was $924.1 million. The bookings figures is 28.6 percent higher than the revised November 2012 level of $718.6 million, and is 16.2 percent lower than the December 2011 billings level of $1.30 billion.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2012 was $1.01 billion. The billings figure is 10.6 percent higher than the revised November 2012 level of $910.1 million, and is 22.6 percent less than the December 2011 billings level of $1.30 billion.

"Both bookings and billings increased in December, but remain below figures reported one year ago," said Denny McGuirk, President and CEO o SEMI. "While uncertainty remains regarding the 2013 equipment outlook, the foundry and advanced packaging segments are the key investment drivers at the beginning of the year."

The DigiTimes reports that China aims to double semiconductor industry output value during the 12^th Five-Year Plan.

The goals for the China semiconductor industry during the 12^th Five-Year Plan are for its output value — including integrated device manufacturers (IDM) — to rise to CNY330 billion (US$53.03 billion) by 2015, and for its global market share to rise from 7.1 percent in 2010 to 15 percent by 2015. Calculating on the basis of the CNY144.08 billion output value for 2010, this represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18 percent, or a doubling of output value over the course of the five-year plan.

Worldwide silicon wafer revenues declined by 12 percent in 2012 compared to 2011according to the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group (SMG) in its year-end analysis of the silicon wafer industry. Worldwide silicon wafer area shipments declined 0.1 percent in 2012 when compared to 2011 area shipments.

Silicon wafer area shipments in 2012 totaled 9,031 million square inches (MSI), down from the 9,043 million square inches shipped during 2011. Revenues totaled $8.7 billion down from $9.9 billion posted in 2011. "Much like semiconductor unit shipments, semiconductor silicon shipments started out the year strong, however shipments weakened during the second half of the year," said Byungseop (Brad) Hong, Chairman of SEMI SMG and Director of Global Marketing at LG Siltron. "Despite challenges in the market, 300-mm volume shipments reached record levels."

Spending on research and development by semiconductor companies grew 7 percent in 2012 to a record high $53.0 billion, even though the semiconductor market declined 1 percent to $317.6 billion, according to the 2013 edition of IC Insights’ "McClean Report." The increase lifted R&D spending by chip companies to 16.7 percent of total semiconductor sales in 2012, the highest level since the peak of 17.5 percent was reached in both 2008 and 2009.

For more than three decades, R&D spending as a percentage of total semiconductor sales has trended higher due to increasing costs associated with developing complex IC designs and creating next-generation process technologies to manufacture these circuits. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, R&D spending as a percent of semiconductor sales by chip companies was typically 7-8 percent. R&D-to-sales ratios grew to 10-12 percent of revenues by the early 1990s and then jumped to over 15 percent during the last decade, reaching a record 17.5 percent in 2008.

However, not all companies have seen a growing portion of sales consumed by R&D. For example, Samsung’s R&D-to-sales ratio fell from a peak of 25 percent in 2001 to 8 percent in 2010 and has remained there since. Samsung’s semiconductor business is more capital intensive than it is R&D intensive because of the commodity nature of the DRAM and flash memory businesses in which it mainly participates. As a result, since 2001, Samsung’s semiconductor sales have grown an average of 16 percent per year, while its R&D spending has increased at about one-third the rate (5 percent) and its capital expenditures have grown by an average of 19 percent annually. The main focus of Samsung’s investments is in adding new fab capacity for large-diameter wafers (currently 300 mm but heading toward 450 mm later this decade).

Intel’s business is also capital intensive. Its spending on new fabs and equipment in each of the past two years was about $11 billion, which was only about $1 billion shy of what Samsung spent in each of those years. Intel’s advanced microprocessors and other incredibly complex logic devices have very short life cycles. Spending large amounts of money on research and development is part of its business model. Intel’s $10.1 billion in semiconductor R&D spending in 2012 was more than 7x the amount spent by second-place Qualcomm. In fact, Intel spent more than one-third of the combined $28.7 billion spent by the top-ten R&D spenders in 2012, according to the "2013 McClean Report."

Despite a largely flat market for power supplies in 2012, IMS Research (now part of IHS) is predicting that the market will offer strong opportunities for some semiconductor manufacturers in 2013. Its report, "The World Market for Semiconductors in Merchant Power Supplies – 2012" analyses the opportunity for semiconductors in both the AC-DC and DC-DC power supply market and provides forecasts to 2016.

