PALO ALTO, CA -- Agilent Technologies will buy closely-held Wavics, a Korea-based designer and manufacturer of power amplifier modules for mobile handsets, for an undisclosed amount, the companies said today.

Wavics holds patents on power amplifier technology said to reduces battery power consumption. Agilent plans to combine the Wavics technology with its miniature FBAR (film bulk acoustic resonator) filters to create higher-performance CDMA and W-CDMA front-end modules. This will offer handset manufacturers a significant reduction in PCB space.

In a press release, Bryan Ingram, vice president and general manager of the Wireless Semiconductor Division in Agilent's Semiconductor Products Group. "Our mutual customers will benefit by being able to design smaller, thinner clamshell handsets with more features and talk time than previously available."

Wavics was founded in 2000 and is privately held. It employs approximately 55 people,

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GUANGDONG PROVINCE, CHINA -- Are wages among factory workers in China about to rise? Reports from several news sources seem to indicate that a massive shortage of manpower coupled with modest inflation of the national currency will lead to higher costs for manufacturers later this year.

Global Sources this week said that inflation is ahead due to anticipated appreciation of the China's currency, the yuan, against the U.S. dollar. The timing is especially bad for the region, which has endured steady price inflation and flat wages. Local companies are facing persistent labor shortages and China has been recording more than 2 million vacancies annually, Global Sources said.

Separately, a report today said the local government is set to raise salaries for workers by 16.7%, to $70 a month.

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SAN JOSE  -- The 90-day moving average sales of North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers was $1.24 billion in December, good for a book-to-bill of 0.95, according to SEMI.

For the month $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed.

The three-month average of global bookings in December was $1.24 billion, down 7% from revised November figures but up 4.6% year-on-year.

Global billings were $1.31 billion, down 2.6% from November and up 36% percent from a year ago.

"Based on these preliminary figures, we now expect worldwide sales of new semiconductor equipment by North American suppliers to total $16.5 billion in 2004, an increase of more than 60% over the prior year," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The cyclic bookings peak occurred in June 2004 and total bookings in December are 23% below that level."
 

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 20, 2005 -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders in December 2004 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95 according to the December 2004 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2004 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is seven percent below the revised November 2004 level of $1.33 billion and 4.6 percent above the $1.18 billion in orders posted in December 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2004 was $1.31 billion. The billings figure is 2.6 percent below the revised November 2004 level and 36 percent above the December 2003 billings level of $963 million.

"Based on these preliminary figures, we now expect worldwide sales of new semiconductor equipment by North American suppliers to total $16.5 billion in 2004, an increase of more than 60 percent over the prior year," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The cyclic bookings peak occurred in June 2004 and total bookings in December are 23 percent below that level."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 20, 2005 -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders in December 2004 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95 according to the December 2004 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2004 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is seven percent below the revised November 2004 level of $1.33 billion and 4.6 percent above the $1.18 billion in orders posted in December 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2004 was $1.31 billion. The billings figure is 2.6 percent below the revised November 2004 level and 36 percent above the December 2003 billings level of $963 million.

"Based on these preliminary figures, we now expect worldwide sales of new semiconductor equipment by North American suppliers to total $16.5 billion in 2004, an increase of more than 60 percent over the prior year," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The cyclic bookings peak occurred in June 2004 and total bookings in December are 23 percent below that level."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 20, 2005 -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders in December 2004 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95 according to the December 2004 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2004 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is seven percent below the revised November 2004 level of $1.33 billion and 4.6 percent above the $1.18 billion in orders posted in December 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2004 was $1.31 billion. The billings figure is 2.6 percent below the revised November 2004 level and 36 percent above the December 2003 billings level of $963 million.

"Based on these preliminary figures, we now expect worldwide sales of new semiconductor equipment by North American suppliers to total $16.5 billion in 2004, an increase of more than 60 percent over the prior year," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The cyclic bookings peak occurred in June 2004 and total bookings in December are 23 percent below that level."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 20, 2005 -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders in December 2004 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95 according to the December 2004 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2004 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is seven percent below the revised November 2004 level of $1.33 billion and 4.6 percent above the $1.18 billion in orders posted in December 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2004 was $1.31 billion. The billings figure is 2.6 percent below the revised November 2004 level and 36 percent above the December 2003 billings level of $963 million.

"Based on these preliminary figures, we now expect worldwide sales of new semiconductor equipment by North American suppliers to total $16.5 billion in 2004, an increase of more than 60 percent over the prior year," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The cyclic bookings peak occurred in June 2004 and total bookings in December are 23 percent below that level."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

SAN JOSE, Calif., January 20, 2005 -- North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.24 billion in orders in December 2004 (three-month average basis) and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.95 according to the December 2004 Book-to-Bill Report published today by SEMI. A book-to-bill of 0.95 means that $95 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.

The three-month average of worldwide bookings in December 2004 was $1.24 billion. The bookings figure is seven percent below the revised November 2004 level of $1.33 billion and 4.6 percent above the $1.18 billion in orders posted in December 2003.

The three-month average of worldwide billings in December 2004 was $1.31 billion. The billings figure is 2.6 percent below the revised November 2004 level and 36 percent above the December 2003 billings level of $963 million.

"Based on these preliminary figures, we now expect worldwide sales of new semiconductor equipment by North American suppliers to total $16.5 billion in 2004, an increase of more than 60 percent over the prior year," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "The cyclic bookings peak occurred in June 2004 and total bookings in December are 23 percent below that level."

The SEMI book-to-bill is a ratio of three-month moving averages of worldwide bookings and billings for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers. Billings and bookings figures are in millions of U.S. dollars.

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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.