In-Stat/MDR has announced the results of its Networking Quarterlies: Multiservice WAN Switches report for the fourth quarter of 2001 (4Q 01).

VLSI Research has published its list of the top 10 equipment suppliers to the chip industry for 2001. Unsurprisingly, the research company noted 2001 was the worst year in semiconductor history.

Royal Philips Electronics has launched a semiconductor passive integration technology that the company said will lower costs for handset manufacturers.

IBM has announced that is has created what it believes is the fastest semiconductor circuit, operating at speeds of more than 110GHz and processing an electrical signal in 4.3 trillionths of a second.

Fujitsu has announced its success in realising the world's first high-performance Linux cluster system using direct access file system (DAFS) high-speed file sharing protocol and InfiniBand inter-memory data transfer.

Intel has launched its Pentium 4 processor for laptops and notebooks in Australia.

Worldwide sales of semiconductor equipment fell to $56 billion in 2001, a 41% decline from the $95 billion reported in 2000, according to data released by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

Although LCD sales increased for both the Branded (formerly Open) and OEM (formerly closed) markets, this increase was insufficient to offset the fall in CRT sales, according to IDC.

Semiconductor equipment orders keep rising, according to Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI).

Microsoft and Intel have announced that they have formed an initiative to develop reference designs for PDAs and smart phones.

In a move which will raise the profile of the Australian printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing industry, the chief executives of Australia's six major PCB companies have launched the Interconnect Technologies Forum (ITF).

Nokia has announced a strategy to drive openness in all critical future product designs across the communications networking industry.

Philips semiconductor division has debuted an advanced mixed-signal audio codec chip for LCD-based handheld applications, such as PDAs, 3G mobile phones and other mobile devices.

Data communications firm Braintree Communications has been officially acknowledged as a Defence Recognised Supplier to the Australian Defence Industry.

In spite of current economic conditions, the market for semiconductor development platforms is forecast to continue positive growth according to Cahners In-Stat/MDR, the high-tech market research firm.