Although the total world market for semiconductors used in power supplies is forecast to grow at a fairly healthy 6.5 percent in 2013, growth opportunities differ widely by semiconductor product and by application. Strongest growth is predicted for MPU/MCU/DSP/DSC products at 35 percent in 2013. Although this is currently one of the smallest markets for semiconductors used in power supplies, it is projected to grow by $45 million from 2012 to 2016 owing to adoption of digital power and advanced power factor correction (PFC) techniques.

TSMC announced its net sales for January 2013: On a consolidated basis, net sales for January 2013 were approximately NT$47.44 billion, an increase of 27.7 percent from December 2012 and an increase of 37.1 percent over January 2012.

Facing a relentless onslaught from tablets, smart phones and solid state drives (SSD), global hard disk drive (HDD) market revenue in 2013 will decline by about 12 percent this year, according to an "IHS iSuppli Storage Space market brief" from information and analytics provides IHS.

Revenue is set to drop to an estimated $32.7 billion in 2013, down 11.8 percent from $37.1 billion last year. HDD revenue will be flat the following year, amounting to $32.0 billion in 2014.

"The HDD industry will face myriad challenges in 2013," said Fang Zhang, Analyst for Storage Systems at IHS. "Shipments for desktop PCs will slip this year, while notebook sales are under pressure as consumers continue to favor smart phones and tablets. The declining price of SSDs also will allow them to take away some share from conventional HDDs."

HDD gross and operating margins likewise will decline as a result of continued price erosion. "However, HDDs will continue to be the dominant form of storage this year, especially as demand for Ultrabooks picks up and hard drives remain essential in business computing," Zhang added.

Seagate Technology plc reported financial results for the quarter ended December 28, 2012. During the fiscal 2^nd quarter, the company reported revenue of approximately $3.7 billion, shipping 58 million units. On a GAAP basis, Seagate reported gross margin of 27.0 percent, net income of $492 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.30. On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes the net impact of certain items, Seagate reported grow margin of 27.6 percent, net income of $523 million and diluted earnings per share of $1.38. Cash flow from operations in the quarter was $844 million and the company returned $1.1 billion to shareholders in dividends and share redemptions. Cash, cash equivalents, restricted cash, and short-term investments totaled approximately $2.0 billion at the end of the fiscal 2^nd quarter.

"Seagate is executing well in an environment where customer demand forecasting is challenging," said Steve Luczo, Seagate’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Looking ahead, we will continue to manage our business conservatively to the demand environment, focus on profitability and effectively invest for market leadership in storage for mobility, cloud and open source. Creating value for shareholders remains a top priority, and in the first half of fiscal 2013, we returned over 95 percent of operating cash flows through share redemptions and dividends."

The European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) welcome the announcement of a new trade agreement that will strengthen economic ties between Europe and the United States.

"We believe that a high standard, comprehensive agreement will serve patients and the jobs that depend on our industry very well. Europe and America lead the world in developing new medicines. This Agreement can serve to develop the rules needed to speed medicines to patients. We look forward to working with the negotiators to fulfill the promise of what will be the largest negotiated trade agreement," said John J. Castellani, President and CEO of PhRMA."

Richard Bergstrom, Director General of EFPIA, highlighted that, "This comprehensive undertaking between the EU and U.S. is a key opportunity to deepen the already strong economic relationship. It should seek to enhance pharmaceutical research and innovation to address the needs of patients while fostering economic growth throughout the world."

The pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading innovative biopharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to discovering and developing medicines that enable patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. Since 2000, PhRMA member companies have invested over $500 billion in the search for new treatments and cures, including an estimated $49.5 billion in 2011 alone.

EFPIA represents the pharmaceutical industry operating in Europe. Through its direct membership of 31 national associations and 35 leading pharmaceutical companies, EFPIA provides the voice of 2,000 companies committed to researching, developing and bringing new medicines to improve health and quality of life around the world.

