Maxim Integrated Products has agreed to buy Dallas Semiconductor Corp for about $US 2.37 billion in stock to add power-management and communications chips.

Fairchild Semiconductor International has agreed to buy Intersil Corp's discrete power business for $US 338 million in cash, increasing Fairchild's market share in chips that manage power consumption in personal computers and other devices.

Imagine a single microchip in a computer, car or plane with actual, microscopic moving parts that allow these revolutionary chips to easily perform the work of a hundred traditional microchips.

New semiconductor fabrication techniques that will allow manufacturers to surmount the 2 GHz performance barrier are among the key microprocessor technology developments to watch in 2001, according to a forecast by Steve Leibson, Vice President and Chief Analyst at Cahners MicroDesign Resources (MDR).

Circuit Components Pty Ltd registered their business name in 1958. Now, with much regret, the company is closing down on February 9th.

Australian electronics concern Omnitech Holdings announced it had secured multi-million dollar contracts in Brazil and China.

The Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Richard Alston, welcomed the Government's announcement that $36 million will be provided to establish two new Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) in information and communications technologies (ICT).

Protel International has announced a five year OEM agreement with California based semiconductor manufacturer Amtel Corporation.

Philips Components has announced alliances with several technology companies, namely Cambridge Silicon Radio, Intersil Corp, Silicon Wave and WIDCOMM.

Solectron, a provider of electronics manufacturing and supply-chain services, said its tender offers to acquire all of NatSteel Electronics' shares and bonds closed with tendered shares of 99% of the issued share capital and tendered bonds of 99%.

AEEMA's inaugural national conference and exhibition will be held in Melbourne 27 - 29 May 2001. The theme of the conference is cleaner, greener, smarter, with a focus on commercial buildings.

Analog Devices has announced that it has acquired Signal Processing Associates, (SPA) Australia, a developer and supplier of voice processing and fax/data relay software for telecommunications applications.

In an increasingly mobile world of go-anywhere, do-everything personal products, the semiconductor industry is locked into a search for technologies that support lower power consumption and enhanced reliability in highly integrated LSI.

Representatives of AEEMA, and its partner forum the Consumer Electronics Suppliers Association (CESA), attended a workshop at Environment Australia to further progress the development of a draft ANZECC National Shared Product Stewardship Agreement for the Electrical and Electronic Industry.

The Defence Electronics and Systems Association (DESA), an operating division of the Australian Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (AEEMA), has welcomed the tabling of the government's Defence white paper, Defence 2000: Our Future Defence Force.