Silicon breakthrough could save billions

IBM is expected to announce that company scientists have developed a technique for printing circuitry on silicon that could make computer chips significantly more powerful while extending the life of current manufacturing technology, potentially saving billions of dollars in plant reconstruction, writes Contra Costa Times.

"IBM`s technique, a variation of immersion lithography, uses an oil-like organic fluid with a higher refractive index than water, resulting in highly focused laser beams that produce lines 29.9 nanometres apart," says the report.

The technology could result in processor and memory chips that are smaller, faster and cheaper and use less power, says IBM.

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Micron Technology sold its existing NAND flash memory technology and chip designs to Intel for $270 million in order to create the manufacturing joint venture IM Flash Technologies between Micron and Intel, writes EE Times UK.

"The deal to create the joint-venture company, owned 51% by Micron and 49% by Intel, is set to manufacture chips exclusively for Micron and Intel," says the article.

The details that have emerged are supported by the official 10-Q form filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, adds EE Times.

German business software manufacturer SAP saw a 40% increase in its client base in Mexico and Central America in 2005, ending the year with 1 200 customers, the company says in a statement.

Of the 1 200 clients, 71% (or 897 companies) are concentrated in Mexico; 60% of the total companies are small and medium enterprises, which are the main drivers of the Central American economies, notes SAP`s CEO for Mexico and Central America, Miguel Cruz.

The company expects to reach 5 000 clients in those regions by 2010 for its mySAP All-in-One and SAP Business One solutions, says SAP`s director of alliances and marketing for Mexico and Central America, Luis Moguel.

Read the full report at Manufacturing Business Technology.