The market for biopharmaceutical contract fill-and-finish services reached $1.2 billion in 2012, an increase of 33 percent over the past two years. This growth results from the underlying growth in the biopharmaceutical market, expansion of services offered by fill-and-finish contract manufacturing organizations and the greater use of contract manufacturing organizations by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Contract manufacturing organizations with traditional aseptic, small-molecule filling capacity have expanded their capabilities to meet the unique filling challenges of temperature-sensitive and fragile protein drugs. The biotechnology industry continues to use fill-and-finish contract manufacturers to provide expertise, filling capacity and lyophilization as they focus on drug development and API manufacturing.

HighTech Business Decisions recently published the results of its findings in "Biopharmaceutical Contract Fill-and-Finish: Best Practices Study 2013." The long-term prospects for biopharmaceutical fill-and-finish contractors remain strong with growth opportunities in new presentations that offer improved convenience for both patients and health care providers. Other growth opportunities include new services associated with special handling of niche products and smaller dosage volumes. As a result of these growth opportunities, this study shows the worldwide market for biopharmaceutical fill-and-finish contract manufacturing will continue to expand through 2017, reaching $1.6 billion.

The pharmaceutical industry in Russia has been witnessing double-digit growth rate recently. In October 2009 Ministry of Industry and Trade in Russia adopted Pharma 2020 strategy, which encourages the local pharmaceutical companies to produce high-quality medications according to the GMP standards. It targets innovative conversion and competitiveness for boosting the Russian pharmaceutical sector and to improve the production capacity.

According to the new regulations that will be enforced in Russia from 2014, it will be imperative for the pharmaceutical companies to pursue GMP-compliant production procedures.

The local industry is expected to develop about 50 percent of Russian-consumed drugs if the pharmaceutical industry in Russia grows at the same pace until 2020. The Russian pharmaceutical market is expected to reach $10.7 billion value by 2014.

U.S. venture capital (VC) funding in the life sciences sector, which includes the Biotechnology and Medical Device industries, dropped 14 percent in dollars and 7 percent in deals during 2012 according to a new PwC U.S. report, "Double-digit dip" that includes data from the MoneyTree™ Report from PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and the National Venture Capital Association based on data provided by Thomson Reuters. Venture capitalists invested a total of $6.6 billion in 779 Life Sciences deals during the year, compared with $7.7 billion in 836 deals during 2011. The number of Life Sciences companies receiving VC funding for the first time reached the lowest level since 1995 with only 135 companies receiving funding in 2012.

Compared to the prior quarter, Life Sciences venture funding rose 11 percent in the 4^th quarter 2012 to $1.9 billion. Deal volume also increased, rising 12 percent to 187 deals compared to the prior quarter.

For all sectors, VCs invested $26.5 billion in 3,698 deals in 2012, a 10 percent drop in dollars and 6 percent decline in deals from the prior year. Venture investors funneled $26.5 billion into 3,698 deals during 2012. While total investments saw a decline for the year, Deal volume in the 4^th quarter 2012 rose 5 percent compared to the prior quarter. However, dollars invested did decline 3 percent over the same time period to $6.4 billion in 968 deals.

Life sciences financing activity got a strong start in the new year as companies raised $10.3 billion in January. The Pfizer animal health unit Zoetis was responsible for more than half the activity through a debt offering and the largest IPO since Facebook debuted in May 2012. The robust activity dwarfed the $4.2 billion raised during the same period a year ago, according to Burrill & Company.

Companies raised more than $6 billion during the month through debt offerings. This included Zoetis’ heavily-oversubscribed $3.7 billion bond deal ahead of its IPO. It also included nearly $1.3 billion in debt offerings from nine smaller therapeutics companies, as well as nearly $700 million raised in two medical device company financings.

The Zoetis’ IPO priced at $26, above its expected $22 to $25 range. Three other companies, LipoScience, an in vitro diagnostic company; Stemline Therapeutics, which is developing therapies that target cancer steam cells; and KaloBios Pharmaceuticals, a developer of next-generation antibodies, raised a combined $153 million through initial public offerings. That compares to $135 million raised through IPOs on U.S. exchanges a year ago. Almost $1.6 billion was raised by follow-ons in January, tripling January 2012’s total, and reflecting the improved environment for public therapeutics companies seeking to raise capital.

