The new year is off to an interesting start, with concerns over China's economy and dropping oil prices dragging down the stock market. The presidential campaign is adding to the uncertainty and confusion. How are all of these currents affecting the microwave industry? See if you can connect the dots:

Companies and Products

Alcatel-Lucent ended life as an independent company and is now part of Nokia. The new entity comprises some 40,000 R&D professionals, including Bell Labs.

Ampleon (formerly NXP's high performance RF segment) released a family of LDMOS power transistors for broadcast and ISM applications. The devices, in SOT1223 packages, provide 35 to 700 W CW output power, with a frequency response to 600 MHz.

Another volley in the auction for ANADIGICS, as GaAs Labs matched Company A's offer of $0.62 per share, and Company A responded by increasing their bid to $0.66 per share. A third suitor (Company B) has submitted two bids: $0.68 and $0.70 per share; however the ANADIGICS board doesn't like the terms accompanying those bids. GaAs Labs had two business days to respond to Company A's latest offer, so we should hear an update soon.

Analog Devices dropped their Q1 revenue outlook by approximately 9 percent, to a range from $745 million to $765 million. They cited softness in the consumer market, saying their other markets (automotive, communications, industrial) are meeting expectations.

Anaren received a $7 million award from Airbus Defence and Space to develop an advanced beam forming network for the Eutelsat Quantum reconfigurable satellite. The first flight-set hardware is scheduled for delivery in 2017, with additional production expected to follow.

Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) CEO Alex Lidow received SEMI's 2015 award for North America, recognizing his and EPC's efforts to commercialize GaN.

If Huawei can't sell networking equipment in the U.S., they intend to sell cell phones to U.S. consumers, reports Young's China Business Blog.

PCB materials supplier Isola named Jeff Waters president and CEO. Waters previously served Altera and TI/National.

MACOM's CEO John Croteau updated analysts on the status of their GaN on Si strategy, saying the devices meet all base station performance requirements, and design wins are awaiting MACOM's qual report.

Bloomberg reported that both Analog Devices and TI explored acquiring Maxim but couldn't agree on a price. Apparently Maxim isn't shopping for a buyer, yet was open to an offer they couldn't refuse.

Microsemi completed the acquisition of PMC-Sierra, paying $2.5 billion in stock and cash. Recall that Skyworks initially courted PMC-Sierra and secured a deal, only to be outbid by Microsemi.

Modelithics released version 12.3 of their COMPLETE library to use with Keysight's Genesys simulation and synthesis software.

Qualcomm made a major move to fill the gap in their mobile RF strategy, announcing a JV with TDK to offer complete front-end solutions for mobile handsets. Qualcomm will provide their RF360 semiconductor products, and TDK will contribute SAW, temperature compensated SAW, and BAW filters from their EPCOS business unit. Qualcomm will own 51 percent of the JV, TDK 49 percent. The deal allows Qualcomm to buy TDK's share 30 months after the JV deal closes, which is expected in early 2017.

Spectrum announced new single- and dual-channel PCIe arbitrary waveform generators (AWG) that create signals up to 400 MHz at rates to 1.25 GSPS with 16-bit vertical resolution.

WIN Semiconductors reported Q4 2015 revenue of NT$3.2 billion ($96 million), 9.8 percent above the prior quarter and 18 percent greater than Q4 of 2014. Revenue for the full year was NT$12.0 billion ($360 million).

Markets and Technology

5G — The FCC is seeking comments on the proposed allocation of bands above 24 GHz for mobile services. The spectrum under consideration includes 28, 37, 39 and 64-71 GHz.

IoT — Ericsson and Verizon are collaborating on low power wide-area networking for IoT applications. The approach combines Verizon's LTE network with Ericsson's software.

Can IoT improve the quality of wine? Hahn and Verizon aim to find out by deploying sensors that monitor the environment in the vineyard and help to conserve California's precious water.

China — China Telecom and China Unicom announced a partnership in five areas, including cooperation on the construction and sharing of networks as well as expanding international roaming coverage and quality. China Telecom's general manager says this partnership is not a merger or restructuring.

PC shipments, which have driven semiconductor technology for so long, declined again in 2015, reaching an eight-year low. This reflects the maturity of PC technology and the longevity of our PCs, rather than a decline in usage.

If there are companies or markets that you would like to see covered in this weekly summary, please email me at glerude@mwjournal.com. If you'd like to receive these weekly updates via email, let me know.