2020 was a challenging year for, well, everyone. On the business front, we can all point to individual companies and portions of the tech space that were hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis. That's why we want to take some time this week to shine some light on a few companies and sectors that ended 2020 and kicked off 2021 on a positive note. We have some good news for everyone interested in chips and boards.
 
Positive news on chips and boards

Silicon Stable Despite COVID-19

Curious how COVID-19 affected the silicon wafer game in 2020? We can see from data recently released by the SEMI Silicon Manufacturers Group that the silicon wafer industry fared well in 2020 despite all the challenges associated with the global pandemic. In fact, silicon wafter shipments increased to 12,407 MSI in 2020 from 11,810 MSI in the previous year, and revenue remained unchanged at around $11.2 billion. “2020 silicon wafer shipment growth was driven by healthy 300mm demand and a strong second half of 2020 despite disruptions to the semiconductor industry caused by COVID-19,” Neil Weaver, chairman SEMI SMG, stated. Elektor will keep an eye on the industry and any new developments.
 

Raspberry Pi Pico Buzz

Raspberry Pi’s Pico board has the Elektor community buzzing with excitement. As soon Raspberry Pi unveiled the microcontroller board and the RP2040 chip on January 21, 2021, Elektor began taking orders and the Elektor Lab team launched a livestream to introduce the technology. Soon thereafter, followed up with an in-depth video review, which quickly grabbed a lot of attention on YouTube. And the view count keeps rising! Subscribe to our Raspberry Pi tag to stay informed about Pico and other Raspberry Pi-related news. Have you already started a project with a Pico? Let us know!
 
 

Eurocircuits Delivers Positive News on the PCB Front

As many of our community members know, Elektor works with Belgium-based Eurocircuits to offer two helpful PCB design services: Elektor PCB Service and ElektorPCB4Makers.com. Last week, Eurocircuits delivered some encouraging news: “Eurocircuits closed the 2020 financial year with a 15% increase in sales compared to the previous year,” the company reported, adding that it reached around €32 million in sales with its PCB manufacturing and assembly services for prototypes and small series. According to Managing Partner Dirk Stans, “88% of all orders are ordered with a delivery time of ≤5 working days.” Check out  ElektorPCBService.com and ElektorPCB4Makers.com to find an affordable, eco-friendly PCB design solution to fit your needs.
 

Updates on the Chips, Boards, and More

Subscribe to Elektor’s weekly Electronics News Byte tag for updates about the chips, boards, the semiconductor market, and much more. And make sure you sign up for Elektor’s E-Zine to receive new electronics projects, Q&As, and engineering tutorials each week.