"Enthusiasm in the market for life sciences has picked up following a positive JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, a strong year of FDA approvals capped with a flurry of activity in December, and the impressive returns the sector provided in 2012," says G. Steven Burrill, CEO of Burrill & Company, a global financial services firm focused exclusively on the life sciences. "Though the activity is encouraging, capital continues to be expensive and difficult to access for many companies, particularly those that have not yet commercialized products."

A talent gap in the scientific workforce has biopharmaceutical companies searching outside for fresh skills and alternate approaches to R&D staffing, according to PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) in a new report. New R&D organizational models based on partnerships, alliances, and even crowd sourcing are changing talent needs, challenging traditional talent management strategies and redefining the role of human resources (HR) in R&D productivity.

HRI’s report, "New Chemistry: Getting the biopharmaceutical talent formula right" takes an in-depth look at the changing R&D model and what it means to workforce design. Pharmaceutical companies have long relied on a highly-educated workforce of scientists and researchers to replenish their product pipelines. In response to a host of challenges to its business model, the industry has right sized its workforce and is changing how it conducts R&D. Demand for productivity is as high as ever, from a workforce with fewer resources and new expectations of performance based on improved health outcomes and/or lower costs.

HRI suggests that new R&D models need equally innovative HR strategies to find the right mix of scientific talent, skills and incentives. The knowledge intensive pharmaceutical industry had the highest reported difficulty in hiring top talent of the 19 industries featured in PwC’s 2012 Global CEO Survey. CEO’s identified talent gaps as one of the biggest threats to future growth prospects

Biology and biomedical research labs at U.S. universities grew during the two years between fiscal years 2009 and 2011, at least in terms of sheer space, as the amount of square feet devoted to the biosciences increased 8 percent from 50.3 million to 54.3 million.

A new analysis by the National Science Foundation says that the growth in biology and biomedical research space at academic institutions led all scientific disciplines, which grew overall by 3.5 percent over the two-year period.

Although that growth in total net assignable square feet, or NASF, dedicated to academic bioscience may be welcome news to a sector that has been funding from federal, state, and other sources flag during the course of the recession, this expansion actually represents a slowdown in the growth rate; the two fiscal years between 2007 and 2009 saw an increase in biology and biomedical NASF of 12.3 percent.

Taken together, the science and engineering research sectors increased their research space by 3.5 percent, from 196.1 million to 202.9 million NASF, which is less growth than the median rate of increase of 4.6 percent NSF found over the past 11 surveys, dating back to fiscal year 1988.

The news of the growth in research space also may be tempered by the report’s finding that new construction in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 declined by 18.2 percent from the previous two fiscal years. For the biosciences in particular, new construction between 2010 and 2011 accounted for 2 million NASF, a decline of 1.5 million NASF from the prior two-year period.

Consumer confidence in the overall economy and technology both fell in January, according to the latest figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®. These declines are consistent with post-holiday results in previous year.

Consumer confidence in the overall economy decreased in January to 168.0 points. The CEA Index of Consumer Expectations (ICE), which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, fell 3.0 points from December and is down 9.3 points, year-over-year.

The CEA Index of Consumer Technology Expectations (ICTE), which measures consumer expectations about technology spending, fell 14.3 points in January to 83.0. The ICTE is down 5.0 points from this time last year.

U.S. ownership rates for tablet computers saw a sharp increase in the 4^th quarter of 2012, according to new research released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)^®. CEA’s "Consumer Outlook on Tablets: Q2 2013" shows that tablet ownership rates among online U.S. consumers reached 38 percent as of December 2012, up 7 percent from the previous quarter. The report examined trend information on consumer behavior and sentiment regarding the sale and use of tablet computers between October and December 2012.

Compared to data from the "Consumer Outlook on Tablets: Q4 2012" report, tablet purchase intent is also rising. Approximately three in four (74 percent) online consumers expect to purchase a tablet sometime in the future, compared to 67 percent of online consumers in December 2011. Tablet purchase intent during the next two years for non-owners saw an increase of 5 percent to 44 percent in December 2012.

"The sharp increase in adoption during the past quarter is likely due to the wide range of sales of tablets of varying price points during the 2012 holiday shopping season, creating a new wave of tablet owners," said Kevin Tillmann, Senior Research Analyst, CEA. "As we begin 2013, anticipation is high for the next wave of tablets to include features such as high resolution displays, improved graphic capabilities, near-field communication, and thinner and lighter chassis."

