Welcome to This week in gEEk, EDN's short review of the week's happenings.

TGIF, folks, especially this week. What was known to be a bad situation became worse this week when semiconductor industry bellwether Intel lowered its Q4 guidance saying demand is down in all geographies and markets. Analysts, who had just weeks ago raved about Intel's Q3 growth, took the revised outlook as a warning sign for the entire market and lowered their own outlooks on numerous semi companies.

That was after analysts lowered their expectations for the company and its rival AMD, and after IDC stated IT spending would be pinched in 2009.

Intel's miserably revised guidance was not without company. Applied Materials said 2009 looks to be a tough year and cut 1,800 jobs this week. Mentor Graphics lowered its guidance saying contract renewals were being delayed because of customers' financial concerns. Fairchild reduced its guidance on lower distributor inventories. And National Semi cut 330 jobs on its downward revised outlook.

The Consumer Electronics Association also reported expected growth for the holiday season, as well as 2009.

And solar also had the sun shining on it this week, when Gartner reported that the incoming democrat president and democrat-heavy Congress could help encourage investment in solar energy projects, if they succeeds in implementing some of its plans. 

A cloud was cast over that market, however, when iSuppli reported prices for photovoltaic raw materials will fall starting next year on supply-demand imbalances.

Panasonic has shown interest in solar cells recently. The company last week announced it was in talks to acquire Sanyo for its energy-efficiency products and this week partnered with European nanoelectronics research center IMEC for joint research concerning technologies in the semiconductor, networks, wireless, and biomedical fields. 

IBM also partnered this week, teaming with International Broadband Electric Communications to install broadband-over-power-line networks at electric cooperatives throughout the eastern US.  See why EDN power guru Margery Conner "welcomes our new broadband-over-power line overlords" in this blog post. 

IBM's buddy AMD announced at its 2008 analyst day that its Shanghai 45-nm Opteron came into port early, beating Intel's rival products.

And SuperSpeed USB 3.0 also made headlines this week. The interface standard calls for operation of the USB protocol over standard traces at up to 5 Gbits/second, along with full backward-compatibility to USB 2.0. While the applications are pretty obvious, EDN's Ron Wilson looks at how SOC designers will implement it.

Ron reported from Electronica this week in Munich where he noted differences in attitudes on the financial situation. "Perhaps unlike much of North America, there are no manifest feelings of impending doom here. Business is brisk, the halls are for the most part full, both of exhibitors and of attendees, and the talk is about new products, not layoffs. So how does one explain the contrast to the drumbeat of layoffs, slashed guidance, and fear that has been grabbing headlines in the US?" Ron asks. Read this blog post to see his answer.

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