By Tony Hallett, 13 October 1998 16:00
NEWS In a move which shows the robustness of the wireless sector, IBM is ramping up its silicon germanium manufacturing process. Big Blue claims the process will lead to smaller, lighter and less power hungry pagers and mobile phones. The technology was originally intended to improve mainframe computing, but IBM believes the greatest benefit of silicon germanium is that it will lead to the integration of mobile cellphones, email and Internet access in a single information appliance-style device. In a separate development yesterday, Lucent Technologies announced it is expanding its semiconductor business to feed demand from the telecoms sector, especially the wireless sector. IBM's silicon germanium technology is also likely to take advantage of this boom, according to analysts. Mitul Mehta, senior European research manager at Frost & Sullivan, said: "As other parts of the semiconductor industry are shrinking, wireless semiconductor businesses are doing well."
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