Despite lingering weakness in the global economy and continuing uncertainty in technology markets, the outsourced manufacturing industry is expected to post moderate revenue growth this year as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) increase their outsourcing activities to capitalize on opportunities for expansion across multiple industries including consumer electronics, industrial electronics and automotive electronics.

Revenue in 2013 for the worldwide outsourced manufacturing industry is forecast to reach $404.5 billion, up 4.5 percent from $387.0 billion last year, according to the IHS Outsourced Manufacturing Intelligence Service at information and analytics provider IHS.

While this year’s growth is slightly down from the estimated 5.0 percent rise that the industry enjoyed in 2012, the next few years ahead appear on track for solidly reliable — if unspectacular — rates of increase provided the global economy cooperates. By 2016, revenue will amount to $451.9 billion, following the industry’s recovery from the declines seen in 2008-09.

Shipments of thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCDs) used in automobiles for devices such as navigation and rear seat DVD players increased 16 percent Year-over-Year to 49 million in 2012, according to the NPD DisplaySearch 2012 (Automotive Displays Report." Shipments are expected to increase to 70 million by 2016. This is not surprising since commuters spend up to three hours in their automobiles every day and demand is on the rise for automotive displays that integrate convenience, safety, and functionality.

"Consumer demand is driving the production of smarter and more efficient automobiles, requiring automotive displays that increase functionality and safety," said Hiroshi Hayase, Vice President of Small/Medium Displays at NPD DisplaySearch. "Features such as navigation, audio and air-conditioning control, rearview monitors, and eco-driving displays provide safety, energy information, and other conveniences while on the road."

A major factor propelling automotive displays is the growing production of hybrid and electric vehicles. Helping fuel the fire is demand for replacements of older single-function displays, which use passive matrix LCDs.

Japan continues to dominate the production of automotive TFT LCD panels, especially in high-grade automobiles, while the United States and Europe are making headway in mid-grade and small-size vehicles. In 2012, Japan Display became top automotive TFT LCD maker, followed by Sharp and LG Display. Automotive TFT LCD panel demand in Japan was led by car navigation set makers, including Panasonic, Alpine, and Pioneer. However, demand from set makers in the U.S. and Europe were driven by cluster component makers, including Continental AG, BP/Bosch, Ford, and Johnson Controls.

"Interestingly, we’ve noticed that automotive display demand in Japan favors car navigation systems, while demand for TFT LCD panels for automobiles in the United States and Europe favors in-console displays," added Hayase. "Regardless of the type of automotive display technology, we are seeing trends toward more cars incorporating this technology, we anticipate continued growth in this segment."

ABI Research projects 15 fifteen million computing devices will be shipped into the education market in 2013. Interestingly, netbooks are anticipated to be the largest proportion of computing devices shipped into the education market; however, the rapid popularity of media tablets and the encroachment of cheaper laptops with far better performance capabilities and lower price points will soon begin to rout the netbook’s appeal.

Some may believe netbooks are on the cusp of extinction, however, ABI Research projects nearly six million networks will be shipped into the global education market this year. Earlier this month, Acer and Asus announced the production halt of netbooks in 2013, following a number of other hardware computing OEMs that include Dell, HP, and Samsung. Global annual netbook shipments are predicted to decline by over 50 percent in 2013 from last year. The smaller, lower cost, lower performance laptop seems to have its days numbered.

"Netbooks opened the door for education institutes and other organizations to purchase suitable computing hardware at a very reasonable price while also offering numerous advantages to young children. First, developing the necessary skills to operate a computer which is literally imperative in today’s world. Furthermore, subjects and modules can be tailored to the learner’s knowledge, understanding, and instant feedback can be provided to the learner," says Senior Analyst Josh Flood. "Although the education sector is now, and going to be, one of the netbook’s main markets, we are also seeing media tablet/hybrid tablets beginning to emerge and surpass netbooks. Ultimately, the netbook’s market share in education will diminish and media tablets will become the dominant computing device."

ABI Research’s new "Education Market for Computing Devices" report analyzes and provides forecasts for computing devices in the education sector. Regional device shipments and age range markets are also included in the report. It forms part of ABI Research's "Media Tablets, Netbooks & eReaders" Research Service.

