Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current Issue

News

OYSTER BAY, NY -- The industry devoted to digital rights management is shaping up into two camps with differing value chains and business alliances, according to a new study by ABI Research.

Ten years ago, whether a consumer received audiovisual content via cable or satellite, the situation was homogenous: service providers allying with equipment vendors to ensure that access was provided only to those who paid for it. Today, NDS, Nagra, Irdeto take advantage of their existing relationships in DRM.

But now that group of traditional alliances has been joined by another: DRM vendors such as Microsoft, RealNetworks and Apple that work closely with the content-owning community to address the need for legal, downloadable materials that can be accessed through broadband networks. In time this channel will begin to become end-device agnostic.

These two camps, says director of broadband and residential entertainment technologies Vamsi Sistla, strive for the same goal -- the greatest number of consumers purchasing the rights they control -- but are approaching it from different directions.

Global DRM revenues will grow by at least 28% in 2005, Sistla forecasts, and the highest growth opportunities are among telcos, broadband, mobile and in portable markets. It is here, where DRM vendors partner with content owners and distributors, that the last decade's profound changes in global networking show their fullest impact.

PALO ALTO, CA -- Agilent Technologies has promoted William Sullivan as the company's next president and CEO, effective March 1. Sullivan, currently Agilent's executive vice president and COO, succeeds Ned Barnholt.

Sullivan has had overall responsibility for the Electronic Products and Solutions Group, Agilent's largest business group. He was formerly senior vice president and general manager of Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group.

Barnholt is retiring as chairman, president and CEO of the company he helped launch following its spin-off from Hewlett-Packard in 1999.

"The past six years as Agilent's CEO have been rewarding ones for me," said Barnholt. "While I will miss this important part of my life, I look forward to what lies ahead."

James G. Cullen, who has served on the board of directors since 2000, will become non-executive chairman when Barnholt retires in March. At that time, Sullivan will join the board. Barnholt will stay on as chairman emeritus as long as needed to ensure a smooth transition.

Thin-film technologies continue to evolve and their use is broadening as component manufacturers are considering replacing conventional thick-film processes to manufacture smaller components and parts. Reason: thin-films permit new families of products, modifying and enhancing the properties of bulk material by the deposition of a top thin layer having different composition and morphology, says a new study from Business Communications Co.

Global sales of thin-film raw materials hit $7.1 billion in 2004, estimates say, and are projected to reach $13.5 billion by 2009, an average annual growth rate of 13.7%, BCC says. 
Chemical deposition methods (chemical vapor deposition, chemical solution deposition, plating type methods) accounts for over 70% of the global market for thin-film raw materials, driven by large sales of plating chemicals. Electronics accounts for 66% of total sales. 
Sales of thin-film materials for chemical processes increased during 2002-04 from $4.1 billion to $5.1 billion, and are expected to show an AAGR of 12.9% over the next five years, reaching $9.3 billion by 2009. 

Raw materials for physical processes (evaporation, sputter deposition and ionic deposition) rose to 28.6% from 24.8% of the total market for thin-film materials from 2002-04. Sales are projected to reach $4.2 billion by 2009, an AAGR of 15.7%.