Global photovoltaic (PV) installations will rise this year in a continuing pattern of solid growth, but the industry will nonetheless suffer a decline in overall revenue due to lower volume growth and decreasing system prices, according to an IHS Solar white paper from information and analytics provider IHS.

PV installations are projected to reach 35 gigawatts (GW) this year, up from 32 GW in 2012. In comparison, industry revenue — measured as the system price multiplied by total gigawatts installed — will treat to an estimated $75 billion, down from $77 billion last year, and exhibiting an even steeper fall from the market’s peak revenue of $94 billion in 2011.

"The conflicting trend of growing PV installation volumes accompanied on the other hand by falling revenues will challenge solar companies to continue to reduce their cost structures," said Ash Sharma, Director of Syndicated Solar Research for IHS. "While solar installations have grown every single year without fail since we started analyzing the industry in 2006 — and will continue to do so until at least 2017 — the picture is much more sobering when one looks at industry revenue, especially as PV component prices continue downward. And installation growth, although positive, is also slowing, further affecting the industry’s overall top line."

After years as the world’s top solar market, Germany will fall to third place in 2013, behind China and the United States, Japan and Italy follow in fourth and fifth, respectively.

SEMI and the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to enhance their cooperation in the areas of standards and roadmap activities for the solar thin film industry.

SEMI, a global industry association and standards development organization (SDO), serves the manufacturing supply chain for the micro- and nano-electronics industries, including photovoltaics (PV), through consensus-based, collaborative activities such as PV manufacturing standards through the SEMI International Standards program, as well as technology roadmap development through the International Technology Roadmap for PV (ITRPV).

PVMC, a national industry-led consortium headquartered in New York State at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering’s (CNSE) Albany Nano Tech Complex, is a partnership between SEMATCH and CNSE. PVMC was created as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) SunShot initiative, which is designed to reduce the cost of photovoltaic solar energy systems by about 75 percent over the next decade, and brings together the solar community — including industry, academia, and government — to accelerate the development, commercialization and manufacturing of next-generation solar PV systems.

Through PVMC, CNSE and SEMATECH are spearheading a unique research, development, and commercialization partnership in which industry, academia and government are working together to drive new advances in next-generation solar cell technologies, beginning with copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) thin film PV manufacturing solutions — increasing performance while driving down the cost and risk of bringing them to the marketplace.

AAF has officially unveiled its proprietary NELIOR Filtration Technology. New HEPA and ULPA filters are available that are tailored to the stringent demands of the pharmaceutical and microelectronic industries. A distinctive Life Cycle Valuation program has developed for demonstrating the value potential and latest insights in the mechanical strength of air filtration media have been presented in a technical paper.

NELIOR Filtration Technology is based on a patented membrane air filtration media, which is developed by AAF’s engineers and is produced in one of AAF’s own manufacturing facilities. It features a superior composition and mechanical strength that give unique performance characteristics to HEPA and ULPA filtration, unmatched by any other air filtration media currently available on the market. NELIOR membrane media is composed of an evenly-distributed layer of fibers with nanometer-scale diameters. NELIOR Filtration Technology provides for an up to 50 percent lower operating resistance in combination with an excellent overall particulate collection efficiency. Furthermore, a recently-conducted research study by the renowned ÖP textile testing laboratories in Germany has shown a superior mechanical strength performance of NELIOR membrane media versus traditional air filtration media. The outcome of this research study has been presented in a technical paper for the ICCCS 2012 symposium.

The superior composition and mechanical strength are complemented by a chemical inert and hydrophobic media structure, that together result in a unique blend of benefits for the most sensitive processing areas. AAF’s HEPA and ULPA filters with NELIOR Filtration Technology provide value added through consistent air quality, improved process performance, environmental savings and beneficial Total Cost of Ownership.

Each individual process application is faced with its own challenges to ensure that the required air purity conditions are met for keeping output quality on a consistently-high level. This means that the demands that are put on air filtration do also differ per application. AAF recognizes this and has developed new HEPA and ULPA filters, featuring NELIOR Filtration Technology that meet the most stringent requirements of individual industries. For the pharmaceutical industry, AAF launches the VITCAcel filter and for the microelectronics industry the MEGAcel filter.

VITCAcel is available in filter classes H14 and U16 to EN1822:2009 for application in ISO 5/GMP grade A cleanrooms and adjacent areas. MEGAcel is available in filter class U16 to EN1822:2009 for application in controlled areas up to ISO 1, including highly-sensitive semiconductor mini-environments.

For demonstrating the value potential to be achieved by air filters with NELIOR Filtration Technology, AAF has developed a distinctive Life cycle Valuation (LCV) program. The LCV approach recognizes that air filtration does not only pay an important role in reducing energy consumption in buildings and manufacturing facilities, but also in optimizing the conditions for safe production of sensitive products. Both energy costs and failure risk costs are therefore included in the LCV analysis. The environmental and total Cost of Ownership (TCO) savings potential is calculated following a risk management approach with application specific data, of which the results are summarized in a clear, detailed customer report.

Sartorius Stedim Biotech (SSB), a leading international pharma supplier, has launched the Sartoguard NF prefilter series, completing its range of Sartoguard prefilters. These new prefilters feature a unique combination of high performance polyethersulfone (PES) membranes and highly-innovative nanofleece technology. This is the first time that PES nanofleece material is being used for liquid prefiltration applications in biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The newly-developed nanofleece technology provides an ultrafine fleece structure based on a small nanofiber diameter of 120-150 nm compared with the fiber diameter of conventional fleece materials of >500 nm. The resulting fleece structure offers enhanced clarification capabilities, even for extremely fine contaminants, along with a high-direct holding capacity, fast flow rates and high total throughput performance.

Sartoguard NF prefilters are the ideal choice for downstream protection of more expensive sterilizing-grade and Mycoplasma-retentive filters in challenging prefiltration applications for biopharmaceutical manufacturing. In combination with their high total throughput performance. Sartoguard NF prefilters offer significant cost-saving potential due to their ultrafine retention performance, which ensures removal even of extremely small particulate-based contaminants. All active filter materials — membranes and nanofleece — of the new prefilter series are made of polyethersulfone, thus ensuring a minimum extractable footprint. This enables users to easily implement Sartoguard NF into existing filtration processes utilizing final filters already based on PES.

Sartoguard NF filter elements are available in all common filter formats offered by Sartorius Stedim Biotech, such as SartoScale devices for small-scale filterability trials, as well as MidiCaps, MaxiCaps and standard filter cartridges for medium- and commercial-scale manufacturing. Sartoguard NF MidiCaps and MaxiCaps are the first fully gamma irradiatable prefilter series and can be easily integrated into single-use process equipment.

Sartoguard NF Filters conclude the launch of the Sartoguard prefilter family, which includes the Sartoguard PES and Sartoguard GF prefilter series that have been successfully introduced to the market earlier. The launch of the Sartoguard prefilter family is an important contribution by Sartorius Stedim Biotech in reducing overall filtration costs in biopharmaceutical manufacturing and in helping biomanufacturers cope with the increasing cost pressure while maintaining and improving their high quality standards.

Franklin Adhesives & Polymers, a division of Franklin International has introduced FilterFAB 150 sealant for bonding pleated glass or paper media to the frames of air intake panel filters. FilterFAB 150 is designed to speed up assembly in the filter plant. Its fiber-filled, vinyl acrylic copolymer composition blends high viscosity and high solids into a thick formula that dries quickly and remains flexible over time. Instant set time eliminates the need for clamping to simplify and accelerate filter production.

The newest FilterFAB product also is versatile and adheres to frames made from a diversity of materials, including steel, wood, plastic and aluminum. Although its primary purpose is to bond the media to the frames — the sealant typically is applied to the trough of the frame and the assembly then wrapped around the pleated media — it also serves to seal joints in a broad array of indoor and outdoor HVAC duct systems.

Filtrona Porous Technologies announced the launch of a new website for its Lymtech Scientific brand of specialty wiping products at www.Lymtech.com.

As the recently-acquired nonwovens business unit of Filtrona Porous Technologies, Lymtec’s website has been upgraded with user-friendly navigational tools, improved access to technical data, and expanded information on the wide range of cleanroom wiping products offered.

The new website supports the global growth of the Lymtech brand by improving accessibility via search engine optimization and multiple language offerings. Lymtech.com is available in English, German, Chines, Japanese, and Spanish.